The Anglican Church of Nigeria has asked its members in the United States to withdraw from the Episcopal Church and to transfer to congregations of a new “Church of Nigeria in the U.S.”

Bishop Peter Adebiyi of Lagos West stated on Nov. 25, “We have told our people to leave the U.S. church and give us time to set up our own [parishes in the U.S.] because our members are spread across the states in the U.S.”

The Nigerian information ministry claims almost 3 million Nigerians reside in the United States. As the Episcopal Church does not compile data on the ethnic background of its members, the effect of an exodus of Nigerian-born Episcopalians is uncertain. However, due to the high percentage of Anglicans among the Nigerian Christian population, the figure may be as high as 250,000.