Anglican Archbishops Declare Their Relationship Broken with the Archbishop of Canterbury

Four Anglican archbishops, including an American, have outlined the crisis in the Anglican Communion and have concluded that orthodox Anglicans worldwide can no longer accept the leadership of Dr. Rowan Williams. They drew a distinction between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the See of Hippo which goes back to St. Augustine - an African.

Ugandan Archbishop Henry Orombi told several hundred Lausanne Congress participants at a special meeting on issues facing Anglicans that the Anglican Communion is torn at the deepest level with no hope of ever being repaired. A realignment is now well under way and will conclude with the birth of a new [Anglican] baby. It will be difficult, but all in good time. "We will win and God will conclude it."

Citing American historian Philip Jenkins, one archbishop said there has not been an Archbishop of Canterbury worth killing since 1645.

The panel of four archbishops included: John Chew, (South East Asia); Henry Luke Orombi, (Uganda); Robert Duncan (ACNA-USA); Mouneer Anis, (Jerusalem and the Middle East); and Assisting Bishop Glenn Davis of Sydney, Australia who stood in for absent Nigerian Primate Nicholas Okoh. New England Bishop Bill Murdoch (ACNA-USA) facilitated the meeting.

After cataloging an historical timeline from Lambeth 1988 (the rejection of Resolution 1:10 in 1998 and the boycott of orthodox bishops in 2008 to the consecrations of bishops Gene Robinson and lesbian Glasspool), Orombi said the American Episcopal church and the Anglican Church of Canada have exhibited the most vocal wholesale revision of the Christian Faith that includes rejecting the divinity of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the uniqueness of Christ. "The crisis is much deeper than homosexuality and sexual morality, but involved essential matters of faith. Homosexuality was simply a presenting issue."

This has given rise to a crisis of order since nothing has changed despite all the actions taken by the leaders of the Anglican Communion. Orombi berated Rowan Williams for failing to exercise any serious discipline saying it made reconciliation impossible.

Orombi said the Global South took the Decade of Evangelism seriously. Most African provinces grew steadily, even uncontrollably. Not so with the Global North churches. The Western world debated human sexuality. They did not grow.

At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the number of bishops from the Global South outnumbered those of the west tipping the balance of power from the north to the Global South. The Global South asserted itself upholding Biblical standards on human sexual behavior and passed Resolution 1:10. It was overwhelming passed 528 to 70. It declared that homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture.

"The liberal churches were disturbed at being outvoted. They refused to be ignored and imposed a liberal sexual ethic in their churches." It was downhill from there.

"When the Episcopal Church can embrace heresy and counsel lawsuits it is hypocritical to say Global South primates should not intervene to save orthodox parishes and dioceses. If it is all right for Primates to intervene in Africa with money why is it not right for African Primates to intervene in the US?"

Orombi said alignment is well underway. He described it as "painful" and "not a tidy process," but it is moving forward.

In response to a question about the leadership of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Orombi differentiated between Archbishop Williams and the See of Canterbury. "Anglicanism is not parallel to the Church of England," he explained, "It is clear to Archbishop Williams about where we stand with relation to what we believe. It is very interesting to know that the Communion is divided. We needed leadership, which was not provided. We are providing collective leadership for orthodox believers. Such a move is seen as difficult, but a shift has taken place. In due time delivery of a baby takes prolonged labor pains but a baby will be born healthy and well. The Archbishop of Canterbury comes and goes every several years. The Church of Christ stays."

To read more, click here.

ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan's address to Lausanne 2010 may be found here.