(News reports are appearing today, Tuesday, about Monday’s Nigerian story.)
Two more reports have now been posted on the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) website:
First, a Communique from the Episcopal Synod of 27-28 June.
Second, a report from the First National Anglican Conference on WELFARE OF THE NATION: THE ROLE OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION IN NATION BUILDING.
Some quotes from the first document:
1. CONGRATULATIONS
Synod notes with satisfaction the efforts of the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), His Grace, The Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, in giving the Church of Nigeria, CAPA and Global South a purposeful and effective leadership. It further expresses its approval of his actions and pronouncements against errors of revisionist ideologies. With much delight and enthusiasm, Synod received his citing by TIMES Magazine as one of the 100 persons that shaped the World in 2005, and encouraged him not to relent in his efforts in exercising his ministry.
2. THE ANGLICAN COVENANT
Synod is satisfied with the move by the Global South to continue with its veritable project of defending the faith committed to us against present onslaught from ECUSA, Canada, England and their allies. The need therefore, to redefine and/or re-determine those who are truly Anglicans becomes urgent, imperative and compelling. Synod therefore empowers the leadership of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to give assent to the Anglican Covenant.
3. THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE
The Lambeth Conference which is one of the accepted organs of unity in the Anglican Communion is due for another meeting in 2008. the Synod, after reviewing some recent major events in the Communion, especially the effects of the ‘revisionists’ theology’, which is now making wave in America, Canada and England, observed with dismay the inability of the Church in the aforementioned areas to see reason for repentance from the harm and stress they have caused this communion since 1988 culminating in the consecration of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual in 2003 as a bishop in ECUSA. Synod also regrets the inability of the See of Canterbury to prevent further impairment of the unity of the Church. It therefore, believes strongly that the moral justification for the proposed Lambeth Conference of 2008 is questionable in view of the fact that by promoting teachings and practices that are alien and inimical to the historic formularies of the Church, the Bishops of ECUSA, Canada and parts of Britain have abandoned the Biblical faith of our fathers.
4. GLOBAL SOUTH CONFERENCE
Synod underlines the need for maintaining the age-long tradition of a ten-yearly Conference of Bishops in the Anglican Communion for discussing issues affecting the Church. It therefore calls on the leadership of the Global South and Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) to do everything necessary to put in place a Conference of all Anglican Bishops to hold in 2008 should all efforts to get the apostles of ‘revisionist agenda’ to repent and retrace their steps fail.
The second document includes the following points, among numerous others:
At the end of the conference it was resolved that:
11. [That the church should] Learn to speak out when human rights are subverted and violated in the nation and against societal ills that hamper true nation-building, as well as participate in partisan politics.
And also this:
7. On marriage, the conference agreed that marriage between man and woman is the official position of the Anglican Communion, and confirmed by its laws, and condemned in its entirety homosexuality and same sex marriage.
And this makes it clear enough that the split will be far wider than some envisage – and that this sort of fundamentalist formula would not be acceptable here.
It appears that Archbishop Akinola intends to boycott Lambeth 2008 and call his own conference instead. Will he appoint himself head of this new Anglican Communion of his own design? Will he be merely the first among other primates, as Canterbury is now, or will he be the first Anglican Pope? He already appears to consider himself infallible on matters of faith and morals. What he says about us Americans and other western churches reflects his self-righteous anger, but the condescending tone toward +++Rowan is most offensive.
“With much delight and enthusiasm, Synod received his citing by TIMES Magazine as one of the 100 persons that shaped the World in 2005” It is possible that Synod has not seen the Time article, otherwise they might not have misspelt the name of the magazine. A full list of the 100 may be consulted at http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1189247,00.html As well as Peter Akinola, the “Leaders and Revolutionaries” section includes, for example, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a prominent Al Qaeda leader who is on the FBI’s post 9/11 “most wanted terrorists” list: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayman_al-Zawahiri. I don’t think it was intended to be an honours… Read more »
Excuse me, I need to find somewhere to be sick.
I see that the axis of evil for ++Akinola now includes England. So much for the ABC’s efforts to placate him by proposing a two tier system. Let him go, and send the former ABC to him. Once ++Akinola is Pope, then Martyn can be an archbishop, and wear an even pointier hat.
The Covenant yet-to-come looks promising! 🙂 Seems possible that provinces sidelining themselves may not be so keen to sign on one that embraces most of the centre.
I think that Peter Akinola has been heading in this direction for some time, now. It is always a mistake to placate bullying behaviour. The tone of these communications from some bishops in Africa, is condescending. Having learnt their condesension, anti-gay aversion, & literal approach to christianity, from English missionaries, they sound as if they are caught in a time warp. WE in the UK have much for which to answer, in this matter. I have no brief for Peter Akinola, but let us never forget, that we ourselves, have only very recently begun to set things in order for… Read more »
Section 3 of the Communique references “the harm and stress [TEC has] caused this communion since 1988 ” That date surprises me. Are they referencing the consecration of women to the episcopate as well? I”ve not had my coffee yet, but I’m unaware of any particular harmful and stressful events between 1988 and 1998 that haven’t been resolved (since women in the episcopate were included at Lambeth – and we weren’t the only ones there).
Dirk C. Reinken.
The Nigerian Synod declares declares that “by promoting teachings and practices that are alien and inimical to the historic formularies of the Church, the Bishops of ECUSA, Canada and parts of Britain have abandoned the Biblical faith of our fathers” and for the life of me I cannot understand why those agitating for a change in the Church’s moral teaching are so unwilling to accept the responsibility for the schism that they are causing. It is not that ++Akinola regards himself as a Pope or infallible; rather it is simply that he is meekly submitting himself to the teaching and… Read more »
Too bad we won’t let them go….we need their oil. And they need our money. So much for Christianity, let alone Anglicanism. It’s all about power. And ego.
I think the reason he singles out England is that they have been tolerating such thinking for 30-40 years, something that the majority of denominations would never have done. The issue is probably, therefore, England’s failure to care enough in the face of a certain degree of ‘Christian’ conformity to a culture of death and of statistically demonstrable horrors; and, secondly, England’s tendency at times to be too vague and unclear (an uncertain or timid trumpet call), which is the opposite spirit to that of the gospel. Blame the complacency bred by economic prosperity, I guess.
The Arkinola Catholic Church sounds like a wonderful idea to me.
So word has now come from the Nigerian Synod that should be abundantly clear to the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is, if I’m not mistaken, the third preemptive strike. In this communiqué the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) gives reality to its new name, and new significance to the parentheses. The Church of Nigeria is to be the ultimate arbiter of the who’s in and who’s out of the Anglican Communion. England is on notice. The Lambeth Conference is risking outliving its usefulness, and an alternative all-Anglican all-Bishops conference, in the “age-long tradition” (well, at least from 1867) of decennial… Read more »
The Akinola Fundagelical Church sounds even better to me, RichardL.
Given enough rope, ++Akinola and his minions will hang themselves in front of the astonished western “conservatives” who will be forced to recognize this African-warlord-in-bishop’s-clothing who has been leading their faction. The first step is to express complete contempt for the western churches — especially the CoE and the ABC. That will be a bitter pill for the western “conservative” Anglicans to swallow, and they will find that they have marginalized themselves both in their own national churches and in the Anglican Communion with nary a leg to stand on. Faced with financial insupportability and parishoners fleeing back to TEC,… Read more »
Tobias – have a think – can you really describe people as tearing the Communion if they are saying, ‘let’s stay faithful to the Bible, let’s stay faithful to the 39 articles, let’s not break agreements like Lambeth resolutions’?
Athos: “It is not that ++Akinola regards himself as a Pope or infallible; rather it is simply that he is meekly submitting himself to the teaching and practise of the Church Universal since time immemorial.” The Church has for 2000 years condemned homosexuals, she has even killed us. Is murder one of the practices of the Church to which ++Akinola would submit? The Church has taught and practiced some very unChristian things, at least since the Peace of Constantine. I, in my more despairing moments, suspect that ++Akinola and his supporters long for a return to those days. I am… Read more »
A Teen Anglican Decodes Some Nigerian Church (Anglican Communion) Pronouncements 1. Straight is great. Queer is bad, really, really bad. (Compare, early church: Straight is bad, gay is worse, celibate is way better.) 2. Old is good, always. New is probably bad. We should all worry a lot about shoddy modern workmanship. What else can you expect when/if you let people have good sex lives? They lose interest in discipline and hard work, now don’t they? Do NOT buy new stuff. On pain of excommunication, jail time, and being called horrible and embarrassing names in front of just everybody at… Read more »
>>his desire to punish the Colonialists and their descendants who have wreaked such damage on Africa and continue to do soNigerians. In allowing yourself to be sucked into the ‘blame everything on the colonialists’ game long played by extreme Nationalist politicians in Africa – vide Mugabe, Kaunda, Hoipingy, Mobutu, etc. – you not only give their political sympathisers in the Anglican Church such as Akinola and Malango a stick to beat you with, but you undercut those working against corruption and bigotry and for transparency and fairness in Africa.
Gerry Lynch: I’m not blaming everything on the colonialists. Colonialism and its modern manifestations have a role to play, and, I think, inform some of the attitudes of modern Africans. Who can blame them? Even now in Nigeria, western oil interests reap great profits while ordinary Nigerians live in poverty. We don’t help things by denying this, but it is naive to state that it is the only cause of the current troubles. That’s why I listed some of the other things I figure are also informing the opinions of people like ++Akinola. To ignore the genuine anger of colonized… Read more »
This “Communique'” is abundant evidence that the FATHER OF LIES is alive and at work in the world… 🙁 [That “1. Congratulations”? I can’t imagine a TEC bishop/PB would *permit* such “Cult of Personality” blather to be published on an official letterhead. Our “delight and enthusiasm” is reserved for CHRIST ALONE!!!] When I was writing my master’s thesis on ecumenism 15 years, I coined a phrase “When one hand reaches for another, a third hand may PULL AWAY.” Despite the fact that Rowan Cantuar has *two* hands, +Akinola would seem to be demanding that he lop one off: Rowan can’t… Read more »
Their anger has been acknowledged — but like most things it isn’t enough. Only TEC and those who agree with her grovelling in the dirt at ++Akinola’s feet, stripping +Robinson of his purple shirt, expelling every GLBT member/deacon/priest/bishop and preferably sending them to their closets without dinner and vowing to sing praise songs and dance to drums during services will be enough.
I hope ++Williams is noticing what he has so far ignored.
The schism in the Anglican Communion seems to me to be moving towards division. That is something many people perceive, and it saddens me to think it possible that I, as an Episcopalian, will at some future time be either out of communion with other Anglicans in the world, or my communion modified. I want to continue United in Prayer with the communion, and so am at this period during the sorting out of differences remaining with a hope in patience for some satisfactory conclusions. These conclusions are not going to show themselves soon, not within the next year or… Read more »
Ford Elms: It is disgraceful that the Church has killed homosexuals but you are very quick to jump from Christian sexual ethics into the most appalling and illiberal slur of the Archbishop of Nigeria. What ++Akinola is reminding us all is simply (as you well know) that Christian moral teaching for two millenia in both Catholic and Protestant West and Orthodox East is that sexual activity should be confined between a man and a woman in marriage. This is not a new controverial insight. But it has never been the teaching of the Church Universal that homosexuals should be killed.… Read more »
The fact that you and he agree about homosexuality does not make him humble. For what it’s worth, I am deeply disturbed that the American Church thinks it is “prophetic” and the rest of the world and 2000 years of church history are wrong. I tend to be left wing, but what fires me up on this issue is not the marriage of gay people or the consecration of a gay bishop. I would be quite happy with an Anglican Church in which neither existed, and, despite being gay, I would not feel excluded or diminished because of it. What… Read more »
Gayism,lesbianism and beastism has always existed b4the commin of Christ.The issue is that God frowns at it.Those who pratice such things hav been given over to a reprobate mind by the lord see 1stchorintians chpter1 and 2.2ndly those praticin such cannot make heaven and are already condemed.