Akinola speaks out again
Twenty-one bishops of the Church of England have urged conservative, mainly African, bishops planning the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) to reconsider their plan to boycott this year’s Lambeth Conference in place of a seven day conference of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders, to be held in Jerusalem in June 2008.
The GAFCON gathering has been planned to occur one month prior to Lambeth 2008, the ten-yearly gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world. It is primarily aimed at Anglican leaders who consider themselves to be in impaired communion with the global Anglican Church, because of the consecration in 2003 of openly homosexual bishop Gene Robinson by the ECUSA.
The Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola explained at a GAFCON press conference in Lagos on January 30 why they would not be going to Lambeth: ‘The issue is that there are members of our Anglican family who are not paying attention to scripture, but are giving prominence to modern culture.
‘They are bringing new principles to interpret scripture. The Word of God has precedence over any culture. Those of us who will abide with the Word of God, come rain come fire, are those who are in GAFCON. Those who say it does not matter are the ones who are attending Lambeth …
‘Uganda, Rwanda, Sydney, Nigeria: we are not going to Lambeth conference. What is the use of the Lambeth conference for a three weeks’ jamboree which will sweep these issues under the carpet?’
