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Anglican Church of Nigeria Blasts Archbishops of Canterbury and York over Marriage
Archbishop Okoh accuses archbishops of a new colonial philosophy by affirming homosexuality
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
February 25, 2014
In an address to his Standing Committee, Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh blasted Church of England leaders over their stand on marriage saying that the Church of Nigeria is Bible-based in its faith and practices and will adhere to the plain sense of Scripture tenaciously upholding the traditional biblical understanding of marriage as a life-long union between a man and a woman.
The evangelical Primate tore into Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu saying that the letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England House of Bishops, affirming homosexuality and the ministry of ordained and lay homosexuals, has no force in Nigeria.
"It is not and will not be applicable in Nigeria. Our understanding is that it is not Christianity; it is a new colonial philosophy at work. We must further say that the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England House of Bishops has increased the difficulties in the relationship between that Church and ours. We call on all African Church leaders to reject the letter and to lead their people without any foreign moral imposition."
THE LETTER CAN BE READ HERE:
On January 27, 2014 The College of Bishops of the Church of England met to begin a process of reflection on the issues raised by the Pilling Report (GS 1929).
"We are united in welcoming and affirming the presence and ministry within the Church of gay and lesbian people, both lay and ordained. We are united in acknowledging the need for the Church to repent for the homophobic attitudes it has sometimes failed to rebuke and affirming the need to stand firmly against homophobia wherever and whenever it is to be found.
"We are united in seeking to be faithful to the Scriptures and the tradition of the Church and in seeking to make a loving, compassionate and respectful response to gay men and women within Church and society.
"We recognise the very significant change in social attitudes to sexuality in the United Kingdom in recent years.
"We recognise also the strongly held and divergent views reflected in the Pilling Report, across the Anglican Communion and in the Church of England. We acknowledge that these differences are reflected also within the College of Bishops and society as a whole.
"We accept the recommendation of the Pilling Report that the subject of sexuality, with its history of deeply entrenched views, would best be addressed by facilitated conversations, ecumenically, across the Anglican Communion and at national and diocesan level and that this should continue to involve profound reflection on the interpretation and application of Scripture. These conversations should set the discussion of sexuality within the wider context of human flourishing.
"We have together asked the Archbishops to commission a small group to design a process for these conversations and additional materials to support and enable them. We hope that the outline for the process and the additional materials will be approved by the House of Bishops in May.
"We acknowledge that one of the challenges we face is to create safe space for all those involved to be honest about their own views and feelings. This has not always happened and it must do so in the future. We recognise that we will not all agree and that this process is in part committed to seeking good disagreement that testifies to our love for one another across the church in obedience to Christ
"As the Archbishops noted in November, the Pilling report is not a new policy statement from the Church of England and we are clear that the Church of England's pastoral and liturgical practice remains unchanged during this process of facilitated conversation.
"No change to the Church of England's teaching on marriage is proposed or envisaged. The House of Bishops will be meeting next month to consider its approach when same sex marriage becomes lawful in England in March.
"We are grateful to the whole Church for their prayers for our meeting today and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We recognise that on many occasions in the past the Church has faced challenging questions. It is vital in these moments to take counsel together, to read and reflect upon the Scriptures and to continue to discern together the mind of Christ."
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