The Anglican Church of Rwanda has described the latest support of the Church of England towards homosexuality as “the last nail” in the coffin of the bad relations between the two entities.
On Thursday, a synod convened by the Church of England made several unprecedented moves in support of the LGBTQ, where for instance, the clerics voted to offer blessings to same-sex couples.
In addition to this, the Church of England said it is considering whether to stop referring to God as “he”, after priests asked to be allowed to use gender-neutral terms instead.
In reaction, the Anglican Church of Rwanda penned a communique showcasing its disappointment in regard to the development.
“Our stand had already brought an impaired relationship with the Church of England, whose current move drives the last nail into the coffin,” read the statement signed by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda.
Mbanda also welcomed 1,100 global Anglican leaders who will be convening in Kigali in April, to talk about among other things, their stand against the Church of England’s decision.
These Anglican leaders are part of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an Anglican realignment movement that describes itself as a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to retain and restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion.
The movement is associated with some 85 million Christians in the worldwide Anglican Communion spread across 40 regional churches, known as Provinces.
Revered Foley Beach, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, who is also the head of GAFCON said in an official statement that:
“The decision taken by the General Synod of the Church of England and the explanations given are clear indications that the Church of England is moving a step at a time to fully accept the practice of homosexuality as part of the life and practice of the English Church.”
“We have lived through this with other Western Anglican Provinces that continually wavered on the ‘faith once delivered’ (Jude 3) and now outright deny the doctrine of biblical anthropology regarding gender identity and moral behavior,” he added.
Bishop Beach added that the scriptures have been clear on human sexuality through the centuries, and the majority of Anglicans around the world have concluded the same, “and yet, now, the Church of England has authorized the blessing of sin and declared that sin is no longer sin.”
“We shall now have to make a decision about the Church of England,” the statement declared.
