Major Anglican leaders have issued a joint statement affirming that same-sex unions are "contrary to God's design", warning the Church of England of “serious implications” should it decide to offer ‘blessings’ to same-sex couples.
The Global South Anglican bishops, chaired by the Primate of Egypt, Archbishop Mouneer Anis, issued the joint statement with the Global Anglican Future conference (GAFCON), chaired by Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria. The Global South bishops were meeting in Cairo for their sixth conference since 1994.
There are 24 Global South provinces, stretching across Asia and Africa. These represent over half of the 80 million Anglicans worldwide.
'Contrary to God’s design'
The joint statement read: "We contend that sexual intercourse between two persons of the same sex is contrary to God's design, is offensive to him and reflects a disordering of God's purposes for complementarity in sexual relations."
It continued:
"Like all other morally wrong behaviour, same-sex unions alienate us from God and are liable to incur God's judgment. We hold these convictions based on the clear teaching of Scripture. We hold them not in order to demean or victimise those who experience same-sex attractions, but in order to guard the sound doctrine of our faith, which also informs our pastoral approach for helping those who struggle with same-sex impulses, attractions and temptations.
"In this respect, the Church cannot condone same-sex unions as a form of behaviour acceptable to God. To do so would be tampering with the foundation of our faith once for all laid down by the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."
Warning against same-sex 'blessings'
The GAFCON primates and the Global South bishops also warned against any move to offer same-sex ‘blessings’, saying this would "contravene the orthodox and historic teaching of the Anglican Communion on marriage and sexuality. Such pastoral provisions, while superficially attractive in giving a more humane and socially acceptable face to the church, actually hide the contravention of doctrine involved."
The possibility of offering same-sex ‘blessings’ is likely to be discussed at the Church of England’s next General Synod in February 2017.
'Deeply concerned'
In a separate statement, the Global South Anglicans said: "We are deeply saddened that the Provinces of Scotland, Canada and Wales have recently made moves to change their Canon, teaching and practice in relation to same-sex union."
They noted that decisions made on fundamental matters “impact the [Anglican] Communion more deeply than those made elsewhere."
"We are deeply concerned that there appears to be a potential move towards the acceptance of blessing of same-sex union by [The Church of England]. This would have serious implications for us should it occur," they added.
Unity and biblical truth
Writing on the GAFCON website, the Most Rev Dr Peter Jensen comments on unity and the ongoing discussions about human sexuality. He says: "The scriptural basis for Christians to love and serve each other has been twisted to become an obligation to maintain fellowship between institutional Churches, no matter how far off the rails they go."
Dr Jensen continues:
"When it comes to sexual morality, the Biblical testimony is clear. Sexual intercourse is reserved for a man and a woman who are married. Intercourse outside of marriage is a sin. It is a sin from which there can be repentance and forgiveness.
"The gospel is not preached in its fullness unless there is a call to repentance. We live in an age of widespread sexual promiscuity. The Bible links this with our rebellion against God and with the idolatry which follows from the rebellion (Romans 1:18-32). For the gospel to be preached without making it clear that the Lord expects sexual purity in his disciples, is to truncate the gospel and betray the people to whom we are speaking. The Lord’s wisdom in this is part of that which makes the good news so good.
"When we are invited in the name of mission, or in the name of fellowship, to co-operate with a gospel which either refuses to call sin what it is, or worse, declares that sinful behaviour is actually good, the cost is too high. It is not we who have broken fellowship and unity, it is those who regard their unity with the Apostolic Gospel as being of lesser importance than their unity with the teaching of this world, who have created schism."
Related Links:
Unity - The real and the counterfeit (GAFCON)
Statement from the Global South Primates and GAFCON Primates Council Concerning Same-sex Unions (Global South Anglican South)
Gay Sex 'Offensive' And Contrary To God's Design, Say Anglican Leaders (Christian Today)