Homosexuality: COU may secede

17 Feb 2008- Kampala, Uganda- THE contention over homosexuality has returned to rattle the unity of the worldwide Anglican Communion ahead of the Lambeth Conference mid-year.

In the latest twist, four of Africa’s 11 Anglican provinces, namely, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria plus the Province of South Cone (South America), have resolved to boycott this year’s Lambeth Conference in July in the UK.

They are protesting perceived tacit approval of gay practices by the majority in the Communion of 38 provincial churches. A couple other provinces are reportedly mulling a boycott.

The Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the provincial secretary of the Church of Uganda, has warned that the unrestrained conduct of some American clergy in endorsing homosexuality could soon cause the Anglican Communion to disintegrate.

“If they don’t change and continue to support homosexual practices and same-sex marriage, our relationship with them will be completely broken,” Canon Mwesigye said.

And in the alternative, suggested Canon Mwesigye, the African churches and many others in the fold would focus on building their individual fellowships, after all what matters in spiritual growth is belief in and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Anglicanism is just an identity and if they abuse it, we shall secede,” he said. “Yes, we shall remain Christians but not in the same [Anglican] Communion.”

Ms Alison Barfoot, Archbishop Luke Orombi’s assistant in charge of international relations, said the Church of Uganda’s decision to shun the forthcoming Lambeth Conference “was to communicate that this [homosexuality disagreement] is a very serious issue. How else do we make our point known”?

Asked what Uganda would miss as a result of staying away, Ms Barfoot said: “Of course, going to the Canterbury in UK, the fellowships, and establishing relationships [with peers].”
As it turns out, the planned conference will also consider the Covenant – binding rules to minimise turbulent effects of divisive issues such as homosexuality.

Uganda, however, has got a way around to have its views on the Covenant heard.
According to Ms Barfoot, Archbishop Orombi is due to summon theologians across the country to brainstorm on the document and their opinion will be forwarded to inform discussions at Lambeth.

The Lambeth Conference, held every 10 years, is a convention of bishops from the worldwide fellowship of national and regional churches with the Church of England headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

And as is customary in the Anglican doctrine, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in this case Dr Rowan Williams, calls the symposium to provide a platform for the Primates to worship, study and dialogue on a wide range of pertinent socio-religious, political and economic issues that affect their flock.

One such contemporary subject that dominated discussions during the last Lambeth Conference in 1998 was homosexuality and after protracted discussions then, it was agreed under Section 5 of Resolution 1:10 that from that time on, the Anglican Communion “cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions

Five years down the road, however, the Episcopal Church in the United States, which is the name of the Anglican Church in that country, ordained the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop, a move that returned to the fore debate on the place of homosexuality in the Communion.

African clerics under the aegis of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa warned then that ordaining gays would “tear the fabric of the Anglican Communion at its deepest level”.

But the position in Africa is not uniformly anti-homosexuality. Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu, a former Archbishop of Cape Town, is much more accommodating. His views, however, are in the minority on the continent.

The conflict over homosexuality, however, has led to a myriad of churches, including the Church of Uganda, and some parishes in the United States to sever ties with American dioceses seen to be accommodating of homosexuality.

Hajji Abdu Katende, the head of religious studies at Makerere University, said that it was incorrect for some western clerics to favour homosexuality as a cultural rather than divine issue.

“I think the African Anglicans are challenging same-sex marriage based on the teachings of the Bible, and the Holy Book does not give one message for the whites and another for blacks,” he said.

In the Book of Leviticus 19:22 (The King James Version), the Lord commanded thus: “You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman: it is abomination.”

Thus Hajji Katende argued that much as Christianity emanated from and was propagated by western missionaries in Africa, homosexual practice remains incompatible with the teachings of the Scriptures, whose message is universal.

“Supposing that a Christian community in the world came up today and said their culture allows them to kill and they want to practice that, what would happen to Christianity as an institution?” he said.

Basing on the universality of Christian values and resolution 1:10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the House of Bishops in Uganda, meeting in Kampala on January 24, 2008, endorsed their December 2006 position denouncing homosexuality.

They also resolved not to attend this year’s Lambeth Conference.
In an unusually terse press statement issued on Wednesday, Archbishop Orombi denounced the arrogance of some of their western counterparts to disregard the Scriptures and okay unnatural sexual unions.

“Consultations are going on at different levels on how to deal with this crisis, which, among others, includes planning for a meeting of Biblically orthodox Anglican Bishops, clergy and laity to be held in Jerusalem [Israel] in June 2008,” Archbishop Orombi said.
Hajji Katende of Makerere predicts a gloomy end to the raging crisis.

“Homosexuality is going to be a very difficult issue to resolve and I think it will eventually lead to the break up of the Anglican Church, just like the Anglican Church initially seceded from the mother Catholic Church,” he said.

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