The African primates have affirmed ‘real marriage’. However the Scottish Episcopal church is uncertain.
In a very significant development primates from seven provinces in Africa released a statement in March as follows: ‘We are deeply concerned about the divisions within our beloved Anglican Communion. These divisions emerged when some churches in the West allowed the worldly cultures to reshape the message of church to the society, especially in the area of marriage and human sexuality. These issues not only contradict the traditional teaching of the Scripture but also impede our witness to the gospel, which is the reason of our presence in this world. We believe that the church is entrusted with the message of the gospel in order to transform the culture, not the other way around. We do accept diversity, but not diversity at the expense of the truth. Therefore we call upon these churches to refrain from making unilateral decisions which will further the divisions between the provinces of the Anglican Communion.
‘We, by God’s grace, continue to uphold the traditional biblical teaching in regard to human sexuality and marriage and affirm Lambeth Resolution 1:10 in its entirety. We believe that this is the only way to safeguard the life of the Christian families and we should resist the pressures of the secular Western cultures to alter God’s purpose in creating man and woman.’
Signatories included the primates from Burundi, Indian Ocean, the Sudan, and Egypt. There was no surprise there, as they are known to be orthodox on these matters. Firmly orthodox primates from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda were not present. They are due to meet in London in April for the next meeting of the GAFCON Primates’ Council.
What has taken people by surprise is that the signatories also included primates from Central Africa, Tanzania and South Africa. They were hosted by the Archbishop of South Africa and retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu was in attendance. These three serving primates are thought to be over-susceptible to pressure from The Episcopal Church and its lobbying on issues of human sexuality contrary to Lambeth 1.10.
Under significant pressure
One of the Anglican provinces that may be on track to take a unilateral decision is the Scottish Episcopal Church. Their bishops are under significant pressure to have a debate proposing that the church accept same sex marriage at its General Synod in June. The church has just concluded a series of conversations, not unlike the ‘Shared Conversations’ shortly to start in the Church of England. If such a proposal is made in June, and is passed, it would come for a second reading in June 2016 and could then pass into church law.
The Scottish Episcopal Church numbers about 30,000 members. To put that in context, the average weekly attendance in the Diocese of Oxford in 2012 was 51,500. Many of the larger congregations in the Scottish Episcopal Church are evangelical and are deeply concerned about any possible future redefinition of marriage and what this will mean for their future.
Beyond Lambeth
But it is not numbers that matter. The issue will be what the institution of the Scottish Episcopal Church does in response to the decision of Synod. It will have moved beyond the position agreed by the Lambeth bishops in 1998. It will become a possibility that there might in the future be a bishop with a same sex married partner, like the Episcopal Church in the United States. The challenges to orthodox members of the church is why they who maintain faithfully the teaching of the Bible and of the Anglican Church worldwide should be forced out of the church, when it is not they who have departed from or caused a departure from the agreed teaching of the churches.
Maybe a surprise?
There could always be a surprise. What made the African provinces make such an orthodox statement in South Africa? Might there be some new coming together between them and Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria? Might the Scottish Episcopal Church step back from the brink?
