Effective at the time of his Jan. 31 retirement as Bishop Suffragan of Albany, the Rt. Rev. David J. Bena transferred his episcopal orders to the Anglican Church of Nigeria for whom he will serve as a missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

“The recent primates communiqué from Dar es Salaam speaks of the need to ‘provide robust pastoral oversight to individuals and congregations alienated from The Episcopal Church with adequate space to flourish within the life of that church in the period leading up to the conclusion of the Covenant process’,” Bishop Bena wrote in a letter posted March 5 on the Diocese of Albany website. “Since I have now been transferred from one province in communion with the See of Canterbury to another province in communion with the See of Canterbury, I am neither renouncing my orders as a bishop, nor am I abandoning the Communion of the Church.”

The Church of Nigeria announced that it had received Bishop Bena and consecrated 20 new bishops on March 4.

“In light of the report from the recent meeting of primates in Dar es Salaam, we agreed to defer the request for additional Episcopal elections for CANA until our meeting in September 2007,” a statement posted on the Church of Nigeria website stated.

Bishop Bena said his decision was not based on anything to do with the Diocese of Albany. In his letter, he explained that the Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog, who also retired as Bishop of Albany Jan. 31, had issued him letters dimissory to transfer.

“Many parishes in the Anglican Communion are not...in such a safe environment as is found in the Diocese of Albany,” Bishop Bena stated. “It is to these entities that I have been asked to minister. There is much disenfranchisement in the land today, with a consequent need for strong pastoral oversight. As God gives me strength, I will offer such leadership.”

Many diocesan bishops of The Episcopal Church have deposed without trial clergy who have sought to transfer to other churches in communion with the See of Canterbury while continuing their ministry in the U.S. The canonical disciplinary procedures for bishops would appear to preclude that option, as formal ecclesiastical proceedings would be time consuming, expensive and risk further irritating international relations.

But the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference door swings both ways, said Prof. Ian Douglas, a member of Executive Council and professor of world mission at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass.

“Our portfolio takes into consideration both the life-giving and the difficult areas of our relationships,” Prof. Douglas said of the International Concerns Committee on which he sits. “The Panel of Reference is there to serve the whole Communion. I’m just wondering out loud if The Episcopal Church has called on the Panel of Reference to address ‘sticky’ or difficult circumstances in our midst.”

Executive Council made no decision during its March 2-4 meeting on an appeal of its own to the Panel of Reference, but did not rule out an appeal in the future.

Steve Waring

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