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Why the Global South will win the Spiritual and Culture Wars in the Anglican Communion
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
December 28, 2023
It should be apparent by now, even to the Archbishop of Canterbury, that the locus of Anglicanism no longer lies in Lambeth Palace or Canterbury, and that Justin Welby no longer holds the spiritual or cultural reins of leadership in the Anglican Communion.
He has forfeited that right with decisions that have clearly gone against Scripture, the history of Anglicanism; slowly but steadily capitulating to the spirit of the age.
It's like a sinkhole opening up before your eyes, slowly swallowing up churches, bishops and priests, while watching helplessly as the hole increases and more of the Church of England falls into it never to be seen again.
Welby has been permanently sidelined by outspoken archbishops like Henry Ndukuba of Nigeria, Mouneer Anis of Egypt, Justin Badi of South Sudan and James Wong of the Indian Ocean. A raft of other archbishops in both GAFCON and the GSFA have signed off on the archbishop's leadership, politely but firmly declaring they will have nothing more to do with him.
One wonders, as 2023 slips away, if Justin Welby understands the depth of disengagement he now faces, and why, in his darkest and depressed moments, he looks in the mirror and sees the face of a man who has lost the plot. Sadly, he has become a snake oil salesman picking and choosing whom he will hustle as the CofE sinks deeper into the sinkhole.
Even as Western Anglicanism declines, the Global South continues to rise as African Anglican provinces add new dioceses with thousands of new believers and The Episcopal Church contracts with merging dioceses.
Pansexuality has not proven to be a winning ticket for Welby; it has divided his own church just as it has divided The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. Blessing same sex relationships is still blessing sodomy any way you look at it; homosexual marriage is only a matter of time, as TEC has shown the communion.
It doesn't require rocket science to see where all this is going. It is as if a blind Welby approaches our Lord and asks to see again, then having his eyes opened he announces that blindness was to be preferred as the world really is a horrible place to look at.
In truth he only owns 15 percent of practicing Anglicans in the communion and they are aging and will be gone in a generation, their money with them.
ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach, (whom Welby does not recognize as a legitimate Anglican,) put it well when he wrote, "with broken hearts, we must say that until the Archbishop of Canterbury repents, we can no longer recognize him as the first among equals." One wonders if Welby doesn't see, read or hear this as bad news, or news he can simply ignore because of Archbishop Beach's irregular status or lack of same.
The sad truth is; Welby's day is done. Just as Rowan Williams his predecessor saw the writing on the wall and retired early, courtesy of her majesty the Queen, perhaps Welby, once knighted by King Charles III will make an honorable exit, and announce that family considerations make it impossible for him to continue and wishes the communion God speed.
Whatever happens, the Global South now owns the Anglican Communion and they don't have to force schism, because they are the theological heirs of Thomas Cranmer and his legitimate heirs. Welby is toast. Burnt toast. And there is only one thing you do with such toast and that is to toss it out.
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