With more gay bishops being ordained and funding being cut off by the more liberal western churches, the African church is finding itself with more battles to fight.

These are troubled times for the Anglican Church. Episcopal bishops in the US two weeks ago backed the consecration of gay bishops. The Episcopal bishops approved a resolution by the laity and clergy at the church's General Convention in California that allowed "partnered gays" complete admission to ordination.

This has sent ripples in the worldwide Anglican community, with fears that the approval of the resolution, which was overwhelmingly passed by the church 90 to 45, could open doors for more gay bishops following in the footsteps of Bishop Gene Robinson, who in 2003 became the first openly gay bishop.

This predicament has led some to believe that a schism within the Anglican Church is inevitable; with the traditionalists who oppose homosexuality, based on the Bible, on one side, and the liberals who believe the Bible should be reinterpreted in the light of modern wisdom, on the other side.

Already, threats of a breakup are evident. The conservative Episcopalians have set up a new province - The Anglican Church in North America, which is seeking recognition as an independent body from the general Episcopal Church in the US, from both Dr William, the head of the 77 million strong worldwide Anglican community, and the General Synod of the Church of England.

African churches too are watching the developments closely, with many not only questioning the need to look up to the Archbishop of Canterbury for leadership but threatening to break off over this issue.

But here are some sympathetic voices coming from some African Church leaders like Bishop Trevor Mwamba of the Botswana Anglican Church who has called for moderation, urging African churches to concentrate more on social and economic issues.

There is also the renowned South Africa Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has equated the African Church's homophobia, to apartheid and, during a Sky News interview in 2007, questioned the African Church's obsession with human sexuality.

"If God as they say is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God," he said, adding that one of the major attributes of God is that he is a "welcoming God". Retired Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane another sympathetic voice has called for the African Church to abandon its "practices of discrimination".

The Archbishop, who in 2003 sent a congratulatory message to the first openly gay bishop Gene Robinson during his ordination (to the chagrin of his African peers), said at the time that the Anglican Communion should be at the forefront of fighting social ills in their society than be bothered by what Bishop Robinson is doing or not doing. He is on record for calling homosexuality a "pastoral secondary problem".

Closer home, the retired Bishop of West Buganda Diocese, Christopher Ssenyonjo was in 2004 excommunicated from the Church of Uganda by Archbishop Luke Orombi after he formed a new denomination; Charismatic Church of Uganda and rumours of his sympathetic gay leanings which were further enhanced when the publicist to Archbishop Orombi, Amanda Onapito revealed that Integrity US, an American gay lobby group, had funded the Bishop's trip to last year's Lambeth Conference.

The sympathetic voices though are in the minority, the majority - from the ordinary churchgoer to church leaders, are vehemently opposed to the idea of homosexual church leaders. During last year's Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) held in Jerusalem, African church leaders like Archbishop Peter Akinola, of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, and Archbishop Orombi were very vocal on the subject. The leaders promised to stop recognising the Church of England if they accepted the ordination of gay bishops.

The question to ask though is that whereas the issue of homosexuality is such a hot potato in the African Church, could changing social attitudes coupled with pressure from the western churches (which largely fund African churches and are known liberals to the homosexuality issue), lead to openly gay African church leaders? Could some church leaders in Africa look at this as a cash cow and side with the liberal churches, simply for the money?

The issue of money and funding from Episcopal Dioceses in the US in terms of grants for many of their projects could in the future be used as leverage by the liberal churches in US and Europe to force some African ones to "toe the line".

After the 1998 Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, all the African dioceses rejected the resolution that was to allow ordination of gay bishops. However, this stance infuriated a number of influential Episcopal dioceses, who cut funding to needy African dioceses.

According to an article in the Washington Times, The Trinity Episcopal Church on New York's Wall Street refused to grant $146,000 requested by the Anglican Province of Rwanda, which wanted the money to support a three-year provincial theological education programme for their clergy and laity. Other dioceses in Minnesota and Tennessee that had supported the Rwandan Anglicans since 1979 also cut their funding to the Rwandans.

In an interview with the Washington Times, Bishop John Rucyahana of Ruhengeri, Rwanda, revealed that this cutting of funds had happened to many African churches;

"Our opinion and independence of mind is being choked by the gifts of money. This is manipulating and dehumanising to think we will do what people want because they have the money," complained Rucyahana.

However, African churches are fighting back. During a conference of African archbishops in Nairobi in 2005, they vowed not to take any donations from western churches that support the ordination of gay priests. This has led to churches finding other means of income like renting out church buildings and using the money to support their projects. But according to unofficial statistics, 70 per cent of the funding comes from the US; so could the African churches cope and fill the gap of withdrawn funds from American churches?

Then there is the issue of changing social attitudes towards homosexuality in Africa. It's because it is still viewed as a taboo practice in Africa and a criminal offence doesn't mean it's not practiced. Homosexuality is indeed practiced in Africa. Countries like South Africa have actually legalised same sex unions since November 30, 2006.

Newspaper articles in Uganda have written about boarding schools whose students engage in the "criminal act". In Kenya, the coastal youth are known to engage in the practice mainly for monetary purposes with tourists to the point that even the Kenyan Health Minister, Charity Ngilu, is alarmed.

Some Christians argue that the hard approach used by the African church on the touchy issue harms it in various ways. First, they come across as discriminators. Secondly, to some it only raises curiosity, especially amongst the young generation, who in turn experiment to find out what the fuss is all about.

However, other Christians disagree, arguing that the church is tackling the issue the right way. Whatever the argument, the doctrinal battle between the traditionalists and the liberals in Europe and America still rages on; and one wonders whether it will spill over to the African shores.