ACNA News Roundup

The ACNA College of Bishops has elected a new bishop for the Diocese of Western Anglicans.

Under the provisions of its governing documents the Diocese of Western Anglicans could have elected its own bishop rather than wait 4 months for the College of Bishops to select Keith Andrews as bishop for the diocese. The four-month delay was avoidable and demonstrated poor planning on the part of the College of Bishops.

The appointment of Bishop Frank Lyons as vicar-general for the Diocese of West Anglicans was illegal both under the ACNA governing documents and the diocese's governing documents, one of the growing number of ACNA leadership's violations of the provisions of these documents and a further example of its disregard for constitutionalism and the rule of law.

The attendance of a former GAFCON Primate at the installation of an ACNA bishop only encourages such lawlessness.

The ACNA College of Bishops has also received Bishop Peter Beckwith, the former TEC Bishop of Springfield, as a bishop of that denomination. Beckwith will be serving as an assisting bishop in the ACNA Diocese of the Great Lakes.

At the time of his retirement in February Beckwith stated that he had "no immediate plans to join the ACNA."

The reception of Beckwith as an ACNA bishop adds to the number of Anglo-Catholic and philo-Orthodox bishops on the ACNA episcopal bench.

Also in the news is a meeting between Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Chairman of the Department of External Relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, and ACNA leaders.