Anglican leaders from across the continent of Africa have made an emotional appeal to Muslim faith leaders to stand with them in opposition to "tragic violence that is destroying our communities".

The appeal was issued at the end of a three-day meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa in Burundi where conflict between the two faiths was high on the agenda.

The statement read: "The Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa…has noted with much sadness the increasing deterioration between Muslim and Christian communities in different parts of the world, specifically our Provinces of Sudan, Nigeria, and the Diocese of Egypt.

"As a council, coming from communities diverse in religion and culture, the present circumstances have forced us to ask whether the violence we see and experience is driven by religious intolerance from our brothers of different religions with whom we have lived together for generations, in some cases centuries, or whether in fact it is a result of a much greater problem of exploitation of ignorance and religious beliefs for political gain.

"Whatever the cause, the subsequent violence is devastating. In most cases, this societal decline has resulted in bloodshed, loss of life, livelihoods, poor living standards, and has bred bitterness and hopelessness."

Highlighting conflict in Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt and Nigeria the statement–signed on behalf of CAPA by the outgoing Chairman Archbishop Ian Ernest–called for an end to violence that "destabilise whole communities".

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Church organizations are unhappy with the stance taken by the U.S. government to tie foreign aid to the assurance of homosexual rights.

The Zambia Episcopal Conference, the Pentecostal Church's Bishops' Council of Zambia and the Zambia United Christian Action said that it was unwise for the U.S. government to use its money to force other nations to permit "ungodly practices" in their land.

Homosexuality is illegal in many African countries, with some nations enforcing stiff penalties, including imprisonment, for people who engage in homosexual relationships and practices.

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We were awoken a couple of weeks ago to a fiat issued by UK Prime Minister David Cameron which minced no words in spelling out that African governments recognize gay rights or expect no future aids from the UK government.

This decree, most obviously, was necessitated by an earlier incident in Kenya where gays were arrested by police, publicly ridiculed and kept behind bars for practicing what the Kenyan culture (like all African cultures) considers alien and abominable. The choice between aid and cultural value cannot be any easier to make as African governments hungrily wait on these aids from the West to balance their budgets and to do good their electoral promise if they really intend staying in office for long.

So, for Cameron to link gay rights to aid was a most cleverly-woven web of landmines, even the most calculated step taken will be met with undesirable consequences that could last a whole generation.

To aggravate the state of confusion, we read of a deadly punch by U.S President Barack Obama just last week where he gives voice to what Cameron has said earlier- African States recognize gay rights or cease dreaming of aid from the U.S.

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Anglican Mission in the Americas will go it alone until new overseas oversight is formed
Three overseas archbishops stand with AMIA

 The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), the first group of Episcopalians to leave The Episcopal Church over a crisis of faith and leadership more than a decade ago, has withdrawn from the Anglican Province of Rwanda following a breakdown in talks between Rwanda and the Anglican Mission, which was exploring the possibility of reorganizing as a Missionary Society and no longer simply as a Personal Prelature.

The chairman of the Anglican Mission, the Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy, III announced yesterday that he and seven of his fellow Anglican Mission bishops, along with retired Bishop John Rodgers, have resigned from the Anglican Province of Rwanda due to a strong difference in opinion about the future structure and identity of the Anglican Mission. You can read the letter of resignation here.

Bishop Murphy had been seated as a Primatial vicar in the Rwandan House of Bishops on an equal footing with Rwanda's House of Bishops.

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The work and the relationship between the AMiA and the Province of Rwanda remains solid and cherished, as we discuss and explore together the future shape of our life and our work in the mission from the Lord which we share on two continents. As always, we ask for your prayers and support as we continue to seek the best way forward together in growing the Lord’s Kingdom on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Most Rev. Onesphore Rwaje
Archbishop and Primate
Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda

The Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy, III
Primatial Vicar and Chairman
The Anglican Mission in the Americas

The news was released with fanfare from London. "Church leaders have welcomed a decision to appoint a Communications Officer in Africa to help Anglicans there better share with the world their stories of life and ministry. The move is an important next step in improving communications between Anglican Communion Churches and in ensuring Anglicans everywhere to hear about the successes and challenges of fulfilling God's mission in differing contexts."

The communications officer will be hired from Africa and located in the Nairobi offices of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA).

The question that must be asked is why are orthodox Global South African leaders allowing, indeed welcoming, this communications post on African soil at a time when these same leaders are saying they have broken communion with the Instruments of Unity including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council?

What on earth are CAPA bishops doing letting these people through the communications door when they raised a storm of protest about The Episcopal Church funding the CAPA summit in August 2010, which led to the money being sent back. See story here.

Why are they giving The Episcopal Church's false prophets a platform in Kenyan Archbishop Eliud Wabukala's backyard when just last week he told REFORM leaders in England, "We are building a truly global fellowship" and that "growing confusion and disorder haunts Anglican Communion."

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"The Anglican Communion's Instruments of Unity have become dysfunctional and no longer have the ecclesial and moral authority to hold the Communion together" — Global South Primates

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams is losing the fight to keep the Anglican Communion together.

His forays to Africa (Kenya and Congo), following the disastrous Dublin Primates gathering which saw a third of his archbishops (mostly African) refusing to show up, reveal a communion in tatters with his ability to hold it all together now permanently impaired. On a recent trip to Kenya he was accepted as primus inter pares, but not as the leader of the Anglican Communion, a mild slap in the face.

His more recent foray to Zimbabwe proved only a partial success. Dr. Williams was able to paint President Mugabe and Bishop Kunonga as part of the evil empire of homophobia, but he took some serious hits when he was painted as a man who could not make up his mind about what he thought about homosexuality and therefore betrayed the Communion. British Anglican columnist Charles Raven noted Williams' strategic abilities and suggested that his confrontation with Mugabe "looks like an exercise in Lambeth Palace's African 'realpolitik' which orthodox Anglicans ignore at their peril."

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THE Archbishop of Canterbury flew out to Africa on Wednesday evening to begin a week-long pastoral visit to the Church of the Province of Central Africa. He has requested a meeting with the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, on Monday, when he visits the country.

The 48 hours that Dr Williams spends in Zimbabwe will be the most sensitive. It is thought likely that, if the meeting with President Mugabe goes ahead, the deposed Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, will be in attendance.

Dr Williams will wish to protest at the expulsion of Anglican congregations from their churches by Kunonga. Last month, Kunonga supporters evicted carers from an orphanage that is run by an Anglican mission loyal to mainstream Anglicans and the Bishop of Harare, the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya (News, 16 September). It was the latest event in a series of evictions of clergy, after a High Court ruling last month gave Kunonga custody of church property (News, 19 August).

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REBEL Anglican cleric Nolbert Kunonga claims the Archbishop of Canterbury is visiting Zimbabwe in October to “lobby for homosexuality” and “represent neo-colonialism”.

Kunonga, who was banished by the main Anglican Province of Central Africa and the worldwide Anglican Church in 2007, charged that Archbishop Rowan Williams was a “civil servant on a mission”.

“The Anglican Church is a political organisation when it is in England,” said Kunonga, who denied he was a Zanu PF “puppet”.

He added: “Rowan William was appointed by the Queen and the Prime Minister and he is a civil servant of Britain. In a political and economic environment, the civil servant represents and symbolises with his State.

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1. At the kind invitation of His Excellency Mr. Wang Zuoan, Minister for the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) of the People’s Republic of China, following his visit to some African provinces earlier this year, we, the Primates of the Global South of the Anglican Communion, visited China from 30 August to 10 September 2011. It is with regret that a few other Primates were unable to be with us due to urgent matters that require their attention.

2. We wish to express our deep appreciation for the cordial hospitality extended to us by Mr. Wang, the staff of SARA and the religious affairs authorities of Jiangsu Province and the cities of Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai. This visit is opening the way for greater cooperation between China and the countries we represent, especially in the areas of church development, social services and commercial activity.

3. Our hearts are greatly warmed by the fellowship we enjoyed with the senior pastors and church leaders in the various cities. We are particularly grateful for the brotherly hospitality of Elder Fu Xianwei, Chairman of the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM), and the Rev Gao Feng, President of the China Christian Council (CCC).

4. Most of all, we are grateful to God for this historic opportunity for deeper fellowship, prayer and reflection among ourselves as Primates of the Global South.

5. The visit has been an extraordinary learning experience for us. We are amazed at the advances in economic growth and social development in China over the past three decades, including the recognition and encouragement given to the church and other religious organizations.

6. We are also inspired by the exponential growth of the Church in China, in spite of the challenges she faces. We are encouraged to see a Church that is actively leading people to faith in Christ, training lay leaders for ministry, advancing the theological education of catechists and clergy, and being a blessing to society, especially in providing social services to the needy.

7. We rejoice that the Amity Printing Press in Nanjing has printed over 90 million copies of the Bible, most of which are for distribution in China. Bibles and New Testaments are printed in nine ethnic minority languages. Amity Press has also printed Bibles for many African countries.

8. The Amity Foundation, as the first Christian-initiated non-profit social welfare organization in China, is engaged in an impressive range of relief and development projects for disadvantaged communities, signifying a move from being self-sufficient to achieving excellence.

9. These achievements affirm the church’s faithfulness in doing God’s work in a manner that is self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating. In all this, we recognize God’s divine providence, grace and wisdom.

10. We are also excited by the invitation by the Church in China, with the support and encouragement of SARA, to develop a long-term relationship with the Global South of the Anglican Communion for mutual encouragement and sharing of experiences.

11. In our reflections, we found that our Anglican Communion has also undergone a tremendous transformation in recent decades. Today, the majority of Anglicans are found no longer in the west, but in churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America that are firmly committed to our historic faith and order.

12. At the same time, it grieves us deeply to observe many Anglican churches in the west yielding to secular pressure to allow unacceptable practices in the name of human rights and equality. Beginning with the undermining of Scriptural authority and two millennia of church tradition, the erosion of orthodoxy has gone as far as the ordination and consecration of active gay and lesbian clergy and bishops, and the development of liturgies for same-sex marriage.

13. We are wholeheartedly committed to the unity of Anglican Communion and recognize the importance of the historic See of Canterbury. Sadly, however, the Anglican Communion’s Instruments of Unity have become dysfunctional and no longer have the ecclesial and moral authority to hold the Communion together. For instance:

13.1. It was regrettable that the Lambeth Conference 2008 was designed not to make any resolutions that would have helped to resolve the crisis facing the Communion.

13.2. The Primates’ Meeting in Dublin in January 2011 was planned without prior consultation with the Primates in regard to the agenda. There was no commitment to follow through the recommendations of previous Primates’ Meetings. The responsibility given by all bishops at the 1988 and 1998 Lambeth Conferences for the Primates’ Meeting to “exercise an enhanced responsibility in offering guidance on doctrinal, moral and pastoral matters” seems to have been completely set aside.

13.3. The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the Anglican Communion Standing Committee, and Communion-level commissions such as the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) and the Anglican Communion Liturgical Commission no longer reflect the common mind of the churches of the Communion because many members from the Global South can no longer with good conscience attend these meetings as issues that are aggravating and tearing the fabric of the Communion are being ignored.

14. We have devoted much time to discuss the Anglican Communion Covenant and the Preambleby the Province of South East Asia documenting the historical events leading up to the Covenant and insisting that the Primates should be the proper moral and spiritual authority for the monitoring of the Covenant. The Covenant with the Preamble have been commended to our respective Provinces for further study and decision.

15. We are committed to uphold the apostolic faith and traditions that define us as Anglicans. This commitment compels us to adopt a proactive stance with respect to our common mission and witness.

15.1. We are planning a Missions Consultation with the theme “Decade of Mission and Networking” as proposed in the Fourth South-to-South Encounter, as a unifying vocational platform on which we realize and build up our common life and witness. Orthodox Anglican churches and groups will be invited to join hands with us in missions.

15.2. We commend the initiatives of theological education carried out in some of our provinces to strengthen the theological foundations and deepen theological reflection among future leaders of the Church.

15.3. We are developing economic empowerment strategies and networks to enable churches in the Global South to be more economically self-sustaining using the resources God has blessed each of our nations.

15.4. We are committed to support faithful orthodox Anglican churches and groups in the west which share our historic faith and order.

16. Inspired by the grace of God which we have witnessed in China, and refreshed by our fellowship with one another in Christ, we continue to pray that all who confess the name of Christ may be united in His truth, live together in His love, and reveal His glory in the world. Amen.

The Word of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures unites us.

Signatories:

Most Rev Dr John Chew

Most Rev Henry Luke Orombi

Most Rev Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis

Most Rev Justice Ofei Akrofi

Most Rev Bernard Ntahoturi

Most Rev Nicholas Dikeriehi Okoh*

Most Rev Stephen Than Myint Oo

Most Rev Hector Zavala

Most Rev Eliud Wabukala

Most Rev Onesphore Rwaje

Most Rev Albert Chama

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is right to expose himself to risk by visiting Zimbabwe, where many Christians practise their faith in fear, and meeting its President, Robert Mugabe.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the Anglican Communion. That is not an enviable position to hold: the doctrinal splits in worldwide Anglicanism have become so bitter that Dr Rowan Williams has spent much of his time in office caught in the crossfire between liberal and evangelical lobbies, acting more as a harassed chairman than any sort of leader. This week, however, Lambeth Palace announced that Dr Williams plans to display leadership in a practical and brave way. He will travel to Zimbabwe next month to show solidarity with Anglicans caught up in the vicious factional disputes associated with Robert Mugabe’s violent regime.

Dr Williams has also requested a meeting with Mr Mugabe, which promises to be an awkward occasion. The Zimbabwean president already commands the loyalty of several discredited Anglican and Catholic bishops in his country – a situation that should be a source of shame for both Churches. The encounter requires a mixture of plain speaking and diplomacy; the Archbishop must resist the temptation to waffle. And he should be aware that Mr Mugabe – nominally a Roman Catholic – is a master of the dictator’s art of turning visits by well-meaning dignitaries into publicity stunts, and especially good at exploiting the naivety of Left-wing clergymen.

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Homosexual relations are a sin, the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Central Africa said last week, releasing a statement clarifying the province’s stand on the issue dividing the Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Albert Chama also said that his church’s continued interaction with those portions of the Anglican Communion that have sought to normalize same-sex relations should not be construed to mean the Central African church had endorsed the innovation.

Homosexuality has been a divisive political and ecclesial issue in Central Africa. The former bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga has charged the province with being ‘soft’ on homosexuality, and has used the controversies within the Anglican Communion to his advantage in the property disputes with the province. In neighboring Zambia and Malawi, western NGO’s and overseas governments have also pressed for the reform of sodomy laws criminalizing “unnatural vice.”

However, the pressure to reform Central African criminal and civil codes to bring it in lie with modern European sensibilities has been heavy handed at times, and has caused a backlash by church and government leaders resentful of the encroachment upon their national sovereignties.

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If generic New York Times readers know anything at all about Anglican bishops in Africa, surely they know that most of them are quite conservative on matters of faith and practice. For example, they are opposed to homosexual activity of any kind — a position that is very common on a continent in which their growing churches often directly clash with conservative Islam.

LEADERSHIP was the prevailing theme of six television sermons delivered in London this week (5.4.2011) by the anglican archbishop of Jos, in Northern Nigeria. On his way to speak at the New Word Alive event in Pwllheli, Wales, he stopped off in central London where the film crew of Vivid Broadcast were waiting for him.

The archbishop is the latest of some 30 international evangelical preachers from different denominations who have agreed to be filmed in ‘The Sermon’ – an on-going programme of short biblical addresses – featured at present on an accessible dedicated website (www.thesermon.co.uk) and eventually geared for transmission on international TV stations. The series has a natural affinity with the popular international TV and home group programmes, Open Home Open Bible and Book by Book. To date some 200 sermons have been filmed

Speaking with animated conviction from the New Testament letter to Titus, Ben Kwashi repeatedly reminded his unseen audience of the adversities that can be unleashed upon faithful adherence to the Gospel – as illustrated in the Crete of Titus’ day, or in parts of Africa today. “God is looking for a Titus in bad places!” And the greatest need today? “Teaching, more than any other gift, is what is needed in the world,” said the archbishop.

Evangelical leaders in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa have called upon the church’s Synod of Bishops to clarify their ambiguous statements on human sexuality.

On March 17, the Fellowship of Confession Anglicans (FCA) in South Africa published an open letter on the internet, making a “plea for clarity on the position and teaching of our faith” in light of bishops’ February pastoral letter.

At the close of their Feb 7-12 meeting in Natal, the Southern African bishops deferred taking action on adopting guidelines for the blessing of same-sex unions, citing legal difficulties and theological divisions within their ranks.

A draft document entitled “Pastoral Guidelines in Response to Civil Unions” was reviewed by the bishops at their Sept 2010 meeting and distributed to the dioceses. The February 2011 meeting, however, stated the bishops were not able to approve the document. “It is difficult to give blanket guidelines [on same-sex blessings] because the position is starkly at variance in the legal systems of the seven countries where we work.”

“We continue to work on creating guidelines in several areas of difficulty raised by the issue of civil unions,” the bishops said—which are legal in South Africa, but illegal in the six other nations in the province.

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Where these Primates are concerned, arriving at such decision was not a sudden or knee-jerk reaction. Both before, and more so after, The Episcopal Church has once again proceeded, against widespread appeals and warnings across the Anglican Communion, not least from the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, to consecrate an openly lesbian Mary Glasspool as bishop. The concerned group of Global South Primates had communicated very clearly with the Archbishop of Canterbury, especially those who were present at the All African Bishops’ Conference (Entebbe, Uganda Aug 2010), in a private conversation with him. They have indicated that it would be extremely difficult – and in fact, quite pointless – for them to be present at the planned Primates’ Meeting 2011.

Unless and until there is unequivocal commitment to honour the agreed basis of Lambeth Resolution 1.10 and implement the decisions of previous Primates’ Meetings (2005, 2007, 2009) expressed in the respective Communiqués, especially that of Dar es Salem 2007, it will only lead to further erosion of the credibility of the Primates’ Meeting and accentuate our failure to honour the work already done by them.

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