Thinking Anglicans

three African reports

From Nigeria, there is this report in Vanguard Homosexuality is totally unacceptable — Clerics.

…As one of the leaders of the Global South within the Anglican Communion, Akinola has taken a firm stand against theological developments which he contends are incompatible with the biblical teachings of Christianity, notably setting himself against any revisionist or liberal interpretations of the Bible and, in particular, opposing same-sex blessings, the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals or, indeed, any homosexual practice.

He is the leader of some conservatives throughout the Anglican Communion including the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. One of his first actions as primate was to get together 400 bishops, priests, lay members, and members of the Mother’s Union to elaborate a vision for the Church of Nigeria under the chairmanship of Chief Ernest Shonekan.

At the end of deliberations, they articulated a vision for the church, which include: “The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) shall be bible-based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined, self supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ.”

Based on that vision, Akinola has been in the forefront of the fight against the weird intrusion of homosexuality into the Christian faith. Just like most parts of the world were shocked with that ordination, Akinola has earned accolades from around the world for his doggedness in condemning the practice; at one point threatening to lead other African countries out of the Anglican fold if the practice of gay ordination continued…

From Uganda, there is this report by George Conger in the Church of England Newspaper Uganda synod gives backing to US traditionalists.

…The call to faithfulness also applied to the controversies dividing the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Orombi said. “Many of the churches in the Western world seem to be unrepentant in their promotion of unbiblical faith and practice,” he said, singling out the Anglican Churches in America, Canada, England and Scotland for “permitting the blessing of same-sex unions.”

The 2008 Lambeth Conference failed to address these issues and the Anglican Communion “may be in a worse place now than before Lambeth.” However, the Gafcon movement, he argued, “will help us return to our Biblical roots.”

Delegates to the synod also continued work on the revision of the provincial constitution, with an eye towards redefining the Church of Uganda’s ecclesial ties of communion in terms of a shared “adherence to doctrine and upholding the Bible,” and ending the Nineteenth century tie of communion through the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Synod affirmed the broad principles behind the changes to the Church of Uganda’s ecclesiology, backing Archbishop Orombi’s position “that as a Church we declare that ‘we are in full communion with all Churches, Dioceses and Provinces of the Anglican Communion throughout the world that receive, hold, and maintain the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the Word of God written and the ultimate rule and standard of faith given by inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary for salvation’.”

From Kenya, Changing Attitude reports on some rather surprising events, in Revd Michael Kimindu ejected from Nairobi clergy chapter meeting.

The Revd Michael Kimindu, an Anglican priest who was a member of the LGBT team at the Lambeth Conference this year, was ejected from a meeting of the clergy chapter meeting in the diocese of All Saints Cathedral. The chapter meeting was held in the offices of the diocese at Karen on Wednesday 8th October 2008.

Michael is the Co-ordinator for >Other Sheep Ministries East Africa. Other Sheep is an international ecumenical Christian organization founded in 1992 dedicated to empowering sexual minorities.

… When the meeting opened, Michael’s presence was questioned. It was alleged that since he is openly pro same sex orientation which the Diocese opposes, he should not be allowed in the meeting.

The Archbishop gave a very tolerant defence, but the Archdeacons insisted that his presence was tantamount to a change of position for the Diocese on the matter. After some homophobic pleas from the four Archdeacons, the chapter adjourned briefly so that he could leave.

Before leaving he talked with the Archbishop who agreed to invite him on another date to provide an educational talk to the full house of clergy. One of the Archdeacons later sent a text message agreeing that the two of them would meet with the Archbishop.

Some clergy asked that what took place between Michael and the chapter be not minuted for fear that they would be accused of persecuting him but they were overruled. There was division in the meeting after his departure, with some clergy saying he should not be refused attendance to future chapter meetings…

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Ford Elms
Ford Elms
15 years ago

The Vanguard piece is so full of hatred, paranoia, and bigotry, it just makes your eyes bleed. I know we have news entities in the West that are jst as loopy, and represent only a small pathetic part of the population. Is this the same kind of thing?

Leonardo Ricardo
Leonardo Ricardo
15 years ago

The cowards continue to demonize part of Gods REALITY at Church/Anglican Communion…no sense ¨listening¨ and attempting to understand TRUTH when one can instigate hate/abominating and marginalizing far more easily…by using blind ignorance and feardriven hate some of the ¨clergy¨ may gain points with fellow bigots but will self-destruct in the poor ministry of their own making.

Robert Ian williams
Robert Ian williams
15 years ago

All I can say is that the 25 million Anglicans
(claimed) of Nigeria haven’t made much impact on what is a truly dreadful place to live..there has to be something wrong there…the salt has certainly lost its savour. But maybe the savour is coming from US dollars…..

Imagine a Church of 12 milion in the UK,..what an impact that would have.

revLois Keen
15 years ago

Today is the tenth anniversary of the death of Matthew Sheppard, murdered in the U.S. for the crime of being gay.

drdanfee
drdanfee
15 years ago

Prayers, many, many, many thanks to all the Other Sheep. Nzimbi may get some heat as he is targeted via guilt by association. Truth and fairness and open-minded grow, right under Akinola’s feet it would appear. Sure this is God’s doing inside our little overlapping alternative Anglican communities that are not supposed to even possibly exist, and it is surely marvelous in our eyes. The fruits of the Spirit bear good fruit, even under duress. The old fabric of prejudice and mistreatment is wearing thin in many global places, and this frightens those who still believe they hold exclusive power… Read more »

orfanum
orfanum
15 years ago

The Liberal Church, or rather, the Church, needs to take to the fight to these homophobes. We owe it to LGBT people, we owe it to ourselves, and if we do not take a very radical and immovable stand, folk like Dawkins and the NSS have every right to lambast us, regardless of how specious some of their premisses are.

Enough!

JCF
JCF
15 years ago

“Akinola has been in the forefront of the fight against the weird intrusion of homosexuality”

What’s “weird,” is the OBSESSION with homosexuality we see in these African churches.

Lord have mercy!

Father Ron Smith
15 years ago

Concerning the retrospective piece by George Conger in the Church of England Newspaper about Abp. Orombi’s stand for a new Anglican Province in North America; it reminds me of the old song: “Let’s all do the Conger”, wherein all the dancers follow the leadership of whoever is in charge of the Dance. This particular Tribal Dance, led by certain Primates in Africa, can only lead to nowhere – theologically speaking. So why do they still continue to fret and fume about women and gays in the Church. I’m not at all sure that God is laughing at them in their… Read more »

BillyD
BillyD
15 years ago

“Akinola has taken a firm stand against …same-sex blessings, the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals or, indeed, any homosexual practice.”

Has he ever actually said that celibate gay people were okay? Everything I’ve ever seen come out of Nigeria seems to be of the school of thought that advocates praying our “lifestyle choice” away, or exorcising us.

And yes, JCF, they do seem to be fixated on the subject.

BillyD
BillyD
15 years ago

“All I can say is that the 25 million Anglicans
(claimed) of Nigeria haven’t made much impact on what is a truly dreadful place to live.”

Robert, I can’t help but think that this is a prime motivating factor in ++Akinola’s campaign: focusing on the evils of the West to compensate for wounded Nigerian pride at home.

bobinswpa
bobinswpa
15 years ago

The piece on Kenya was encouraging or at least really interesting. People actually coming to the defense of someone who supports GLBT people!

I think Duncan sees Akinola as a loose cannon and probably pleaded with Venables to offer him shelter from us crazies in TEC.

Robert Ian: I couldn’t agree with you more. Nigeria has so many issues, you’d think that the church would have better things to do than worry about what we in the northern hemisphere do.
There are articles that say the oil companies actually making things worse ( several if you just google nigeria/oil/conlict).

Erika Baker
Erika Baker
15 years ago

“At the end of deliberations, they articulated a vision for the church, which include: “The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) shall be bible-based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined, self supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ.”

Based on that vision, Akinola has been in the forefront of the fight against the weird intrusion of homosexuality into the Christian faith”

And there I was thinking that based on that vision he should be at the forefront of fighting for social welfare and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ.

EPfizH
EPfizH
15 years ago

Before any become too encouraged by +Nzimbi’s “openness”, please recall his response to the Lambeth recommendations. It was the GS’s first: “We won’t stop going to America to preach the Gospel. We are going to preach the Gospel. We are going to tell the good news to the people,” Nzimbi said in Nairobi on July 30 while addressing journalists before being installed as the president of Church Army Africa, a society of Anglican evangelists.” He has done just about all he can do to provide safety, succor and encouagement to North American conservatives seeking to build a second or replacent… Read more »

bobinswpa
bobinswpa
15 years ago

thanks EPfizH. I was hopeful that maybe Nzimbi was just maybe softening.

Colin Coward
15 years ago

I havent’t had the opportunity of asking Michael Kimindu more questions about Nzimbi’s attitudes, but what he said at Lambeth may have been intended for a particular audience, and I wonder if his private views are rather different from the views expressed for Global South consumption.

Colin Coward
15 years ago

Sam Eyoboka’s report in the Nigerian Vanguard is inaccurate in many respects. The Revd Rowland Jide Macaulay did not found House of Rainbow to counter the efforts of Archbishop Akinola in his vehement opposition to the election of Bishop Gene Robinson. House of Rainbow is not a group of Anglicans who are trying to undermine the profile of Archbishop Akinola. Perhaps this spin fuels the grandiose dreams of Peter Akinola. Jide is not an Anglican. He founded House of Rainbow as an inclusive ministry specifically but not exclusively to LGBT Nigerians. Jide has been a friend of mine for over… Read more »

John
John
15 years ago

Good point, Colin Coward, and one of wide application. My personal experience of many ‘conservatives’ is that they actually don’t give a toss about the gay issue (some being, for example, far more exercised about women priests) but in official contexts pretend to be or more genuinely claim to be when forced into a corner. Either way, it is a cause for hope – as also a reason for avoidance of blanket condemnation of them.

Ford Elms
Ford Elms
15 years ago

“..fighting for social welfare and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ.” Erika, I think many of his supporters believe that is precisely what he is doing. He is defending the Gospel, and society, from an unholy alliance of liberals and homos. In their eyes it has already pushed Western society far along a path of social destruction. Massively increased violence (a total fiction, but the fearful don’t want facts), decline in Church attendance (which shows them a disturbing decline in conformity), sexual freedom with no punishment for “tarts” that get themselves pregnant before marriage, and on and… Read more »

Robert Ian Williams
Robert Ian Williams
15 years ago

Just heard Archbishop Jensen ( Gafcon secretary and mastermind) give his Synod address…he talks about the pure Gospel, condemns women as priests and then upholds men like Orombi and Duncan who ordain them! He talks about the malaise in the West over sexual ethics , but never mentions that his diocese re-marries divorced persons. i was specially ” moved ” to hear him praise a great Anglican, Bishop Harvey of Canada. Bishop Harvey is a great devotee of Our lady of Walsingham..isn’t that idolatry according to his own logic? Jim Packer is upheld for his nutshell statement that the liberals… Read more »

Nom de Plume
Nom de Plume
15 years ago

“I was specially ” moved ” to hear him praise a great Anglican, Bishop Harvey of Canada. Bishop Harvey is a great devotee of Our lady of Walsingham..isn’t that idolatry according to his own logic?”

There is no bishop named Harvey in Canada. There once was, but he has voluntarily relinquished all spiritual authority as a minister of word and sacrament in the Church, and is thus to all intents and purposes a layman. The only other Harvey I am aware of is a six-foot tall invisible white rabbit.

Father Ron Smith
15 years ago

Come back to us, Robert! We need your incisive take on all of the different political situations presently engulfing the Anglican Communion – while your own Roman Catholic brethren sit on the side-lines, quivering – wondering when the ordure will hit the fan for them.

Prior Aelred
15 years ago

In all fairness, I usually appreciate the comments of Robert I an Williams, even if i sometimes have a quibble. It seems to me that someone who truly accepts the Roman claims ought to become (or remain) a Roman Catholic. As for me, I agree with Archbishop Laud, “As long as Rome remains what she is, we must remain where we are.” I did have (unrealistically) high hopes after the Council (even after Humanae Vitae), but they are long gone. Perhaps if John Paul I had lived, it would have been very different.

Father Ron Smith
15 years ago

Prior Aelred, I agree with your feeling about our Roman Catholic friends. Loyalty to one’s Church is quite important. It seems to me that most converts to the Roman C. Church are content to congratulate themselves on having moved to a more authentic and superior magisterium – without having to loiter in the corridors of their former faith community – which I perceive RIW as doing. I, probably like yourself, was at one time hopeful of an accord being reached with Rome – especially during the eirenic reign of Good Pope John XXIII. However, Since Rome’s retroactive return to pre-Vatican… Read more »

Ford Elms
Ford Elms
15 years ago

“i was specially ” moved ” to hear him praise a great Anglican, Bishop Harvey of Canada.” Even though this is a relatively conservative diocese, I suspect many here would be “moved”, in a negative direction, to hear Bp. Jensen praising Don Harvey. For the most part, he is not thought very highly of in this his old diocese, even by those who supported him in his episcopate. I attend his old parish, and we are not exactly what you’d call a liberal lot. Gee, we don’t even use modern language at our main Mass, the issue of OOW can… Read more »

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