Thanks, Eugene. +Peter does say some very precise things here. Including our need to be constant in prayer for +Rowan. An advent theme.
“So, we are going to pursue and explore all these possibilities with Dr. Rowan during our meeting in December.
Has he tried to explain to you the difficulties he is having coming back to real Anglicanism? Why is he still keeping these people who are supporting gay marriage?
Well, Dr. Rowan is one of us. He is our brother; he is an Anglican. He is a very sound theologian, a man of prayer and he is a very pious man, and I have no doubt whatsoever about his Christianity. I suppose his major problem is how to hold the Communion together.
When you have people of different opinions or different persuasions and he has to provide leadership, that is his biggest problem. How do you bring these people together, people who differ so sharply, people who have fixed positions, how do you put them together in the same Communion, in a bond of affection; that is his problem. And I suppose anybody, even myself, in his position will be in the same problem. That is why we said, pray for him everyday, because his task is not an easy one at all. If it were in the political realm, by the fiat of government, you could do and undo, but in the church, it is entirely voluntary as you know. I am not on his pay roll and he knows that.
The church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) is a sovereign church. As our chairman and as our leader, we look up to him, we respect him, we love him, and we still work together, but we must pray for him because his task and the burden he is carrying is not a light one at all. But about his Christianity, I have no doubt at all as to where he stands.
So, you are saying he himself, as a person, is not involved in this homosexuality?
(Cuts in) No, no, far from it.
He is not, but like I said, he has people in America , he has people in Canada , he has people even in England , in his own country in England , who are so glued to this whole perversion and they are in their thousands. How does he relate to them? Then he has people like us in Africa, in Asia, and in England and America who they see as conservatives, (laughs) who will not agree with this sexual perversion and who will not agree with this idea of re-interpreting the Bible. How does he relate to us? And how does he bring the two groups together? That is the main problem, and that is why he needs a lot of prayers.”
Thanks, Kendall, for posting this informative interview. Now I finally understand why ++Akinola is not retiring next month, as he originally planned to do on reaching his 65th birthday. He was asked by his fellow bishops to serve out his full ten-year term as primate.
Among other things, I also learned that the number of Nigerian bishops has more than doubled during his almost nine years in office, growing rapidly from 72 bishops when he started to 146 today. That is very impressive. Thanks be to God.
And Dr. Seitz, the Archbishop of Abuja’s positive remarks about ++Rowan Williams are another part of the interview that I noted and appreciated also. I think most, if not all, the GS primates share ++Akinola’s confidence in ++RW’s basic orthodoxy and genuine commitment to Christ and the welfare of the AC. Certainly, that’s true of ++Gregory Venables, who has a long-standing friendship with Cantaur. So I’m glad you highlighted that portion of the interview here on this thread.
Needless to say, I think the Nigerian primate would NOT make any such positive remarks about the American PB.
This is splendid…do read it all. Would that every bishop in God’s Church was this forthright, fearlessly and uncompromisingly Christ’s man.
I liked his opinion about the ABC. Would that all those in the “realignment” movement had this opinion.
Thanks, Eugene. +Peter does say some very precise things here. Including our need to be constant in prayer for +Rowan. An advent theme.
“So, we are going to pursue and explore all these possibilities with Dr. Rowan during our meeting in December.
Has he tried to explain to you the difficulties he is having coming back to real Anglicanism? Why is he still keeping these people who are supporting gay marriage?
Well, Dr. Rowan is one of us. He is our brother; he is an Anglican. He is a very sound theologian, a man of prayer and he is a very pious man, and I have no doubt whatsoever about his Christianity. I suppose his major problem is how to hold the Communion together.
When you have people of different opinions or different persuasions and he has to provide leadership, that is his biggest problem. How do you bring these people together, people who differ so sharply, people who have fixed positions, how do you put them together in the same Communion, in a bond of affection; that is his problem. And I suppose anybody, even myself, in his position will be in the same problem. That is why we said, pray for him everyday, because his task is not an easy one at all. If it were in the political realm, by the fiat of government, you could do and undo, but in the church, it is entirely voluntary as you know. I am not on his pay roll and he knows that.
The church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) is a sovereign church. As our chairman and as our leader, we look up to him, we respect him, we love him, and we still work together, but we must pray for him because his task and the burden he is carrying is not a light one at all. But about his Christianity, I have no doubt at all as to where he stands.
So, you are saying he himself, as a person, is not involved in this homosexuality?
(Cuts in) No, no, far from it.
He is not, but like I said, he has people in America , he has people in Canada , he has people even in England , in his own country in England , who are so glued to this whole perversion and they are in their thousands. How does he relate to them? Then he has people like us in Africa, in Asia, and in England and America who they see as conservatives, (laughs) who will not agree with this sexual perversion and who will not agree with this idea of re-interpreting the Bible. How does he relate to us? And how does he bring the two groups together? That is the main problem, and that is why he needs a lot of prayers.”
I forwarded the link and an excerpt from the last part of the interview to many Christian friends facing the trivialization of Christmas.
Thanks, Kendall, for posting this informative interview. Now I finally understand why ++Akinola is not retiring next month, as he originally planned to do on reaching his 65th birthday. He was asked by his fellow bishops to serve out his full ten-year term as primate.
Among other things, I also learned that the number of Nigerian bishops has more than doubled during his almost nine years in office, growing rapidly from 72 bishops when he started to 146 today. That is very impressive. Thanks be to God.
And Dr. Seitz, the Archbishop of Abuja’s positive remarks about ++Rowan Williams are another part of the interview that I noted and appreciated also. I think most, if not all, the GS primates share ++Akinola’s confidence in ++RW’s basic orthodoxy and genuine commitment to Christ and the welfare of the AC. Certainly, that’s true of ++Gregory Venables, who has a long-standing friendship with Cantaur. So I’m glad you highlighted that portion of the interview here on this thread.
Needless to say, I think the Nigerian primate would NOT make any such positive remarks about the American PB.
David Handy+