Time Magazine: Nigeria's "Blunt Bishop"

Archbishop who has raised fears of a schism in the Anglican church over attitudes towards homosexuality has chosen a different battle at home, the fight against corruption and the "dirty game" of politics.

[...] The Right Rev. Martyn Minns, bishop for the Virginia churches allied with Akinola (and who has known him for decades), thinks the outcry around such issues smacks of armchair condescension by First Worlders ignorant of Nigerian realities. "It's vital that we begin by trying to understand [his] setting," Minns says, "before we apply it to our particular concerns." There can be no doubt that congregants in his newly formed Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) are happy with Akinola. "I've never seen a guy as full of the Holy Spirit as he is," says Warren LeHardy, communications director at St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va. "He's absolutely on fire in love with the Lord and the Bible." Yet when Akinola cheerfully outlines his hopes for CANA--"Hopefully, in another year, we will have two or three, maybe five or 10 more" U.S. bishops, he tells TIME--it is hard not to conclude that he sees American Episcopalians as missionary targets who need to be taught the true Word in much the same way as the Muslims at home. [...] Read more