Rev. Leah Turner Appointed New Director of the Every Tribe and Nation Network
Rev. Leah (far left) and various East African Clergy including Ven. Alex Kasirye-Musoke, Ven. Dorcas Albrecht, Rev. Paul Thuo, Rev. Michael Kafeero, and others at the East African Festival.
“When we saw the same things arise in several different places independently, we knew this was something God was doing. That’s how Rev. Leah Turner describes how individuals and small groups from across the ACNA formed the Every Tribe and Nation Network (ETNN), a provincial network of Anglicans from all nations bound by relationships, respect, and resourcing that crosses ethnic, national, and regional lines for the release of leadership into the next generation.
In the years following the formation of the province, several leaders around the country recognized that their local ethnic congregations were often at the periphery of the life of their dioceses but knew there was great potential for mission, equipping, and overall enrichment of their Anglican identity if all the churches chose to walk together. The Rt. Rev. Bill Murdoch, who was consecrated in Kenya in 2008 and went on to found the ADNE, was one of the key leaders in this movement, along with the Rev. Canon William Beasley, a co-founder of Caminemos Juntos – a network equipping Latin America leaders and churches – and several others.
ETNN was birthed out of this desire for all churches to share in the mission of the province to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ and officially launched at the 2019 Provincial Assembly in Plano, Texas. Since then, 11 ethnic tables have been or are in the process of being added to the Every Tribe and Nation Network, including tables that represent Kenya, Uganda, Latin America, China, Myanmar, Sudan, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines.
Rev. Leah, The Most Rev. Jackson Ole Sapit, and Venerable Dorcas Albrecht
Now, New England’s own Rev. Leah Turner is leading the charge as ETNN’s new director.
Rev. Leah’s involvement with ethnic congregations and her missions work with East African bishops goes back more than a decade: first as a new priest, and then as the rector of Grace Anglican Church in Bridgewater, MA.
Ven Dorcas and Rev. Leah during a combined worship service last February.
On the day of Rev. Leah’s institution, she heard about a nearby Kenyan congregation, Faith Anglican Church led by Ven. Dorcas Albrecht, that needed a new space to gather. Soon both congregations – Grace Anglican and Faith Anglican – were gathering for services under one roof, and the two rectors built a relationship. Ven. Dorcas and Rev. Leah travel around the country as they seek to link Kenyan leaders in different dioceses. In Bridgewater, Rev. Leah leads their combined youth group, and both churches come together for larger events and episcopal visits.
In 2018, the two churches hosted an East African festival. The Most Rev. Jackson Ole Sapit, Archbishop of Kenya attended along with the Rev. Canon William Beasley, GAFCON Chair for the Global Mission Partners Network. Over 800 people attended. Rev. Cn. Beasley encouraged this kind of multiethnic, multicultural partnership in the Gospel, preaching, “The Church presents the reality of the Truth expressed in unity-through-diversity, which the world longs for yet lacks.”
Rev. Leah’s goals are ambitious but already have serious traction. In 2019, she formed an intergenerational and multiethnic team of Kenyan, Ugandan, Sudanese, and American Anglicans for a 3-year missions track. That team was to minister in Kenya, Uganda, and the United States, and plans were underway with Archbishop Jackson of Kenya for the first phase of the track when the pandemic put a hold on their travel arrangements. Rev. Leah and the team are eager to return to those plans and possibly expand them.
Bishop Andrew addresses the youth at Faith Anglican & Grace Anglican in February 2020.
She also has a vision to equip leaders in ethnic churches for church planting (including creating a podcast for ethnic church planters), help ethnic parishes become more integral in the life of their respective dioceses, create more regular communication for resourcing, and include and equip the next generation of church leaders, bringing a youth position to each table.
When asked about the partnership between ETNN and the Anglican Diocese in New England, Rev. Leah’s passion came through: “We live it!” she exclaimed, “We live it because the ADNE has been willing to live as the Church of Christ, and to open their hearts and doors to our East African brothers and sisters.” She also attributed The Rt. Rev. Andrew William’s intentionality in keeping this as a priority for the ADNE to the success our diocese experiences, testifying, “New England in many ways has become a model for the province for how to integrate ethnic churches into the life of the diocese and value the distinctions they bring to us.”