Posted January 22, 2015
A Consultation of GAFCON Primates and Bishops of Africa was held in Nairobi on 3rd & 4th December 2014 to consider a response to the ”˜Transformation Through Friendship’ communiqué released from New York on 28th October, signed by five African Primates, including the Chairman of CAPA (the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa), Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States.
A letter was sent from the Nairobi meeting to Archbishop Ntahoturi, copied to the other African Primates and as no reply has been received, the letter is now being made public in order to avoid misunderstanding.
The New York Communiqué does not speak for the Anglican Provinces of Africa and it is a matter of very great regret that the ”˜Continuing Indaba’ strategy has led to the division of African Anglicans.
The text of the Nairobi Consultation letter follows. Click here for a copy of the letter as sent and the New York Communiqué can be found at there.
The Archbishop of Rwanda was unable to attend the Nairobi Consultation or send representatives as the House of Bishops were meeting at the same time.
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The Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi
Archbishop of Burundi
4th December 2014
Dear Archbishop Bernard,
Please receive our greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We write with a profound sense of distress about your actions in regard to the ”Transformation Through Friendship” gathering. We take strong exception with numerous points.
First, the document itself is a manipulation. It is in fact, not principally about “Friendship” but is in fact an attempt to further advance the unbiblical and false teaching of The Episcopal Church.Second, we reject the characterisation that the communiqué represents “African Primates and Bishops.” Given that there is absolutely no acknowledgement that there are other African Primates and Bishops who do not agree, the document, of which you were a collaborator and signatory, presents itself falsely. It does not represent the faith of the overwhelming majority of African Christians. This is particularly offensive given your position as Chairman of CAPA. If you are to be able to continue in your position with integrity, we would need both an explanation and an apology. If you are not able to do so, we would ask you to step down as Chairman.
We are particularly grieved because “it is not an enemy that reproaches”¦ but it was you.” (Psalm 55:12-13) Given the fact that you are the Chairman of CAPA, and are supposed to represent the agreed positions of African Primates, your actions have created a tremendous obstacle to our participation in any CAPA gatherings until this can be properly sorted out.
Third, the theologically superficial approach of the “Friendship Communiqué” attempts to effect reconciliation without repentance. Not only did your presence validate unbiblical teaching and practice of The Episcopal Church (USA), but seeks to give momentum to a process which does not solve issues of salvific import. This is an example of teaching that is socially grounded rather than Biblically substantiated. By your presence, you validate unrepentant, unbiblical teaching and practice.
Fourth, we reject the process of “Indaba” as it is being implemented. Rather than seeking true resolution, it has been consistently manipulated only to recruit people to unbiblical positions. “Indaba” as currently practiced, is a fiction advancing human desires that are not informed by Gospel truth.
Fifth, the meeting uncritically proposes “Mission,” without recognising that there must be theological agreement about what purpose the mission pursues, as opposed to Biblical Mission which furthers the redemptive love of Christ through repentance and conversion.
Sixth, while we are certainly aware of the problem of poverty in Africa, we reject alliances that seek to capitalise on economic vulnerability to advance an agenda.
Dear Brother, we know that this agenda does not represent the faith of your Province, Diocese, or even your own heart. We call you to repentance and restoration to join with us in fellowship that is founded on Christ’s truth and is faithful to His Word. In keeping with our East African Revival heritage of repentance and confession, we long to have this resolved. Please know this letter comes not from malice but from a desire for godly fellowship to be restored.
The Most Rev’d Eliud Wabukala
Primate, the Anglican Church of Kenya,
Chairman GAFCON Primates Council
The Most Rev’d Nicholas D Okoh
Primate Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion),
Vice Chairman GAFCON Primates Council
The Most Rev’d Henri Isingoma
Primate, The Anglican Church of Congo
The Most Rev’d Stanley Ntagali
Primate, Church of Uganda
Bishop Isaac Ater
For the Most Rev’d Daniel Deng Bul
Primate, the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan
CC : The Most Rev. Albert Chama, ӬArchbishop of Central Africa; The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Southern Africa; The Most Rev. Jacob Chimeledya,Ӭ Archbishop of Tanzania, The Most Rev. Daniel Sarfo, Archbishop of West Africa; Rev Canon Grace Kaiso.
Wow. What a letter! I’m very thankful for the GAFCON bishops’ example of dealing forthrightly with this situation and seeking reconciliation and unity grounded in confession and repentance.
I decided to reread the original communique from TEC since I didn’t remember it well – I probably only barely skimmed it when it was first released. In the TEC communique signed by Abp. Ntahoturi and the 4 other African Primates, we find this paragraph:
[i]Framing our conversation in the context of human dignity and flourishing, the sustainability of our common ministry, and the care of the Earth, we found several subjects for fruitful collaboration that will allow us to share our gifts with each other. We committed ourselves to exploring pension schemes, stewardship of finances and other resources (management and investment), health services, mining and related environmental issues, advocacy, migration and statelessness, human trafficking, religious freedom, and theological education. We made commitments to explore these opportunities for partnership and report back to each other early in the new year.[/i]
The “context” that bound them together was not glorifying Christ through the church or preaching the gospel of salvation, but PENSION SCHEMES and RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. Wow. (Religious freedom and theological education get kind of tacked on at the end… yeah, guess we’ve got to say something that sounds a bit Christian…)
Contrast that with the GAFCON Primates’ letter…
I do note that two of the African Primates participated in that TEC shindig via Skype from Bjumbura. I hadn’t noted that previously. Imagine a 2 or 3 day Skype conference call, a 7 hour time difference and all the TEC mumbo-jumbo. It does perhaps cause one to think that Abp. Ntahoturi perhaps wasn’t fully engaged in this meeting (not that this fact excuses or lessens the serious problems caused by his involvement.)
How we do carry on.
I assume that TEC and Lambeth Palace think they are undermining GAFCON with these tactics. However, just as in the past they appear to be only succeeding in getting peoples’ backs up and making themselves appear duplicitous and manipulative, not to mention divisive. TEC can look after itself, as we all know, and they won’t weep for Justin Welby but will just dump him when he has outlived his usefulness.
Never mind, wheel out Phil Groves again, perhaps that might work – not. What about a pan-Anglican Convention run by TEC and ACoC? They will all come to that – not.
I think that carrying on like this that LamPal is likely to lose the lot but I feel like one crying in the wilderness on this topic. Hubris and Nemesis.
PM, these are not appearances but realities – “duplicitous and manipulative” – as the letter makes absolutely manifest. May God bless the faithfulness of the GAFCON Primates.
Perhaps if they send a bung to Archbishop Makgoba he will host a Pan-Anglican Convention to make it appear an ‘African’ initiative. Why not try that? Yes, that would be manipulative and duplicitous … and no one would know who was really behind it, would they?
Perhaps Archbishop Welby can take a trip to Trinity Wall Street to suggest that? Reconciliation in action.
Yes, TEC’s letter definitely trying to usurp GAFCON’s authority/influence.
Note names of 5 Archbishops from the African continent were at the bottom of it. Archbishop Makgoba singled out by GAFCON in the call for repentance and apology because he is chairman of CAPA and the others let slide or did the others get a similar call for repentance and apology.
Wonder how much cash TEC had to come up with to get the 5 to participate.
Fascinating. The very same letter could and ought to be written to ++Justin Welby. This is a clear rejection of his faux-reconciliation program. Thanks be to God for it. Christian leaders do not legitimize heretics.
Reading this through again, these Primates must have been very concerned and vexed [I won’t use the word angry, as it does not come across as that] to have held a meeting and sent such a letter originally. They must have been very determined not to let the matter drop to have made it public in a culture that normally avoids embarrassing others.
I am just amazed at the bananaskins TEC/LamPal go out of their way to lay down for themselves and amazed at the way LamPal not only goes along with TEC schemes, but astonished at how they backfire upon them time after time. Do they have no other raison d’etre than to fawn upon the delinquent Episcopal Church? Is it arrogance? desperation? a complete inability to read a situation, or an arrogant belief that somehow some game plan they have supreme confidence in will work in the end?
And yet every time they only annoy people and reduce themselves in the eyes of others.
What a mess, but unsurprising I suppose. It appears that what will be will be and if the waning of Canterbury is to be the end, well perhaps that is in the plan too. What a tragedy for what could have been if only they had been true and straightforward instead of prepared to do anything to further this unhealthy obsession with TEC and its schemes and its money.
#6 Fr Matt – so it would seem, although I do not see any reconciliation scheme, faux or otherwise, only a scheme guaranteed to promote division, and distrust, and make an almighty mess, particularly for those promoting it. It would seem to be a guaranteed backfire scheme.
I don’t think TEC and Welby will be easily forgiven for this in Africa. Ho hum. TEC has little to lose, but Welby is another matter, if he is bright enough to realise it, but the die would appear to be cast.
Welby is well and by the Rowanic successor. Talk one thing whilst doing that to aid and abet TEc and its sycophants so as to ingratiate monetary support. Somewhere both must have read something about serving two masters? Surely?
This is a serious escalation in African terms, affecting the unity of CAPA.
I suspect they may have let it go, except that the Presidency of CAPA has rotated to one of the most liberally-inclined African Primates (++Ntahoturi of Burundi) and he took part in this.
This is not the end. Pray that the Lord will prevail, and turn CAPA even more firmly towards orthodoxy.
Actually, this is part of what has been the strategy of TEC and the last 2 ABoCs- which is to enrage the conservative GS churches to the point that they break off from the formal Anglican Communion, and leave it to the wealthy Americans, Europeans and Anzacs (along with a few poor but liberal churches like Brazil, so they have places to send missionaries and take tropical vacati- errr…. hold conferences in the third world).
They have apparently set the date for dissolution of the Anglican Communion as February, 2017, when CoE Synod is expected (by Mr. Porter and the ABoC) to adopt the Changing Attitude agenda as the law of the church- upon which, of course, Nigeria, Uganda, and the other remaining actual Churches (in the biblical definition, as opposed to Western) will formally disassociate. What things like that meeting in NY are all about is to try to convince as many of the smaller GS churches as possible to remain in communion with TEC and CoE AFTER CoE formally adopts gay marriage. Looks better that way- diversity, you know.
Reading this leaked report made me think once again of the famous opening of Charles Dickens’ great novel, [b]A Tale of Two Cities[/b] [i]It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…[/i]
On one hand, this damning report furnishes Exhibit 849 that the rot and decay within Global North Anglicanism extends deep into the heart of the Mother Church and into the top ranks of its leadership. I myself am not quite as cynical about the motives of the present ABoC as many readers of this blog are, including PM. But I would amend Matt Kennedy’s proposal above that the GAFCON.GFCA primates should send a similar letter, drawing a firm line in the sand, to Lambeth Palace. I basically agree, except that I’d slightly temper it to demand that ++Welby promptly sack David Porter. The man is totally discredited as a putative ambassador for “reconciliation.” He is obviously a partisan for one side, the wrong side, in this bitter Anglican Civil War.
What David Porter is fostering isn’t even genuine peace-making, much less authentic reconciliation. He is a duplicitous traitor, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and as such cannot, and must not, be tolerated on the staff of Lambeth Palace. Period. The orthodox primates have every reason to call ++Welby’s bluff.
Let the Anglican Communion formally split. Kiss it good-bye. A house divided against itself cannot stand. But for heaven’s sake, let it happen honestly and transparently, with integrity on all sides being preserved. But this sort of treacherous, sneaky maneuvering is completely unworthy of any professing Christian, much lessthe progressive heretics and scoundrels who have deceived themselves into thinking that they represent the cause of social justice while engaging in all sorts of manipulative and deceptive schemes.
Shame on David Porter. And shame on ++Justin Welby for tolerating him on his staff.
But if all that negative stuff shows all too clearly that this is the worst of times for Anglicanism in the Global North, the brave and straightforward response of the GFCA primates fortunately illustrates that there is another side to this tragic farce. The primates’ bold and unflinching response shows us that this is also, paradoxically, the best of times for Anglicanism. Not for the so-called “Communion,” mind you, but for Anglicanism, as an ism, as a distinctive, Prayerbook-based Protestant-Catholic hybrid system of Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship. And I, for one, actually rejoice to see the battlelines becoming ever clearer. BRAVO, primates.
This notorious report is further evidence, if any be needed, that what we are witnessing in our day is nothing less than, ala Dickens, A Tale of Two Anglican Churches, one biblical and one not, one true and faithful to the apostolic faith, and one not. Very sad, but that’s the way it is.
David Handy+
#11 Rev Handy
I am not so sure I would criticise the monkey for dancing to the tune of the organ-grinder, and that includes lolloping round Wall Street holding out his master’s begging cup.
I understand, PM. But I should clarify and apologize that I meant to post my #11 above on the David Porter thread, not on this one. Sorry, but your same point would apply, PM.
David Handy+
tjmcmahon at #10, good point.
Anyway, we should rejoice at the positive nature of this – the liberals like to work by stealth, and with the quiet acquiescence and closed eyes of “moderates”.
Each time something like this comes out, then people are forced to choose. And that is a good thing.