By APN Reporter
apearlnews.com
The Church of Uganda has announced it has started the process of splitting from Canterbury, the seat of the Anglican Church worldwide after it blessed same-sex marriages.
“From the first page of the Bible in the book of Genesis to the last page of the Bible in the book of Revelation, it is clear that God’s design for human flourishing is that we are part of a family that is defined as one man and one woman united in holy matrimony for life and, God willing, a union that produces children. God’s Word has said that the only context for sexual relationships is in the context of a marriage of one man and one woman. This is a sin. Same-gender relationships are a sin.”The Church of England has sinned,” Archbishop Dr. Stephen Kaziimba said on Friday.
On Thursday, the general synod of the Church of England, which is their top governing body, sat and passed several resolutions, which among others allowed the clergy to bless same-sex marriages, especially for gay couples who are already considered married by the British government.
In response, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda stated that they cannot follow in the footsteps of the English church, whom he branded as sinners for everything they have done.
“The Church of England insists it is not changing its doctrine of marriage, but in practice, they are doing precisely that.” “If it looks like a wedding and sounds like a wedding, it is a wedding.”
While Canterbury is recognized as the seat of the Anglican Church worldwide, Kaziimba stated that they are planning to do the same with the Church of England as they did with the Episcopal Church in the early 2000s.
He clarified, however, that by acting contrary to Biblical teachings, Canterbury has severed ties with the Anglican church worldwide and will no longer be respected.
“We now want to ask the Church of England, “Do you have the integrity to step out of the Anglican Communion because you have departed from the Anglican faith?” God called you to preach a gospel of repentance and faith. Instead, you’re like Jonah. “You have disobeyed and are running in the opposite direction.”
“The Church of England has departed from Anglican faith and are now false teachers. We fear Jesus’ words for them: “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev 2.5b) “It’s that serious.”
According to Archbishop Kaziimba, Canterbury can join the Episcopal Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, and others that so wish to form their own Canterbury Communion “because what they believe is not Anglicanism and it is not the faith once delivered to the saints.”
“If they want to take their whole church into the belly of a whale, they are free to do that; we are, after all, autonomous Anglican provinces.” “We think it’s a bad idea, but they are free to do it.”
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda said they will send over 200 members to join colleagues, including archbishops, bishops, and other Anglicans from all over Africa and the world, for the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) meeting to sit together, pray, and discern the mind of Christ for the way forward.
“My fellow Ugandans, we cannot serve God and mammon.” We cannot serve God and money. Do not lose your soul because you think you will gain the whole world through the money they offer you. Do not think you can take the money and not fall into their trap. “It’s a lie; you are being exploited with that money,” Dr. Kaziimba said.
The Church of Uganda has maintained its stand on same-sex marriages for many years.
For example, in 2017, the then-Archbishop, Stanley Ntagali, refused to attend a meeting of Anglican leaders in England over accepting same-sex marriage in church.
In 2018, Church of Uganda bishops boycotted Canterbury meetings for the same reason.
