The Anglican Church of Uganda-COU will immediately set in motion processes to split from Canterbury, the seat of the Anglican Church worldwide once it officially communicates its support for same-sex marriages.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, says that they are only waiting for the official communication from the ongoing meeting of the College of Bishops by the Church of England to decide their next action.
“Homosexuality, lesbianism, trans-gender and other things of the kind…the Church of Uganda is still strong and will always be strongly opposed too. We can’t walk in the same direction as those who have gone astray. It is a process, we are discussing. Bishops are discussing it and it will end up in the Provincial Assembly where the head of the laity, province, and others will officially make a pronouncement,” said Archbishop Kaziimba.
He was delivering his Christmas message at his Namirembe residence. “All signs are indicating that they are going the wrong direction and I want to call upon the Church of Uganda, all believers, dioceses…let us strengthen our income generating projects so that we are not lured at all by the straying Church because of money,” Kaziimba said.
Kaziimba said that although the Church of Uganda is grateful to the Church of England for giving them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they will never follow them in supporting homosexuality.
The Church of Uganda has already cut ties with the Episcopal Church of America, except for those who joined the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) movement to which the Church of Uganda subscribes.
The GAFCON movement was formed in 2008 in Jerusalem after more than 1000 members of the Anglican Church broke away from the Lambeth Conference citing moral compromise, doctrinal error, and the collapse of biblical teachings in parts of the Anglican Communion.
At the center of their disagreement was the 2003 consecration of the Rev. Eugene Robinson, an openly gay priest in the USA as Bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese.
Kaziimba also tipped students, parents, and teachers that there are bad people trying to attract children into homosexuality by promising them money and sponsorship. “Children — please report such people to your Head Teachers and to your parents. I urge the government to set up a simple system whereby children can report these people to the relevant authorities who can investigate and take appropriate action,” he appealed.
He warned those recruiting children into homosexuality that they will face the wrath of God as written in the scriptures in the book of Matthew.
Kaziimba also encouraged parents to watch over their children during the school holidays, spend time with them, and disciple them.
“Just as God gave his only Son to us at Christmas, so you must also give yourselves sacrificially to your children. I especially appeal to parents to encourage their boy children to grow up into God-fearing men who respect their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and all people. Let’s raise a new generation of boys who honor and respect the women in their families so we can put an end to the majority of gender-based violence in this country,” the Archbishop further noted.
While addressing the Lambeth Conference in July, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury was quoted by the media trying to appease conservative Bishops by reaffirming a 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.
But at the same event, Welby reassured liberals that he would not punish national churches in the Communion that allow priests to marry same-sex couples. The Lambeth Conference is a decennial conference that brings together Bishops from across the world.
There has been a rift between conservatives and liberals in the worldwide Communion over the issue of homosexuality. Groups such as the Scottish Episcopal Church and the US Episcopal Church have endorsed same-sex marriages and admitted gay clergy.
Credit: Virtueonline