Posted on 05/24/2006 3:16:50 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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But now the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Reverend Benjamin Nzimbi, has withdrawn his hospitality because of Bishop Gladwin's support for homosexuals.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.
Sounds like something the Apostle Paul would have done. Good for them.
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.
So.......not the first time this has happened.
Abandoned in deepest Africa? I can think of at least 50 politicians I would like to see join him.
Abandoned in deepest Africa
Have they been left in a wildlife refuge? Throwing then to lions would be in line more with Nero than Paul.
Who can blame the Bishop?
Proud of the ArchBishop.
During the whole "gay alcoholic bishop" thing, ECUSA basically told the ArchBishop that they'd cut off funding if he didn't give in.
He said he would starve first.
I'm not saying this to be rude to Catholics or anyone for that matter, but why all of the worry about homosexuals as of late? They're such an insignificant portion of the population, does anyone really care what they're doing?
You do realize this is an Anglican bishop, not a Catholic one, right?
My only minor critique of the Archbishop is that perhaps, upon finding out the Bishop's offending views, the Archbishop should have "withdrawn his hospitality" AND THEN immediately hustled the Bishop home, or dumped him at a western hotel in Nairobi. Simply abandoning him outright, in a dangerous area, seems harsh to me.
Well, it is a apostolic catholic church, just not Roman Catholic, but yes, you are correct.
I think they basically had to walk over to a hotel. The story tries to make it sound tramatic.
"all of the worry about homosexuals as of late? They're such an insignificant portion of the population, does anyone really care what they're doing?"
It has very little to do with homosexuality, actually. That's just the media spin.
The heretics justify homosexual bishop, for example, by basically saying that St. Paul didn't know what he was talking about when he listed the specific qualifications to be a bishop --- which include (paraphrase) "not prone to much drink and not prone to sexual immorality"
Robinson was both an admitted alcoholic (he's now in rehab) and a non-celebate homosexual with a live-in boyfriend.
The long and short --- you either accept the Bible as the Word, or you don't. The heretics, don't.
Wasn't it Paul who also said "Remove the evil man from your group"?
As opposed to hell fire and brimstone from the sky?
Some beliefs are just too
fundamental to a person's
psyche, regardless of what
the authorities say. I'm
sure if gays/lesbians, etc.
hadn't insisted on emerging
from that closet, their lives
would have been much less
complicated. Now, they're
fighting around the world
for their "right to be
respected out in society."
IMO, they had that respect
before they tried to move
the line drawn in the sand.
Cramming your beliefs down
other peoples' throats is never
a winning ploy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.