On Friday 15 January the Primates meeting of the Anglican church, called by Archbishop Justin Welby to discuss the moral and spiritual crisis in the Church surrounding attitudes to homosexuality revealed that they had voted to explicitly reject same-sex marriage.
After five days of discussion they concluded it is a ‘fundamental departure’ from Anglican teaching. They also decided to exclude the US branch of Anglicanism, The Episcopal Church (TEC) from key bodies and decision making for 3 years because of their embracing of same-sex marriage, but it remains a part of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church of Canada which takes a similar stance to TEC but has not yet officially endorsed same-sex marriage services escaped censure.
Repentance?
Dr. Eliud Wabukala and Dr. Peter Jensen of GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) subsequently released a statement saying that ‘this action must not be seen as an end, but as a beginning.’ They go on to say that ‘it must be recognised that the continuing brokenness of the Communion is not the result simply of failed relationships, but is caused by the persistent rejection of biblical and apostolic faith as set out in Lambeth Resolution 1.10. We are therefore disappointed that the Primate’s statement makes no reference to repentance.’
Suzie Leafe, Director of the evangelical Anglican campaigning group Reform commented to en that the Primates’ decision ‘doesn’t deal with homosexual unions or with the ordination of homosexual clergy, it only deals with same-sex marriage.’
The gathering of the 37 Primates of the Anglican Communion which began on 11 January took place behind closed doors in the Canterbury Cathedral precincts. The agenda for this consultation was reportedly set ‘by common agreement of all Primates.’
Evangelicals and liberals
Beforehand GAFCON had put out a press release saying that ‘moving forward together in a renewed and restored Communion is possible, but it depends upon action being taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the majority of Primates to ensure that participation in this renewed Communion is underpinned by robust commitments to biblical teaching and morality.’
Prior to the gathering a letter was sent to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York signed by 105 UK liberal Anglicans calling on the Church of England to apologise for its historic attitude and teaching concerning homosexuality.
