Anglican Communion: Stir of the homosexuals

There is growing disquiet in the Anglican Communion over the vexed issue of homosexuality, a practice that has resonated in the permission of same-sex marriage by some dioceses, especially in the United States and Europe. But the Anglican community in Africa, particularly Nigeria, is resolute in its rejection of homosexual practice. Deputy Editor, Kayode Fasua, reports that the debate is currently raging like wildfire, in God’s vineyard Harried for words, a crowd of spectators that milled at the gate of United Bible University in Ojodu, Lagos, was stupefied. They watched on end as sprightly men held hands in sensual display of affections as they gathered to worship. Ordinarily, it was no big deal as the hue was that of a Pentecostal church holding a special programme inside the auditorium of that theological school. But certain indices added up to confound the onlookers. All the worshippers were young men, natively regarded as ‘aje butter’ (spoilt children). They were smartly dressed and were occasionally engaged in impassioned kisses and suggestive whimpers, as to express the joy of the occasion or the ecstasy of hot kisses or both. The next day, the media in Nigeria went viral with reports of the gay church fellowship, announcing that for the first time, a gay church has made a debut in Nigeria. That was five years ago. Today, leader of the dramatis personae behind the Lagos gay gathering, is 40 years old. He is Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay, who then founded House of Rainbow Fellowship, a Christian community for sexual minorities and marginalised people, in Surulere, Lagos. The son of a theology teacher, Macaulay who is being pilloried at home for being a gay preacher and for building a community of gay Christians, is ironically now making waves in England, where he is being celebrated. This maverick preacher, who started out as a Pentecostal pastor, has wondrously found inroads in the Anglican Communion where he was recently ordained a Deacon of the Anglican Church. In an elaborate ceremony June this year in chelmsford, United Kingdom the bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Reverend Stephen Cotterel, ordained Macaulay at the Chelmsford Cathedral. Though Macaulay’s ordination was anchored on his religious sagacity, having inspired many ethnic minority people in the Newham area of London when in 2000 he played ‘Jesus’ in 2000 Newham Millennium Passion Play, other suggestions saw his ordination differently. Macaulay’s emergence as an Anglican Church cleric was seen in some circles as a hit below the belt for anti- gay Anglican community in Africa, which has been campaigning stridently against homosexual practices. The African Anglicans are particularly wrought that homosexual behaviours, regarded as demonic, had crept into the house of God. But in the Church of England, which is the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, there is unhidden tolerance of homosexual members while the global church is divided as to the godliness in allowing same-sex marriage. Enthused over his ordination, Macaulay had told journalists, “My ordination into the Anglican Communion is an important continuation of my call to parish ministry, to reach out to all people regardless of who they are. I believe whilst my ordination is not anything new to the church, for me, it is both relevant on the state of persecution and righteous living for sexual minorities. My message to all, especially Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people of faith and none, is to hold on to their dreams and hopes in the face of hardship; God is a good God and loves all people.” ‘Nigeria’s Anglicans won’t be part of such unholy practice’ The gay pastor also traced his antecedent in the Anglican Church, which eventually calibrated in his emergence as a deacon. “I played the character of ‘Jesus’ in the passion play, which was staged outdoor throughout the London Borough of Newham in 2000; this alone did not change my life but nonetheless, it was a single contribution to enhancing my relationship with the Anglican Church and more so, with my Christian faith.” Macaulay had a baptism of fire in bringing to the open in Nigeria, the gay dimension to Christianity, which is culturally, socially and religiously rejected in the homeland. Alluding to this, he said: “2008 was a very busy year for House of Rainbow and the ministry was at the height of its popularity as we have become a household name in Nigeria, particularly well known for its inclusive welcome of marginalised communities. “We stood for change, peace and reconciliation; however, violence was thrust upon us as a community and many people, organisations and the media were simply looking for “dirt” about us. In February, I was ambushed by the media in Abuja at the Africa Sexuality Conference. In March/April, the newspapers were filled with sensational headlines; by July we have had many more ‘undercover reporters’ join us and they started to record and take photographs. By August/September, we received unprecedented hostile media coverage, increased violence and numerous death threats. Those who attacked us used this for their own gains. After the second year anniversary celebration of House of Rainbow in Lagos, I went to Abuja for several meetings and when I returned to Lagos, the environment became extremely hostile and the Board of House of Rainbow decided it was time we re-strategise. I was advised to return to London for my own safety and we moved the ministry underground to make it safer for those who attend. House of Rainbow since 2006 has always remained an active ministry in Nigeria with three active groups.” But Macaulay said despite persecutions, he would not be deterred by his resolve to keep shielding and pastoring gay Christians as he himself is a professed one. His words: “The subject of homosexuality is rarely addressed in churches today, even more so the topic of gay/lesbian Christians. Most ministries refuse to accept that lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals can be born-again Christians. The belief is; you cannot profess to walk with Christ if you make a conscious decision to walk in ‘sin’. From many church pulpits, there is constant reference to Biblical scriptures like Sodom and Gomorrah which they say illustrate the consequence of this ‘chosen lifestyle’. These sentiments are also echoed in the lyrics of some well-known Gospel songs. “Whether you agree with this or not, the fact remains that LGBT communities are often condemned to ‘fire and brimstone’ damnation and ostracism. They are seen as the ultimate of all sinners – ahead of the adulterers, idolaters and gossipmongers. There have even been extreme cases of this ‘non-acceptance’ with arson attacks on gay-welcoming churches – one such example occurred in Hawaii a few years ago. “The irony of the matter is that the hatred towards LGBT Christians is more likely to come from the black church which was once oppressed by the white community pre-civil rights days. Yet despite this history, the perceived bigotry from the black congregation remains and my experience is testimony to that,” he explained. Macaulay who said “I am proud to be gay and of Nigerian descent” also declared that “with the love of my parents, I continue to excel as a son who just happens to be homosexual.” However, Macaulay’s father, 80 years old Professor Kunle Macaulay, in an interview with Sunday Mirror, lamented, saying: “Though my son is a gay, I have been praying for him and I will keep praying for him, because that is what the Bible demands of us…also, I have rallied other men of God to join me in prayers as gay practice is a sinful act.” Soon afterwards, however, Macaulay the father, said Jide, his son, was gradually dropping the gay habit and that he hoped that with time, he would become a changed person. Professor Macaulay who is the National President of Association of Christian Theologians (ACT) in Nigeria, added that the incident of five years ago where gays gathered to worship was in no way connected with his United Bible University (UBU) in Ojodu Lagos, as his son’s Pentecostal fellowship group only hired the auditorium for use, at a time he (the father) was not in the country. Objecting strongly to the tolerance given to homosexuals in the Church of England, the Anglican Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, recently warned of its dire consequences. “Such practices contravene the law of marriage as instituted by God. The Anglican Church of Nigeria is not in support of such. We maintain our stand despite the present pressure by the Church in Europe and some political forces compelling us to accept and approve same-sex marriages in Nigeria. We are proud to say that we stand by our belief in the true word of God as we will never be part of such unholy practices presently destroying the church of God in Europe,” His objection, penultimate week, was also amplified by the Anglican bishops who met in Nairobi, Kenya, where they roundly condemned homosexual acts. They warned that such practice was capable of breaking up the Church. I’m proud to be a black gay pastor, says Macaulay How far the African bishops can go in the latest campaigns against homosexual practice and endorsement of same-sex marriage remains to be seen, as some parishes of the Communion in Europe and the Americas have gone far afield. For instance, three dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada, namely, New Westminster, Niagara, and Montréal, have extended the blessing of civil marriages to same-sex couples. This same scenario applies to the Episcopal Church of the USA which in 2009 adopted a resolution allowing individual bishops to choose whether or not to allow the blessing of same-sex unions within their bishoprics. That decision was widely seen as a form of compromise, following which gay marriages went viral in some US churches. In the same vein, the homosexual bug is not peculiar to the Anglicans, as the Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany had recently approved of homosexual civil unions. Also, a retired Anglican, American Bishop of the Diocese of the New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, a professed gay, said that he had led a retreat a few years before for gay Catholic priests. He opposed the Roman Catholic ban on homosexual seminarians, stating, “I find it so vile that they think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries.” Robinson who divorced his female wife in 1986, subsequently went to marry a fellow man, Andrew, in 1988. But the Archbishop of Canterbury, the symbolic leader of the world Anglican Communion, Justin Welby, seems to have beamed tacit smiles on homosexuals in the Church. In August this year, he warned Christians to repent over wicked attitude to the homosexuals. Welby who once voted against same-sex marriage in the House of Lords and opposed allowing gay couples to adopt, may have thus vascillated as he said that opposing gays and lesbians would be seen by a majority of under-35s as tantamount to “racism and other forms of gross and atrocious injustice.” But in Nigeria, the Senate last year foreclosed granting legality to the rights of the homosexuals as it passed the same-sex marriage bill, slamming a 14-year jail term on any two men or two women caught in the act. But for the Anglicans and other churches in their fight against homosexuality, advocacy remains the only weapon, so far. Culled from National Morror Newspaper