Rwanda is set to ordain three American bishops next year, the House of Bishops of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda has announced.The announcement comes days after Kenya and Uganda anointed US bishops in the latest move to denounce America’s Anglican Church liberal stance on homosexuality.A statement issued on Tuesday said that the House of Bishops of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda, which convened in Kigali early this week, appointed three American bishops who will be ordained and serve in the US. The bishops will be answerable to the Anglican Church in Rwanda.The three elect-bishops are Rev. Terrell Glenn, Rev. Philip Jones and Rev. John Miller. They will be consecrated on January 26, 2008 in Dallas, Texas, according to the statement. The House of Bishops considered nominations for additional missionary Bishops to further the work of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). The Anglican Church in Rwanda formerly enjoyed full scale funding from the British and American Church, but is now operating on its own after severing.Archbishop Emmanuel Mbona Kolini re-affirmed Rwanda’s Anglican Church stance and dismissed talk that they are faced with financial difficulties.“We are an independent church and we don’t need any funding from America. Ours is not a begging church, it is a church that can stand on its own,” Kolini said on Wednesday.Recently, Kenya appointed two American priests Bill Murdoch of Massachusetts and Bill Atwood of Texas, who were ordained in Nairobi. They will serve in their respective states in the US but remain answerable to the Kenyan Church. Uganda followed suit by anointing American priest, John Guernsey, who will lead a new branch of Church of Uganda in Virginia, US.Much of the Anglican Church in Africa is conservative and has since 2003 vehemently opposed the ordination of gay priests. Four years ago, the US Church appointed an openly gay bishop Gene Robinson to serve in New Hampshire, which sparked of a growing worldwide division in the Anglican Communion.Ends
