The decision by the Anglican Church of Uganda to exercise episcopal care uninvited inside the Diocese of Virginia has strained relations, said the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia. But Bishop Lee added that as far as he is concerned, the licensing of a Virginia priest who left the Episcopal Church has not created a state of broken communion between the two.

On Jan. 6, Bishop Lee responded to a letter written the previous day by the Primate of Uganda in which the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi said Bishop Lee’s refusal to recognize the Rev. J. Phillip Ashey’s transfer to Uganda had “huge implications” for the interchangeability of holy orders and questioned whether schism already had occurred between the two.

“I must object, in the most strenuous terms, to your characterization of Rev. Ashey’s decision to resign as a missioner of the Diocese of Virginia as a renunciation of his holy orders,” wrote Archbishop Orombi. “I have seen his letter to Bishop Jones. Even those of us for whom English is a second language understand his plain English to mean that he has resigned from the staff of the Diocese of Virginia, but not from his priestly orders.

“This kind of re-inventing of the plain meaning of a text is the same problem we are facing today throughout the Anglican Communion with regard to bishops and leaders in ECUSA reinventing the plain meaning of scripture.”

The Rev. J. Phillip Ashey, who is now pastor of South Riding Anglican Church, informed Bishop Lee that he and the majority of his congregation were resigning from the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church, but he refused to sign a letter of renunciation offered to him during the Nov. 14 meeting. On Dec. 20, the Diocese of Virginia announced that after consultation with the standing committee, Bishop Lee had decided “to remove Mr. Ashey from the priesthood of the Episcopal Church” in accordance with Canon III.13. The canon requires a written letter of renunciation.

“The Diocese of Virginia has had a long and affectionate relationship with the Church of Uganda,” Bishop Lee wrote on January 6. “The late Most Rev. Yona Okoth, Archbishop of Uganda, participated in my consecration in 1984. He and his family were provided asylum in Virginia during the reign of the tyrant, Idi Amin, for their protection. I will continue to encourage churches in Virginia to support mission efforts in Uganda and parishes and dioceses, including such projects as Solar Light Project and the Chain Foundation. We believe all these efforts have the approval of local Ugandan bishops.”

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