Church of England fears gay rights talks could end global Anglican communion

The Guardian ^ | 01-08-2016 | Harriet Sherwood

[NRx]

The Church of England is braced for a de facto split in the worldwide Anglican communion next week over the issues of gay rights and same-sex marriage. Church leaders from six African countries are expected to walk out of a pivotal summit called by the archbishop of Canterbury.

Bitter divisions among Anglicans on the issue of sexuality are expected to intensify at the week-long meeting of the 38 leaders of national churches at Canterbury cathedral. Archbishops from conservative churches in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Rwanda and Congo are likely to walk out of the summit within a day or two of its opening on Monday.

"There's going to be a lot of drama," said a senior C of E source. "It's 90% likely that the six will walk out. If we get past Tuesday, we'll be doing well."

The meeting of Anglican primates was called by Justin Welby in a last-ditch effort to move the global church - which claims 85 million followers - beyond the issue of homosexuality in order to focus on other pressing matters such as religious violence and climate change. Welby is proposing that, in the face of intractable differences, the communion reshapes itself as a loose confederation of churches rather than adherents to a common doctrine.

But the six African churches are insisting on sanctions against the US Episcopal Church, which tipped the simmering conflict over gay rights into open hostility when it consecrated gay priest Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

[fluffy]

More pressing matters such as climate change. Good God.

[dfwgator]

Go figure that it’s the African Christians that seem to be the only conservatives left in the Church. That goes for the Catholics as well.

[chajin]

The Missionary Hymn, updated for the 21st century:

From Greenland's icy mountains, from India's coral strand;
Where Afric's sunny fountains roll down their golden sand:
From many an ancient river, from many a palmy plain,
We call them to deliver our lands from error's chain.

Shall they, whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high,
Shall they to us benighted the lamp of life deny?
We need to hear salvation! With tears we all proclaim,
Till earth's remotest nations bring us Messiah's Name.

The world has turned upside down; Africa is in the Sonlight of Christ, and it is we who are now in the darkness.

[theBuckwheat]

The time is already long past when they will have to choose between obeying God or doing what popular culture is demanding. Any church disqualifies itself when it directly violates God’s Law. Any minister shames himself when he teaches against God’s Law and especially when he misrepresents God’s Law to the public.

[17th Miss Regt]

"There's going to be a lot of drama," said a senior C of E source. "It's 90% likely that the six will walk out. If we get past Tuesday, we'll be doing well."

A split is more than due. The African churches are being true to scripture.

The American Episcopal church is also true to scripture - that part about the abomination of desolation.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

God Keep the African Christians! Like Ireland of past, they will carry the lantern of Christ out of these dark times of barbarian hordes, hopefully too converting them eventually to Christ.

In “losing”, they will have won for the faith!

[Pollster1]

The issue isn’t actually gay “rights”. The issue is whether Christians should be guided by the Bible or by Obama’s current but evolving beliefs. I’ll stick with scripture.

[aimhigh]

The scriptures draw a line on sexual immorality:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

[stocksthatgoup]

Hey Pope take note!

[impactplayer]

If is fascinating to me that the Episcopal Church spent 200 years sending Christianity to Africa, and now they are the only ones who understand it!

[jimt]

You mean African church leaders aren't willing to accept a Biblical sin which called for "stoning" as a punishment as a new Sacrament ?

How non-pc of them !

[Rurudyne]

How typical, those that need to repent (the folks friendly to anything homosexual, just to be clear) claim they are not the problem.

[cloudmountain]

The issue isn’t actually gay “rights”. The issue is whether Christians should be guided by the Bible or by Obama’s current but evolving beliefs. I’ll stick with scripture.

AMEN.