Valid but irregular
Valid but irregular is a term applied in churches which have a concept of Holy Orders (particularly the Anglican) to acts carried out by someone who is able, due to their possession of the appropriate orders, to carry out the act, but does not have the necessary authority to do so. The term is somewhat similar to that of "valid but illicit" used in the Roman Catholic Church, a term little used in the less centralised Anglican churches.
Notable examples of acts declared "valid but irregular" include:
- The ordination of eleven women by bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Philadelphia in 1974, before ECUSA permitted women to be ordained.
- The consecration of John Rodgers and Chuck Murphy in Singapore in 2000, by the Anglican churches of Rwanda and South East Asia, to serve as missionary bishops in the United States.
- The ordination of Andy Fenton, Richard Perkins and Loots Lambrechts in November 2005 at Christ Church, Surbiton, London, by Bishop Martin Morrison of the Church of England in South Africa. Bishop Morrison was brought in by Rev Richard Coekin, minister of Dundonald Church in Wimbledon, due to a dispute with the then Bishop of Southwark, Rt Rev Tom Butler, over matters related to homosexuality.[1][2] Rev Coekin subsequently had his licence to preach revoked by Bishop Butler, but he was reinstated following an appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury.[3][4]
- The consecration of William Murdoch and Bill Atwood in August 2007 at All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi by the then Archbishop of Kenya Benjamin Nzimbi. The two men were from America and the intention was that they would serve as bishops for conservative Anglicans disillusioned by the liberal direction of The Episcopal Church.[5]
- The ordination of three men from London in Kenya in May 2011. The men, who have not been named as of 21 July 2011, are part of a church-planting group led by the same Rev Richard Coekin referred to above. Again, the reasons for this irregular approach were the views on homosexuality of the current Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun. The men will be linked with the Anglican Mission in England, which was launched shortly after the ordinations and seeks to promote tradition Christian doctrine.[6] The events were criticised in a statement by Lambeth Palace.[7]
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