Gay marriage: African Bishops threaten to pull out of Anglican Communion

African Bishops at the just-ended second Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), in Nairobi, Kenya, have resolved to pull out of the Anglican Church, if their American and European counterparts continue to encourage homosexuality within the communion. The conference was attended by 358 delegates, including 331 Bishops, representing tens of millions of faithful Anglicans worldwide, including Nigeria. Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese and Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South-East Zone, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, made the disclosure yesterday on arrival at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu. Chukwuma said different communions of the Anglican Church may decide to secede if the said counterparts insist on imposing homosexuality on the church, and warned that such a decision might lead to the disintegration of the Anglican Communion worldwide. Several Bishops of the Anglican Church from the South-East that arrived the airport from Nairobi agreed that what Bishop Chukwuma said was their position, stressing that they would severe their relationship with the Anglican Church worldwide if their pro-gay Bishops do not back down. Chukwuma cited Ephesians 2: 19-20 to prove that they could no longer relate with church leaders who cannot practice what the Bible preaches. He said: “The GAFCON started in 2008 as a revolt against the Lambert Conference on this same-sex marriage issue, and we are trying to build up our faith to make it known to the whole world on the authority of the Bible, and we believe that we will face the faith together for the better of Anglicans. “This time around, after having it in Jerusalem, we now had it in Africa, in Nairobi, and we are saying we have other issues to discuss than homosexuality and lesbianism. We want to talk about education, our faith, and the way Islam is invading our churches, among other things. “We are standing seriously on the authority of the Bible to defend our faith. There is no going back, as we are not going to compromise. We made it known, even to the Bishop of Canterbury (Justin Welby), and to the whole of Europe, that there is no compromise as far as the Scripture is concerned. We can all go to our tents, and we are ready to stand on our own and on the authority of the Scripture for the future of the Anglican. “Yes, we will secede because if you look at Ephiseans Chapter 5, verse 5, we don’t have anything to do with those who are already becoming disobedient. So, why should we yoke ourselves with unbelievers? We love them, but we hate their sins. If they don’t repent, they go their way, and we go ours.”