The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the largest Anglican province in the world, has issued an astonishing communique. It reads, in part (emphasis added):
2. THE ANGLICAN COVENANT
Synod is satisfied with the move by the Global South to continue with its veritable project of defending the faith committed to us against present onslaught from ECUSA, Canada, England and their allies. The need therefore, to redefine and/or re-determine those who are truly Anglicans becomes urgent, imperative and compelling. Synod therefore empowers the leadership of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to give assent to the Anglican Covenant.
3. THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE
The Lambeth Conference which is one of the accepted organs of unity in the Anglican Communion is due for another meeting in 2008. The Synod, after reviewing some recent major events in the Communion, especially the effects of the ‘revisionists’ theology’, which is now making wave in America, Canada and England, observed with dismay the inability of the Church in the aforementioned areas to see reason for repentance from the harm and stress they have caused this communion since 1988 culminating in the consecration of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual in 2003 as a bishop in ECUSA. Synod also regrets the inability of the See of Canterbury to prevent further impairment of the unity of the Church. It therefore, believes strongly that the moral justification for the proposed Lambeth Conference of 2008 is questionable in view of the fact that by promoting teachings and practices that are alien and inimical to the historic formularies of the Church, the Bishops of ECUSA, Canada and parts of Britain have abandoned the Biblical faith of our fathers.
4. GLOBAL SOUTH CONFERENCE
Synod underlines the need for maintaining the age-long tradition of a ten-yearly Conference of Bishops in the Anglican Communion for discussing issues affecting the Church. It therefore calls on the leadership of the Global South and Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) to do everything necessary to put in place a Conference of all Anglican Bishops to hold in 2008 should all efforts to get the apostles of ‘revisionist agenda’ to repent and retrace their steps fail.
RWF continues: I am not certain precisely what this all means, but the final sentence in no. 3 above seems to imply that Nigeria is calling into question whether Lambeth 2008 should take place at all. (For non-Angican readers: Lambeth 2008 is the next scheduled incarnation of the gathering of all of the world's Anglican bishops that takes place in England every 10 years.) And paragraph no. 4 above is apparently calling on the Global South to host its own world-wide Anglican bishops' conference somewhere else instead--a conference that would presumably exclude "the apostles of the 'revsionist agenda'" who have not repented and retraced their erroneous steps. Is this the new Anglican Communion we have heard so much about in the birthing?!
Augustine of Hippo, Bishop of Alexandria defended the faith against the revisionists of his day. Looks like "the south's gonna rise again."
Deo Gratias.
some Ft. Worth church leaders have suggested that Cantebury would wait to Lambreth to make serioud moves against the ECUSA. Maybe Nigeria is telling him 08 is too long. You must do something this year.