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ARCHBISHOP WELBY'S DISINTEGRATING COMMUNION

ARCHBISHOP WELBY'S DISINTEGRATING COMMUNION
Less than half of England and Wales population Christian, Census 2021 shows
The Anglican Communion has lost its heart, says Egyptian Archbishop

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
December 3, 2022

It must be hell living in Archbishop Justin Welby's head.

Every which way Welby turns, the Anglican Communion over which he asserts moral authority roils from one crisis to the next with the Church of England facing implosion over homosexual marriage.

Apologizing over ancient sins, only brought ridicule as Welby traipsed the world with lordly mea culpas on his lips.

Then, of course, there was the failed attempt at the recent Lambeth Conference to forge a middle way over homosexuality. He couldn't, of course. He finally said that both positions on homosexuality were equally correct because both sides had prayed about it. They had exegeted the Bible for themselves, so living with difference was the order of the day. Why can't we all just get along and stop making declarative statements even if the Bible from time to time does so, especially about sex.

Two notable homosexual appointments in the Church of England; one a new Dean of Canterbury and the other Welby's Appointments Secretary, incurred the wrath of six GAFCON bishops, who accused Welby of caving in. Which, of course, he did. They blasted Welby. In a Communique, they called his actions a "heartbreaking provocation", "duplicitous" and "departure from biblical standards."

The tear in the fabric of the Communion has only deepened, perhaps irreparably in the appointment of a homosexual as the next Dean to Canterbury, they said.

Publicly, Welby is being upstaged on climate change by his predecessor, Rowan Williams. Williams enjoys sit-ins and climbing a "holy mountain" in Wales to pray and plant trees, hoping the God of all oaks will allow the planet to continue a wee bit longer so the tea drinkers in Lambeth Palace can announce that God has heard their cry. https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-events/faith-leaders-join-climate-pilgrimage-on-wales-holy-mountain/

This week the former archbishop of Egypt, Dr. Mouneer Anis delivered a broadside against Welby, saying the communion had lost its heart. This must be especially galling as Welby is the ultimate bleeding heart. His predecessor was all head with very little heart.

The English Churchman ran a headline, GAY MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND COULD DISQUALIFY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY FROM LEADING THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION. That surely must hurt.

IF the Church of England moves towards blessing same sex marriage, or 'opts into' allowing gay marriages in its churches as a result of the church's General Synod meeting in February 2023, "pain and distress will be felt by millions of faithful Anglicans across the globe", and "significant questions would be asked as to whether Archbishop Justin Welby would be able to continue to lead the Anglican Communion," said Anis, Archbishop Emeritus of Egypt, a global Statesman within the Anglican Communion and an Adviser to the Primates of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), whose Provinces represent 75% of Anglicans across the globe.

In an essay entitled 'Are We Really A Communion?', https://virtueonline.org/are-we-really-communion-archbishop-mouneer-anis released on St Andrews Day (Nov30), the day the global Church celebrates Jesus calling his first disciple to deny self and follow Him, the Primate Emeritus says that any move in a 'revisionist direction' by the CofE would be a "deeply damaging unilateral decision", by a Province "that is supposed to lead the Anglican Communion." Further, "it will contribute to the current divisions, and will badly affect the mission of other Provinces in the Global South."

The Egyptian Anglican statesman said that he is "deeply saddened to say that the Anglican Communion we have loved, though it has kept its name, yet has lost its heart; which is the interdependence." You can read it all here: https://virtueonline.org/are-we-really-communion-archbishop-mouneer-anis

And then the news broke that less than half of England and Wales is even Christian anymore! The Church of England is failing to evangelize their own people, prompting theologian J. John, Director of the Philo Trust to write; "We need a better, more positive and more dynamic strategy. In my view, and I claim the Bible on my side, what is needed is not a stripped-down creed tuned to the prevailing mood of the culture.

"No one goes to church to hear exactly what they get from the media and from their friends and colleagues. What will bring them in and see them committed to the church is the full- blooded, confident preaching of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Paradoxically the way to change the census figures is to ignore them and instead focus on producing changed lives through Jesus Christ."

Given the state of things in the communion, is it any wonder that Nigerian Primate Henry Ndukuba, who leads the world's largest Anglican province, has about as much respect for Welby as dog poop on a sidewalk. There is no love lost between the two men.

Archbishop Welby recently blasted the Nigerian Primate over homosexual comments the African leader made, calling them "unacceptable", adding that it dehumanizes those human beings. Ndukuba fired back calling homosexuality a "deadly virus", likening homosexuality to a yeast that should be urgently and radically expunged and excised lest it affect the whole dough".

American Anglican Bishop Felix Orji said Welby lacks the credibility for any weighty statement worthy of attention on the matter of human sexuality at hand.

"Sadly, he won't weigh in when he should especially when TEC and other immoral rascals are running amok on moral issues in the Anglican Communion. Now he weighs in because he sees the Church of Nigeria as a threat to his global agenda to normalize homosexuality in the Anglican Communion."

If Welby is that conflicted, is it any wonder he battles depression? Lesser men have jumped off bridges.

British secularist journalists are also weighing in on Welby. UK Jewish journalist Melanie Phillips had some caustic things to say about Welby and the CofE.

She noted that in the UK, a mere 11 per cent of Christians said faith was important to them, while in sub-Saharan Africa (other than in South Africa), it was above 80 per cent!

"The fact that so few Christians in Britain think their faith is important to them suggests that the Anglican church in particular utterly fails to project Christianity as a vital asset to individual lives." Clearly, Welby and his bishops bear much responsibility for that.

One astute Anglican observer noted that this apparently sensational news about the decline of Christianity in the UK is not the real story. "Nominal Christianity has been around for 100+ years, and the only meaningful statistics are those for actual church attendance, which have plummeted to less than 2%, often far less in many areas, as the mainstream churches have sought to imitate the prevailing values and mores of a secular state, instead of proclaiming repentance and belief. The Church of England thinks it can win the nation by replacing clergy with shiny district offices and hub managers."

Both the CofE and the RCC are still closing church buildings and removing resident clergy, rather than seeking to expand the numbers of pastors and evangelists.

Therein lies the problem. Men without theological chests are running the show; chief among them is Welby. He and they are giving off uncertain sounds from the pulpit while pushing homosexual marriage as a study in "justice" and post-modern enlightenment thinking, even a church life saver. But it failed in the American Episcopal Church, and it will fail in the Church of England.

As one ACNA bishop noted; "It's the message that's the problem! What the English are rejecting is not the Gospel. It is fake-woke-Jesus. For a generation, there has not been a cohesive Gospel voice from the C of E. Many ethnic churches are thriving in the UK. The ones that maintain Biblical truth are the strongest churches there."

To say that Welby has lost the plot, doesn't really begin to touch it. He is leading the CofE right off the cliff, with a handful of homosexuals and lesbians in lemming lockstep with him. All this has angered Global South Anglican Christians who believe Scripture is sacred on sex as it is on everything else.

The Anglican Communion is rudderless and leaderless. Archbishop Anis is right. Any innovation in the faith and practice within the Church of England will heavily impact the rest of the communion, unlike innovations within other Provinces.

"How long will you waver between two opinions? cried Elijah. "If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." 1Kings 18:21. This is a lesson Welby will learn, hopefully before it is too late.

END

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