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LONDON: Bishop is abandoned in deepest Africa
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion correspondent
The TIMES
May 24, 2006
Archbishop of Kenya withdraws support after taking exception to churchman's views on gays
THE Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Reverend John Gladwin, and 20 curates have been abandoned in Africa by the Anglican Church of Kenya after its Archbishop discovered his liberal views on gays.
The Bishop and his curates are in the middle of a two-week visit to Kenya, which has had links with Chelmsford for 20 years. The trip was going well, with the curates travelling to the heart of the country to visit parishes and explore how the Anglican church worked there.
But now the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Reverend Benjamin Nzimbi, has withdrawn his hospitality because of Bishop Gladwin's support for homosexuals. He said in a statement that the Kenyan church was "unable to continue with advancing the lined-up activities with the diocese of Chelmsford".
Bishop Gladwin, who is in Kenya with his wife Lydia, was announced this month as one of four new patrons of Changing Attitude, the campaigning group that aims at the "full inclusion" of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people in the Church of England. The Anglican Church in Kenya is part of the "Global South" group of provinces that remain fundamentally opposed to the liberal agenda adopted by provinces such as the Episcopal Church of the US.
The Bishop and his party are understood to be safe and are staying in a hotel somewhere in Embu, a diocese to the northeast of Nairobi.
Mobile telephone reception is poor and his chaplain, the Reverend Chris Newlands, who is in Chelmsford, has only been able to speak briefly to Bishop Gladwin.
The Diocese of Embu is wild and remote and off the beaten track in the central highlands of Kenya. It has been hit in the past by outbreaks of typhoid and malaria.
"As there is not much to see or do here, not many travellers hang about," reports the travel website Go2Africa.com. The main town serves as the provincial headquarters for Kenya's eastern province and has an Anglican cathedral, St Paul's. Mr Newlands said that the trip had been more than a year in the planning: "The pronouncement of the Archbishop has given the bishops of the diocese no alternative but to withdraw their hospitality. Bishop John is doing his best to try and heal this problem."
He said that the Bishop, who is chairman of Christian Aid, was "greatly surprised and saddened" by what had happened, as the visit was intended to be wholly devoted to building on the links between the dioceses.
In a statement relayed through his chaplain, Bishop Gladwin said: "I hope that we can get over this misunderstanding and make clear our determination to carry forward the Lambeth Resolutions, and to learn how God is at work in all his people in England and in Kenya."
Last year Bishop Gladwin was forced to cancel a visit to Trinidad and Tobago after the invitation was withdrawn. Again the issue was Bishop Gladwin's support for gays.
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