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Anglican leaders reject Welby leadership over gay marriage, says ‘It is contrary to the faith’

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The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), a group of 25 provinces of the Anglican Communion, has announced its split from the Church of England.

In a statement on Monday, the GSFA said it no longer recognises Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, as the leader of the Anglican Communion.

The GSFA said its stance was based on the recent decision of the Church of England to bless same-sex unions, describing the move as a “departure from the historic faith passed down by the apostles”.

In January, bishops of the Church of England had said while same-sex marriages would not be allowed in the churches, such couples would be permitted in church to give thanks for their civil marriage or partnership and receive God’s blessing.

Reacting to the development in the statement on Monday, the GSFA said it could not support the decision.

“As the Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles by this innovation in the liturgies of the Church and her pastoral practice (contravening her own Canon A5), she has disqualified herself from leading the Communion as the historic “Mother” Church,” the statement reads.

“Indeed, the Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith expressed in the Anglican formularies (the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal and the Book of Homilies) and applied to the matter of marriage and sexuality in Lambeth Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

“As much as the GSFA Primates also want to keep the unity of the visible Church and the fabric of the Anglican Communion, our calling to be ‘a holy remnant’ does not allow us be “in communion” with those provinces that have departed from the historic faith and taken the path of false teaching.

“This breaks our hearts and we pray for the revisionist provinces to return to ‘the faith once delivered’ (Jude 3) and to us.

“The GSFA is no longer able to recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Hon & Most Revd Justin Welby, as the “first among equals” Leader of the global Communion. He has sadly led his House of Bishops to make the recommendations that undergirded the General Synod Motion on ‘Living in Love & Faith,’ knowing that they run contrary to the faith & order of the orthodox provinces in the Communion whose people constitute the majority in the global flock.

“We pray that our withdrawal of support for him to lead the whole Communion is received by him as an admonishment in love.”

The GSFA added that it will take immediate measures to establish a new leadership and work towards “re-setting” the Anglican Communion in line with the teachings of the Bible.

“With the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury forfeiting their leadership role of the global Communion, GSFA Primates will expeditiously meet, consult and work with other orthodox Primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation,” the statement reads.

“We look forward to collaborating with Primates and bishops in the GAFCON movement and other orthodox Anglican groupings to work out the shape and nature of our common life together and how we are to keep the priority of proclaiming and witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world foremost in our life as God’s people.

“Together with other orthodox Primates, we will seek to address the leadership crisis that has arisen because for us, and perhaps by his own reported self-exclusion, the present Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer the ‘leader’ of the Communion and no longer the Chair of the Primates’ Meeting by virtue of his position.

“GSFA Primates are joint-stewards together with other orthodox Primates of the Anglican Communion, defined by its Formularies and that has been birthed and sustained by God through the centuries. We are accountable to the whole and to each other for the historic Christian faith and its practice in our autonomous Churches.

“The Church of England is the “historic first” province, but now that it has departed from the historic faith, the responsibility falls to the remaining orthodox Primates.

“We will not walk away from the Communion that has so richly blessed us and for whose faithfulness to God and His word our forebears have paid a costly price. What has happened in the Church of England has only served to strengthen our resolve to work together to re-set the Communion, and to ensure that the re-set Communion is marked by reform and renewal.

“Only then will the Anglican Church as a whole be able to be God’s channel of light and transformation in a dark and broken world. Only then will we be able to live out our witness as part of God’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”

Archbishops who endorsed the GSFA position were listed as Justin Badi, primate of South Sudan and chair of GSFA; Hector (Tito) Zavala, primate of Chile and GSFA vice-chair; James Wong, primate of Indian Ocean; and Titre Ande, primate of Congo.

Others are Stephen Than, primate of Myanmar; Foley Beach, primate of North America; Samuel Mankhin, primate of Bangladesh; Stephen Kaziimba, primate of Uganda; Ezekiel Kondo, primate of Sudan; Samy Shehata, primate of Alexandria; Miguel Cavalcanti, primate of Anglican Church in Brazil; and Leonard Dawea, primate of Melanesia.

Religion

You return to square one if you don’t pay tithe, says Becky Enenche

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Becky Enenche, the wife of Paul Enenche, senior pastor of Dunamis International gospel Centre (DIGC), has stressed the significance of consistent tithe payment.

In an undated video circulating on social media, Becky advised Christians to constantly pay their tithe, which she refers to as “returning God’s portion”.

The clergywoman also warned that whenever a Christian fails to pay their tithe, they go “back to square one”.

Enenche also likened tithe defaulters to someone who typed a long text and mistakenly pressed the delete button.

“Paying your tithe, paying your tithe, returning God’s portion must be done consistently. Every time you miss your tithe, you go back to square one. The ones you did before become nullified,” she said.

“It is like you pressed a delete button, gbam. And all the work you did before is gone. Have you ever been typing and somebody entered the room or something mistakenly? You have typed enough text.

“The content of what you’ve typed is sufficient and you are not saving as you were typing and suddenly you press delete. You can imagine how that feels. Now what more of such a thing as your tithe.”

https://twitter.com/ChuksEricE/status/1857865926068019309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1857865926068019309%7Ctwgr%5Ea0fe21df47634feab7fb9aa5a8c6079c7dfff01d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flifestyle.thecable.ng%2Ftrending-video-you-return-to-square-one-if-you-dont-pay-tithe-says-becky-enenche%2F

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Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over child abuse allegations linked to Church of England

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Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has resigned following the publication of the Makin Review, which exposed the Church of England’s mishandling of historic abuse allegations involving John Smyth.

In a heartfelt statement on Tuesday, Welby acknowledged the extent of the church’s failures in responding to the abuse and expressed regret over the delayed response to survivors of Smyth’s crimes.

Welby stressed the importance of institutional responsibility and expressed sorrow for the victims and survivors of abuse, emphasising his commitment to creating a safer environment within the church.

“The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth,” Welby said.

“When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.

“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.

“It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.

“I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church.”

Welby noted his efforts to implement improvements in safeguarding over the last twelve years.

“The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England,” he said.

“For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.”

Welby expressed his commitment to his faith, stating that stepping aside was “in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve”.

“My deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person,” he added.

Welby said he would continue his work with victims of abuse, delegating his other responsibilities until a proper risk assessment process is completed.

He also requested prayers for his family, who have been a constant source of support during his ministry.

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Archbishop of Canterbury asked to resign over child abuse allegations linked to Church of England

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Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been asked to resign over his failure to rigorously follow up on reports of child abuse linked to the Church of England.

On Thursday, a report revealed that “horrific” and violent abuse of more than 100 children and young men by John Smyth QC, a British barrister, was covered up within the Church of England for decades.

The report followed an independent review by the archbishops’ council of the Church of England.

Smyth QC, who died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018, was accused of attacking boys at his home in Winchester who he had met at a Christian summer camp in Dorset during the 1970s and 1980s.

He was said to have carried out lashings with a garden cane in his shed with eight boys receiving a total of 14,000 lashes, while two more received 8,000 strokes between them over three years.

Smyth QC is believed to be the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church of England.

The report said Welby did not follow up rigorously enough on reports of Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse, adding that he “could and should” have reported the case to authorities when details were presented to him in 2013.

It also said he might have been brought to justice for decades of abuse before his death in 2018 had he been formally reported to authorities in 2013.

Three members of the Church’s parliament – the general synod – have started a petition calling for Welby to resign over his “failures” to report Smyth’s abuse

Helen-Ann Hartley, bishop of Newcastle, has also called for his resignation.

She is the most senior member of the Church to call on Welby to step down.

Hartley said it would be hard for the Church to “continue to have a moral voice” when “we cannot get our own house in order with regard to something as critically important”.

“It’s very hard to find the words to respond adequately to what the report tells us,” Bishop Hartley told the BBC.

“I think rightly people are asking the question ‘Can we really trust the Church of England to keep us safe?’ And I think the answer at the moment is ‘no’.”

She said while Welby’s resignation would not “solve the safeguarding problem,” it would “be a very clear indication that a line has been drawn, and that we must move towards independence of safeguarding”.

In a statement, Welby said he was “deeply sorry that this abuse happened” and “sorry that concealment by many people who were fully aware of the abuse over many years meant that John Smyth was able to abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice”.

“I had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013,” he said.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

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