The head bishop of the U.S. movement of defectors from the Episcopal Church, the so-called Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), Fairfax’s Rev. Martyn Minns, has been excluded by the Archbishop of Canterbury from a list of invitees to attend next year’s once-a-decade Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops in England. According to a report by Julia Duin in yesterday’s Washington Times, Minns was not on a list of 850 bishops invited by e-mail Tuesday, and his chief, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, has threatened to boycott the conference. Defectors at the Falls Church Episcopal Church are aligned with Minns and CANA. The openly-gay U.S. Bishop Eugene Robinson was also omitted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who stated, “I reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal.” Meanwhile, continuing Episcopalians in Falls Church, temporarily expelled from the F.C. Episcopal campus by the defectors, announced a new web site, www.thefallschurch-episcopal.org. They will have a booth at the Falls Church Memorial Day festivities “to profess our commitment to the community,” said Bill Fetsch.
