NIGERIA: Anglican Primate & House of Bishops Will Defy Archbishop Welby Over Faith
Boundary crossings will continue. Nigerian Anglicans will maintain fellowship with churches like ACNA
By David W. Virtuewww.virtueonline.org
January 28, 2014
The Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria Nicholas Okoh and his House of Bishops have again warned the Anglican Communion's leader Archbishop Justin Welby that it will maintain fellowship with churches such as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) who are not part of the communion but "whose faith and practice are agreeable to and based on scriptural foundations."
Meeting recently at the Ibru Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, the Nigerian Church's House of Bishops said the province (the largest body of practicing Anglicans in the communion) "is Bible-based, [and] will continue to maintain fellowship with Churches, but not necessarily on the basis of history."
"As bishops of the Anglican Communion we commend and applaud the work of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and especially the second Global Anglican Future Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya. As bishops of the Church of Nigeria [Anglican Communion] we commit ourselves to the continuation of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. We uphold the Jerusalem Declaration which affirms 'the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation,' and call upon Christians everywhere to declare and defend the faith 'once for all entrusted to the saints'."
To date the Archbishop of Canterbury has not recognized the ACNA. Canadian Anglican Archbishop Fred Hiltz explicitly warned Welby not to do so soon after he became the new leader of the Anglican Communion.
At GAFCON II in Nairobi recently, some 330 bishops, including 30 archbishops, said they will recognize Anglicans in places where Biblical faith has been compromised. Boundary crossings begun several years ago will not only continue, but also step up apace. Nigerian Primate Nicholas Okoh will continue to visit his North American parishes without the slightest concern for what US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori or Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz think, do or who they complain to. They will defy any liberal or revisionist bishop or archbishop in the communion.
The bishops resolved to expand their leadership to support and recognize such Anglicans; they also voted without dissent to recognize and oversee theologically isolated Anglicans including the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) and similar bodies around the Communion including CANA, ANIC and the ACNA.
They made it clear that the future of the Anglican Communion is now in the hands of Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and that the AMIE is the life boat to rescue orthodox Anglicans in the UK.
The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GFCA) did not lay the groundwork for a separate Communion and the reason is simple. "We are the Anglican Communion," they said. GAFCON will not break fellowship with Canterbury, but they won't take their orders from Lambeth Palace about how they do business, either. For many, the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer the "symbol of unity". That also includes the Anglican Communion Office which is viewed by the Global South as a fifth column of duplicity.
The Nigerian House of Bishops berated themselves for their failure to provide good examples for leaders in government and society and advocated a recovery of the Biblical pattern, where leaders served selflessly with conviction and humility as true shepherds who protect, care and serve the sheep.
"In an age where corruption, violence, persecution, terrorism and political crisis are prevalent, bishops are enjoined to rekindle their God-ordained roles as evangelists, pastors, administrators and watchmen. Accepting the principle of the priesthood of all believers, the Church should, recover its heritage of providing leadership for society, thus impacting on all areas of national life as salt to the earth and light to the world."
Also present for the occasion was the Most Rev. Peter Jensen, General Secretary of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and former Archbishop of Sydney, Australia who called upon the bishops to preach the whole gospel from the whole Bible. In speaking about the bishop as shepherd, he reminded the bishops that Christ is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep "and we are to model our ministry upon Him."
Archbishop Jensen emphasized that the best administrators marshal the right resources at the right time in the right place for the right purpose. The bishops also urged the Federal Government to continue to contend with insurgency and terrorism so as to forestall further deterioration in the country's security situation.
"We condemn all expressions of on-going acts of violence and terror. We grieve with all those who lost loved ones and pray for those who have been injured or terrorized by these calculated acts of violence.
"We urge all sections of the Nigerian Society, especially the Federal Government, to do all in their power to reduce unemployment and lower the high level of poverty that continue to exist in Nigeria. The leaders of all areas of our national life are urged to concentrate on nation building and govern with due diligence. This will result in a positive change of circumstance, especially for the youth."
They said South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, is burning. "It is a very sad and embarrassing development that this African nation cannot agree to work together. With the current peace efforts started in Ethiopia, we urge South Sudan's leaders to agree, sheathe their swords and surrender the personal, segmental and primordial tribal concerns for the overall good of their nation. The alternative will be an inevitable descent into irretrievable anarchy and fratricidal war. The warring South Sudanese leaders and supporters are hereby called to rethink, agree and give peace a chance, so as not to harm their young nation."
The bishop also deplored the on-going carnage in the Central African Republic which has forced thousands of Christian to flee their homes. "The current conflict is heading toward a humanitarian disaster as desperate people flood into refugee camps. We call upon the people of the Central African Republic to show restraint and respect the right of each individual. They must do all in their power to avoid a religious war. Neither the Muslims nor the Christians will win such a war."
END
Boundary crossings will continue. Nigerian Anglicans will maintain fellowship with churches like ACNA
By David W. Virtuewww.virtueonline.org
January 28, 2014
The Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria Nicholas Okoh and his House of Bishops have again warned the Anglican Communion's leader Archbishop Justin Welby that it will maintain fellowship with churches such as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) who are not part of the communion but "whose faith and practice are agreeable to and based on scriptural foundations."Meeting recently at the Ibru Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, the Nigerian Church's House of Bishops said the province (the largest body of practicing Anglicans in the communion) "is Bible-based, [and] will continue to maintain fellowship with Churches, but not necessarily on the basis of history."
"As bishops of the Anglican Communion we commend and applaud the work of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and especially the second Global Anglican Future Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya. As bishops of the Church of Nigeria [Anglican Communion] we commit ourselves to the continuation of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. We uphold the Jerusalem Declaration which affirms 'the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation,' and call upon Christians everywhere to declare and defend the faith 'once for all entrusted to the saints'."
To date the Archbishop of Canterbury has not recognized the ACNA. Canadian Anglican Archbishop Fred Hiltz explicitly warned Welby not to do so soon after he became the new leader of the Anglican Communion.
At GAFCON II in Nairobi recently, some 330 bishops, including 30 archbishops, said they will recognize Anglicans in places where Biblical faith has been compromised. Boundary crossings begun several years ago will not only continue, but also step up apace. Nigerian Primate Nicholas Okoh will continue to visit his North American parishes without the slightest concern for what US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori or Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz think, do or who they complain to. They will defy any liberal or revisionist bishop or archbishop in the communion.
The bishops resolved to expand their leadership to support and recognize such Anglicans; they also voted without dissent to recognize and oversee theologically isolated Anglicans including the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) and similar bodies around the Communion including CANA, ANIC and the ACNA.
They made it clear that the future of the Anglican Communion is now in the hands of Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and that the AMIE is the life boat to rescue orthodox Anglicans in the UK.
The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GFCA) did not lay the groundwork for a separate Communion and the reason is simple. "We are the Anglican Communion," they said. GAFCON will not break fellowship with Canterbury, but they won't take their orders from Lambeth Palace about how they do business, either. For many, the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer the "symbol of unity". That also includes the Anglican Communion Office which is viewed by the Global South as a fifth column of duplicity.
The Nigerian House of Bishops berated themselves for their failure to provide good examples for leaders in government and society and advocated a recovery of the Biblical pattern, where leaders served selflessly with conviction and humility as true shepherds who protect, care and serve the sheep.
"In an age where corruption, violence, persecution, terrorism and political crisis are prevalent, bishops are enjoined to rekindle their God-ordained roles as evangelists, pastors, administrators and watchmen. Accepting the principle of the priesthood of all believers, the Church should, recover its heritage of providing leadership for society, thus impacting on all areas of national life as salt to the earth and light to the world."
Also present for the occasion was the Most Rev. Peter Jensen, General Secretary of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and former Archbishop of Sydney, Australia who called upon the bishops to preach the whole gospel from the whole Bible. In speaking about the bishop as shepherd, he reminded the bishops that Christ is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep "and we are to model our ministry upon Him."
Archbishop Jensen emphasized that the best administrators marshal the right resources at the right time in the right place for the right purpose. The bishops also urged the Federal Government to continue to contend with insurgency and terrorism so as to forestall further deterioration in the country's security situation.
"We condemn all expressions of on-going acts of violence and terror. We grieve with all those who lost loved ones and pray for those who have been injured or terrorized by these calculated acts of violence.
"We urge all sections of the Nigerian Society, especially the Federal Government, to do all in their power to reduce unemployment and lower the high level of poverty that continue to exist in Nigeria. The leaders of all areas of our national life are urged to concentrate on nation building and govern with due diligence. This will result in a positive change of circumstance, especially for the youth."
They said South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, is burning. "It is a very sad and embarrassing development that this African nation cannot agree to work together. With the current peace efforts started in Ethiopia, we urge South Sudan's leaders to agree, sheathe their swords and surrender the personal, segmental and primordial tribal concerns for the overall good of their nation. The alternative will be an inevitable descent into irretrievable anarchy and fratricidal war. The warring South Sudanese leaders and supporters are hereby called to rethink, agree and give peace a chance, so as not to harm their young nation."
The bishop also deplored the on-going carnage in the Central African Republic which has forced thousands of Christian to flee their homes. "The current conflict is heading toward a humanitarian disaster as desperate people flood into refugee camps. We call upon the people of the Central African Republic to show restraint and respect the right of each individual. They must do all in their power to avoid a religious war. Neither the Muslims nor the Christians will win such a war."
END
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