As the divisions in the Anglican faith grow wider ahead of the Lambeth conference in the UK over homosexuality, Uganda’s Archbishop was in London last week to drum up support for traditional Anglican teachings.
But Archbishop Henry Orombi denied trying to ”˜poach’ traditional Church of England supporters.
Archbishop Orombi, who is Archbishop of Uganda as well as Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia and Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of South America’s Southern Cone, were in London last week to address a meeting of the Church of England supporters on the formation of a new grouping within the church known as the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.
The meeting and the setting up of Foca drew strong criticism from the spiritual head of the Anglican faith, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
But the three clergymen denied that they were trying to “seize power” within the church. Archbishop Orombi said that he had travelled to Britain to ”˜help restore traditional theology’ to the mother church.
I don’t recognize the author, a certain Paul Redfern, a journalist based in London, but writing for a Kenyan paper. However, he seems clearly biased in a liberal direction. As reflected especially in the prominence given to the idea that ++Orombi might be “poaching” traditional English parishes, and the ending, where a homosexual man from Uganda is highlighted who protested outside the meeting at All Souls, Langham Place, with a banner accusing orthodox Anglicans of “homophobia.”
But I did apprciate the quote from Canon Gregory Cameron about the average Anglican, especially the part at the end about how this typical African young mother would walk four miles to attend a three hour service. And if she is shepherding several young children, the walk to church and back could easily take an additional 1-2 hours each way. That is a good example of the kind of “high commitment” Christianity I keep celebrating and calling for.
David Handy+
Passionate advocate of high commitment, post-Christendom style Anglicanism of a radically sectarian, unabashedly confrontational, Christ-against-culture sort. The sort seen in Nigeria, Uganda, and elsewhere in the Global South.