From yesterday. The Rev.s Matt and Anne Kennedy of the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton are present at GAFCON. ed.
Sunday, June 22, 2008 • 2:09 pm
Note: Matt is transmitting his live blog to me. I am piecing it together, replacing his shorthand and abbreviations with complete names and terms, as well as correcting typos, then posting it here within minutes of the actual event. If you recall Matt's "live, not Memorex" post from GenCon06, all of the same caveats apply here. - Greg Griffith/Stand Firm
We are in the press room.
Akinola, Orombi, Nzimbi enter the room and sit at the table
Jensen and Kolini are here.
Cynthia Brust introducing.
Kevin Kallsen: Archbishop Orombi, at the end of the conference, what message do you want Rowasn Williams to hear?
Orombi: I want to think about the conference ending with everything to be put together. I am sure there will be something on the plate for him at the end of this.
National Review: Could someone say whether since there is not sacramental communion, there an effective schism?
Akinola: We want one thing and one thing only - to restore communion and fellowship. It has failed. We are asking this conference to think about this and come up with something we can do. That is what we want.
George Conger: Archbishop Akinola, what would you say to the bishops of California in light of the gay marriage decisions in that state, and the bishops saying that they want to make that work?
Akinola: When there is a crack in the wall error will creep in. If the church had been faithful in its proclamaiton we would not be in this mess. Now we have to deal with this problem. I am not talking about their society. I do not live there. The church is going to be held responsible for the church's own stand and proclamation
Church Times: You mentioned evidence of attempts by Lambeth and TEC to buy off bishops. Could you give us more on that?
Akinola: The fact is this. There are bishops in Africa who have been lured with various attractive offers by certain people from America and England to come to Lambeth. "Oh, bishop, if you come to England, we will provide you with money and fine accommodations; we will provide yo with help with your projects in your diocese. What they do not realize is this: Such attempts to divide our people will not affect our churches. The polity, the constitution, and the canons of our church are clear. Bishops cannot go outside of our common decisions.
Reuters: You mentioned unavoidable realignment. Can you expand on this?
Akinola: Look at the context. Unavoidable realignment in the communion to rescue the communion from where we are. We have in mind a situation in which those who share the same view in some way that those who are together here will figure out how to move forward.
[Unidentified reporter]: Is Rowan Williams guilty of apostasy?
Akinola: I would not say that. He is a brother but we cannot agree on certain ways of doing things.
NYT: Who are the apostates?
Akinola: All those who have given up the faith and doing what we as a church cannot do, who are doing what we as a family of churches cannot do. They are the ones.
[Unidentified reporter]: You wrote to Rowan Williams to assure him of your prayers for a successful outcome of Lambeth. What would that look like?
Jensen: What we are looking for is the renewal of the Anglican Communion. I do not use schsim, but the description of brokenness is a good one. We would like to see renewal so that we can all walk together. When we come together at public meetings we cannot have communion together. It would be a great thing to be able to do this. I am hoping that the Lambeth conference attends to that issue successfully. I do not see how it can do that and I am not confident but on the other hand our absence is helpful because it forces the issue. It is a vote to say that this is enormous. If we had gone I might have thought that it really wasn't all that important. Perhaps our absence will lead to a covenant that will draw us all together in the end.
Gledhill to +Jensen: In The Way, the Truth and the Life, you talked about how worship needs to be adopted to represent the age. How does lay presidency fit into this?
Jensen: This is something that we have talked about in Sydney for 30 years, but we know that there is significant disagreement, so we have held back. I put it at a different level than the issue presented before us today. There is nothing in the bible about who administers communion. There is plenty about sexuality
Catholic News Services: How does this issue affect the relationship between the [Roman] Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion?
Jensen: I do not speak from formal knowledge, but from observation. Whereas there used to be considerable discussion between our two churches and great progress, to my understanding this has been under a considerable cloud. Partly this has to do with WO, but the consecration of a non-celibate homosexual bishop - which is against Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican teaching - has made for a particularly frigid sense in our relationships.
Lesbian/Gay Christian Movement: Don't you feel the gospel is compromised by bishops who support jailing gay people in their countries?
Akinola: I am not aware of any.
Lesbian/Gay: One woman who has claimed or applied for asylum, she was jailed and raped repeatedly and marched for 2 miles but she may be sent back to a village in Uganda. Your laws say it is against the law and that means that they can be punished. Do you support that?
Akinola: Every society has its own laws. In your society these things are permissible. In ours many things, this one included, are not permissible. We do not have any word for homosexual behavior in our country. To that extent, those who are responsible for these laws want to keep other cultural influences out of the cultures of Africa.
Orombi: There is little influence to stop the legislation of a law the government in cities. The church's job is to preach and proclaim so that when people go against the word of God they may repent. I would be in trouble were I to say I could officiate at a same-sex blessing. I could have my church closed and lose my job.
The Christian faith you taught us told us what the Christian faith is. We cannot go where you want us to go without violating this faith we have received. We believe there is a possibility that God can bring you back when you sin, that you can be transformed. This makes us stand on the word of God. Way back when you go back 1886 young men were murdered because they refused to give themselves to a king sexually. Our communities culturally and where they stand is rock solid on the faith of Christianity. We believe it. We practice it. Now you call us to leave it.
Conger: Friday is the election in Zimbabwe. Last month the central African bishops released a statement. Do you support their call for free elections There have been reports about Dr. Kunoiga wanting to join Uganda and Kenya.
Nzimbi: the Bible says all authority is from God. My word will be that the church of Zimbabwe needs to pray. God will help them to choose the right person who will help them. but if they go according to their tribes they will not have anything. God will help them out of their problems.
Orombi: The bishop of Harare came to see us about this. We said Harare belongs to Central Africa and this matter should be handled by that provic. They should take this matter to that dean and those bishops need to sit down and discuss these problems. There are many challenges. You do not run from challenges. My advice is to go back to central Africa.
Kallsen: The authority of the Anglican Communion lies in the Instruments of Unity, can there be a change without changing these instruments?
Akinola: It is not changing the instruments, it is reforming them so that they work. They need to take a position and stay there. If they can begin to work faithfully, implement taken decisions, then that would be great. This has been said a number of times: Make the instruments perform.
Gledhill:You referred to the ABC's remarks on Sharia. Were you pressured from the Muslims in your country after that? Is this damaging to your situation in Nigeria?
Akinola: The good news is that if the Nigerian church should take the position different from our current position, we should just close our churches now. Our president is a Muslim. I visit him, he visits me. There is no pressure.
[unidentified reporter]: We would like to find out what happened at the border crossing.
Akinola: Like I said in the opening, if we are to make a list of the problems that we face, we will not get to the end of the list. This is one of them. The Lord has removed all of our obstacles one by one. It was from a human perspective humiliating, but the good Lord turned it to our advantage. They ask us to put our bags in the screening machine. They start asking me questions about my family and my education. After three hours I was wondering what is going on. So we get phone calls. They refuse to let me enter, they give me my passport and we left. And it was a good thing. We got here early and we were able to get some very important preparation done. I was carrying a diplomatic passport and this happened to me? But it turned out to be a blessing
Orombi: When our chairman could not meet us in Jordan we took the decision to meet him here.
Akinola: We are bishops and we set boundaries. I've got to insist that we keep the boundaries we set. My own hope is that GAFCON helps us to force the question of boundaries and get answers.
Orombi: We are here to pray, talk, and think about what God is going to give to us.
NYT: I did not hear you condemn the use of torture or rape.
Orombi: I would not believe that a thing is done like that in the public knowledge. Some of those things, we do not know about that.
Jensen: Any violence against any person is wrong. I understand that is Orombi's position as well and Akinola's. I am right in speaking for all of us here. Any such violence within the prisons or in public or private against gay people or anyone else is condemned by us.
[Unidentified reporter]: Archbishop Nzimbi, I heard you asking for a new reformation. Did you mean that?
Nzimbi: Yes, the reformation was about returning to the bible. I meant that. We must retrun to the scriptures.
[end]
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