The Church of Uganda has announced it has started the process of split from Canterbury, the seat of the Anglican Church worldwide after it blessed same sex marriages.
"From the first page of the Bible in the book of Genesis to the last page of the Bible in the book of Revelation, it is clear that God's design for human flourishing is that we are part of a family that is defined as one man and one woman united in holy matrimony for life and, God willing, a union that produces children. God's Word has said that the only context for sexual relationships is in the context of a marriage of one man and one woman. This is a sin. Same sex relationship is a sin. The Church of England has sinned," Archbishop Dr.Stephen Kaziimba said on Friday.
On Thursday, the general synod of the church of England which is their top governing body sat and passed several resolutions which among others allowed the clergy to bless same sex marriages, especially for gay couples who are already considered married by the British government.
Responding to the same, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda said they cannot walk in the same line with the English church that he branded as being sinners in all they have done.
"The Church of England insists it is not changing its doctrine of marriage but, in practice, they are doing precisely that. If it looks like a wedding and sounds like a wedding, it is a wedding."
"Yes, God can forgive you, but it requires that you come before God, confess that you have done wrong, and make a commitment to change your way of life. In other words, to repent and walk in God's ways. Our message is the message of the Bible, which is, Go, and sin no more. The Church of England, on the other hand, has now departed from the Bible and their new message is the opposite message of the Bible. They are now saying, "Go, and sin some more," Kaziimba said.
Whereas Canterbury is recognized as the seat of the Anglican Church worldwide, Kaziimba said just like they did in the early 2000s when the broke away from the Episcopal Church in America, they are set for the same with the Church of England.
He however clarified that by doing contrary to the Biblical teachings, Canterbury has broken off the Anglican church worldwide and will no longer be respected.
"We now want to ask the Church of England, "Do you have the integrity to step out of the Anglican Communion because you have departed from the Anglican faith?" God called you to preach a Gospel of repentance and faith. Instead, you're like Jonah. You have disobeyed and are running in the opposite direction."
"The Church of England has departed from Anglican faith and are now false teachers. We fear Jesus' words for them, "If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." (Rev 2.5b) It's that serious."
According to Archbishop Kaziimba, Canterbury can join the Episcopal Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, and others that so wish to form their own Canterbury Communion "because what they believe is not Anglicanism and it is not the faith once delivered to the saints. "
"If they want to take their whole church into the belly of a whale, they are free to do that; we are, after all, autonomous Anglican Provinces. We think it's a bad idea, but they are free to do it."
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda said they will send over 200 members to join colleagues including Archbishops, Bishops and other Anglicans from all over African and the world for the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference(GAFCON) meeting to sit together, pray and discern the mind of Christ for the way forward.
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"My fellow Ugandans - we cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot serve God and money. Do not lose your soul because you think you will gain the whole world through the money they offer you. Do not think you can take the money, but not fall into their trap. It's a lie; you are being exploited with that money,"Dr.Kaziimba said.
Background
The Church of Uganda has maintained its stand on same sex marriages for many years.
For example, in 2017, the then Archbishop, Stanley Ntagali refused to attend a meeting of Anglican leaders in England over accepting same sex marriage in church.
In 2018, Church of Uganda bishops boycotted Canterbury meetings over the same reason.
