Anglican Church schism recedes over gay issue with African leaders

From (The London) Times Online:

June 24, 2008

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent in Jerusalem

The Church of England's leading conservative bishop told Anglicans meeting in Jerusalem tonight that the greatest challenge facing the Church is not homosexuality but "militant secularism".

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, warned that the West was losing its religion at the very time it needed it most.

Issuing a rallying cry for the West to recover its "Christian nerve", Dr Nazir-Ali challenged the conservative wing of worldwide Anglicanism to rise to the challenge of bringing a renewal of Christianity to modern society.

Making no apology for having stated in the past that he wanted to convert Muslims, he joked: "That's not all I want to do with Muslims."

The Pakistani-born bishop was speaking to 1,100 bishops, clergy and laity at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, set up to discuss how to move forward in the wake of the wider Anglican church's progressive attitudes on Scripture, and in particular homosexuality.

Many of the 300 Anglican bishops in Jerusalem, including the diocese of Sydney and the province of Nigeria, are boycotting next month's Lambeth Conference in protest at the liberal agenda.

But the prospect of schism has receded as African leaders at the meeting stepped back from the brink and declared they are not seeking to start a new church.

Dr Nazir-Ali said he did not wish to apologise for his proselytising agenda, even where Muslims were the target. "I have an obligation to witness to all that God has done," he said.

He continued: "Perhaps the greatest challenge we have is that of a militant secularism which is creating a double jeopardy for western cultures. The West is losing a Christian discourse at the very time it needs it most. Let us pray we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the West and to make sure the Gospel is not lost."

Earlier, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, primate of Kenya and leader of that country's four million Anglicans, and the Ugandan primate Archbishop Henry Orombi confirmed there will be no split.

Archbishop Nzimbi's comments are especially significant because he is heading the committee that will draw up the final communique to be issued on Sunday night. It also confirms that, as disclosed by The Times on Monday, the agenda is now reform from within rather than starting a breakaway conservative Anglican church.

The emerging figure that is crucial in the softening of the line on schism is the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, who has become the key player on the Anglican conservative wing, shifting the emphasis from the US and African conservatives to Australia.

In a recent interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Jensen said it would be legally impossible to engineer schism. The Episcopal Church of the US has already launched a number of legal actions against breakaway parishes and bishops. Dr Jensen said: "I'm part of a constitution, which is virtually

unchangeable, of the Australian church. I wouldn't want to. I love the church. It would be bad for Christianity, bad for the gospel." He continued: "I think there is going to be an evolution in the Anglican Communion. It has occurred. And what the Future Conference is going to work out is how to live best within that evolution. That's its business."

Archbishop Orombi said: "What we are meeting for here is not to plan to walk away. We are meeting to renew our commitment, to renew our faith, to get a sense of direction of what we can be as Anglicans. We do not want to start a new Church."