| THE Church of Torres Strait is a member church of the worldwide
Traditional Anglican Communion. The Torres Strait church was formed from
an historic meeting at Thursday Island, 22-25 November 1997 of the
clergy, elders and laity of the Torres Strait, who were members of the
Diocese of North Queensland/Carpentaria in the Anglican Church of
Australia.
Previous to this meeting, the Torres Strait Regional Council had passed
unanimously a motion of "no confidence" in the [Anglican] Bishop of
North Queensland, it asked the Primate (Dr. Keith Rayner) to appoint an
episcopal overseer until such time as the Torres Strait could become a
Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia. The Primate responded with
a letter telling the Islanders to listen to the Bishop. He made them
feel insulted and disempowered.
The Bishop of North Queensland went ahead with the consecration of a man
clearly unacceptable culturally and theologically to the vast majority
of people who live in the Torres Strait. He ignored requests to postpone
the consecration in the interest of further dialogue and the possibility
of reaching a common mind. The opportunity that the Anglican Church of
Australia had to set an example in this matter was destroyed by the
refusal of its theologically liberal leadership to put aside its own
agenda
Dialogue with the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia was stepped up.
The Islanders wanted self-determination of the Torres Strait Church, and
the maintenance of the Catholic way of being Anglican. The Anglican
Catholic Church would provide both requests.
On the 26th April 1998 two Islander priests were consecrated for the
newly established church in a colourful ceremony at St. Mark's Church,
Badu Island before a congregation of some 2,000 people. The two and
three quarter hour service was a moving and spectacular occasion and a
great witness to the deep devotion the Torres Strait people possess in
their Anglican expression of the Catholic faith which had been
introduced by legendary Anglo-Catholic missionaries after the London
Missionary Society, who had arrived on Darney Island in 1871, ceded
their work to the Anglican Church. Many Islanders wept with joy, the
Faith and the Anglican way had returned. Their membership of the
Traditional Anglican Communion ensured liberal agenda would have no hold
in the new church.
The consecration of two new Bishops for the Church of Torres Strait 26
October 2004.
The new bishops(Nona and Townson) enthroned as the Archbishop commends them to their people.
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