In a letter written on the Ides of March, Archbishop Okoh, Primate of Nigeria “we regret our inability to attend the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Lusaka.”
In his letter he expresses unhappiness the Primate Bishop Curry and Bishop Tengatenga, president of the ACC. The most discontent is expressed in his description of #Primates2016:
In spite of the hollow restrictions placed on The Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop of TEC and the Chairman, Anglican Consultative Council, have avowed that the Primates had no authority to take that decision. During the Canterbury meeting itself, the way and manner in which those who hold the orthodox view of human sexuality and marriage were spoken of by the authorities, and denounced as “homophobic”, left no one in doubt that we were in the wrong place. In fact, the authorities believe that patience was being exercised to enable the communion to bring up the scripture-believers gradually to embrace the homosexual doctrine. Thus, the Anglican Communion’s journey is very uncertain for the orthodox. They are walking into a well-rehearsed scheme to gradually apply persuasion, subtle blackmail, coercion on any group still standing with the Scriptural Provision as we know it, to join the straight jacket of the revisionists and be politically correct. Somehow, they are succeeding!
Read the letter here.
Addendum. Okoh continues (emphasis in the original),
At this point we find great wisdom in the attitude of the British Government in relation to the European Union. It has not joined the Euro Zone; it did not join the Schengen conglomerate. Now the British Prime Minister is asking for a “Special Status” in the European Union for the United Kingdom.
The Anglican Communion should begin to think in that direction for those Provinces that may never, for obvious reasons, embrace the sexual culture being promoted by some Provinces of the Church over and against the Bible as we received it. We need a “Special Status”.
Okoh is asking for a looser relationship with the Anglican Communion, just as the British Prime Minister is asking for a further loosening of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Or is he? There are echoes here of Lambeth’s trial balloon, leading up to #Primates2016, suggesting a looser Anglican Communion which would operate as a confederation.
Nigeria has already broken communion with The Episcopal Church and The Anglican Church of Canada. Does Nigeria hold some fear that it will be excluded from the communion if it does not adopt the marriage doctrine of The Episcopal Church? GAFCON has stated the Anglican Communion can exist apart from the Archbishop of Canterbury. If so, why the fear?
Oddly, Peter Jensen, General Secretary of GAFCON, says he thinks the Primates gathering was a success. (Contrary to persist rumors he was urging the GAFCON primates to walk out because he believed The Episcopal Church got off easy). This by Jensen posted at the GAFCON dated March 10:
Since the Primates gathering in January I have been trying to assess its significance for the Anglican Communion.
I am not alone in thinking that the GAFCON movement and its Primates played an important role in the outcome….