Kenya delegation is going to ACC 16 Lusaka without Archbishop’s blessing
by
From Archbishop of Kenya: The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukala
Statement on Anglican Consultative Council 16, Lusaka [Link at ACK]
It is a matter of regret that this Church’s delegation to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Lusaka has been encouraged to disregard my spiritual counsel and attend this meeting.
In January, the Primates meeting at Canterbury agreed to curtail the participation of the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC) in Communion bodies for a period of three years in view of its formal adoption of same sex ‘marriage’.
The provisions of this resolution, and the Primates’ authority to make it, have been rejected by Bishop Tengatenga, the Chairman of the ACC. As a result, the Provinces of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and most recently Jerusalem and the Middle East announced that they could not attend.
Despite my public statement and my personal direction to them, the Kenyan delegation has informed me of their intention to be present, with air tickets purchased for them and assignments already given.
It seems that the rejection of the moral and spiritual authority of the Primates by the ACC Chairman, without public rebuke from the Archbishop of Canterbury, has become infectious and is encouraging further breakdown of godly order in the Communion.
The underlying cause of this particular problem, which is just one symptom among many, is the doctrinal confusion that has been allowed to take root in the Communion. The GAFCON movement, of which I am Chairman, is committed to the deep healing of the Anglican Communion by restoring the Bible to its rightful place among us and I remain entirely committed to that great cause.
The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukala,
Archbishop of Kenya and Bishop, All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi
6th April 2016
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The Archbishop confuses Godly order with obedience to his wishes. Only in times of tyranny have Anglicans, to their shame, interpreted them as the same.
Perhaps some members of the Church in Kenya would like to align themselves as a Province of TEC.
a little moral retribution is a good form of "comeupance".
Keep in mind that the Anglican Communion Women, who were delegates to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, wrote a statement affirming that the sisters would stay in communion and walk together, no matter what the brothers do.
So mutiny is already well in place. The sisters vision of the Promised Land is walking together and Brother Wabukala is most welcome to walk with us, but no, we're not following his "spiritual direction." We're looking to the Risen Lord instead.
Cynthia, blessings upon you and the Anglican sisters who are resolutely walking together. I did not comment earlier on the wonderful work you all did at the UN meeting so let me now say how deeply I appreciated that work, and your reporting on it here at the Cafe. This walking together restores rather than undermines "godly order". There will always be those who are vulnerable to being trapped in a wrong understanding of that "order", thinking that it is a matter of the bosses (usually men) wielding power over others. As we walk along rejoicing, let us continue to hold them in prayer as they wrestle with the breakdown of the order they thought was meant to be.
Wonderful news!
It seems that the Chair of GAFCON has little real authority in his own Province of Kenya. This could be an indication of the reality of GAFCON's power over the people of its own provinces. It also goes to show that the G. Primates are in a minority of those in their provinces who are homophobic and sexist.
The Holy Spirit is still alive and working - because Christ IS risen, Alleluia!
What makes it all even more sad, is not taking a cue from what God did in the Genesis story: let the created one chose who was a suitable companion for himself (after several divine misfires).
Here's a question: When does perpetuating a teaching or tradition of the church become a sin? I'm thinking about slavery, for instance, and the several decades of private member bills voted down in Parliament before Wilberforce's abolition cause prevailed.
For me, this whole primates vs. TEC vs. ACC saga has caused a lot of sadness and disappointment without much peace. I felt like standing with our LGBT neighbors meant a breaking of bonds with our neighbors in Africa.
Now, these neighbors from Kenya, whom I've never met and never will meet, just turned the whole thing upside down and brought joy to my heart. God bless and safe travels!
It is such a shame that the archbishops' game of holier-than-thou is being disrupted by people who want no part of it.
I regret Kenyans, the Anglican ones, had to be tormented so long by The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukalas version of holy=pridefilled and hateful=discrimination and harm done to LGBTI Christians at Church...well done folks, mil gracias! Abrazos all-around as the Son shines in!
Amen. The Kenyan deputyonlineforum@churchreply.com apparently understands that an unofficial meeting (or an official one) has no power to tell the ABC what to do. Order is being restored by their attendance, not disrupted.
Oh, gosh! Perhaps the Kenyan delegates to the ACC are actually Christians formed in the Anglican way. That must really get Archbishop Wabukala's goat!
It's a crying shame when people won't do what their archbishops tell them to do. Surely it's not Anglican. The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukala (chair of Gafcon) complains of the failure of Archbishop of Canterbury to enforce resolutions of the Primates Gathering. This just goes to show, primates don't have the power that primates like Wabukala say they do. The Anglican Communion is not the Catholic Church. Long live the Anglican Communion. Surely this is grounds for termination as chair of Gafcon.
"As a result, the Provinces of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and most recently Jerusalem and the Middle East announced that they could not attend. "
Not that they "could not." They could, but they won't.
The province of Jerusalem and the Middle East will be represented. The primate of that province said he will not go, but he isn't the provincial representative. He was elected as one of the reps from the Primates Meeting.
So +Anis would be one of the Primates' Meeting's members of the Standing Committee.
Actually, which of those primates could attend anyway? Only a handful of primates are members of the Anglican Consultative Council to begin with.