Over 1,000 Anglican global leaders who are opposed to the Church of England’s recent support for the LGBTQ, are set to meet in Rwanda in April to forge a way forward regarding their ties with their English counterparts. An assembly held by the Church of England this week made several unprecedented moves in support of the LGBTQ, where for instance, the clerics voted to offer blessings to same-sex couples. The Church of England also said it is considering whether to stop referring to God as “he”, after priests asked to be allowed to use gender-neutral terms instead. A new commission on the way forward on the matter is set to be launched in a few months. In response to such moves, Revered Foley Beach, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, who is also the head of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an Anglican realignment movement, expressed disappointment, saying he will be meeting 1,100 Anglican church leaders in Rwanda in April to “make a decision” about the Church of England. “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,” the statement read. “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.” 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. “In April the Gafcon Primates will be hosting over 1,100 participants in GAFCON IV in Kigali, Rwanda. In collaboration with the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA), we shall have more to say and do about these matters. Please come, and we’ll make room at the table for you,” the statement read. The Anglican Church of Rwanda is one of the churches that have ties with the GAFCON movement which describes itself as “a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to retain and restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion.” It is associated with some 85 million Christians in the worldwide Anglican Communion spread across 40 regional churches, known as Provinces. The New Times tried to reach out to the leaders of the Anglican church in Rwanda for their reaction concerning the Church of England’s recent moves, but all efforts were futile at the time of publication. Meanwhile, some churches are already starting to issue their reactions in regard to the Church of England’s move. Here, for instance, the Anglican Church of Uganda released a detailed statement calling out the Church of England for changing the Biblical doctrine of marriage.
