BBC:
The Anglican enclave planted in the United States by the Nigerian Church has accused the Episcopal Church of unintentionally encouraging conversions to Islam by moving away from a simple message and liturgy.
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (Cana) cites research by bodies such as the Pew Institute to show that Islam is growing rapidly, and attracting Protestant women in particular. It says the women are marrying Muslim men partly because of the dearth of marriageable men in their own churches.Cana says the women are attracted by “the apparent order and simplicity of the Islamic faith and its ability to successfully manipulate governments and public policy”.
Potentially inflammatory differences exist within Anglicanism about how to approach Islam.
The BBC appears to be referencing this Church and Islam webpage run by The Rev. Julian Dobbs the Canon Missioner for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Dobbs also makes this statement at another Church and Islam webpage:
Every year, there are thousands of people converting to Islam. In the United Sates [sic], some estimates put this as high as 100,000 per year. Of these:
•4 out of 5 white American converts to Islam are women (The World Almanac and Book of Facts)
•2 out of 3 are from a Protestant background [1 out of 10 were Catholic] (p. 22, Pew Report [link added])
As the BBC put it, “Convocation of Anglicans in North America (Cana) cites research by bodies such as the Pew Institute to show that Islam is growing rapidly, and attracting Protestant women in particular.” Dobbs says “Attracted by the apparent order and simplicity of the Islamic faith and its ability to successfully manipulate governments and public policy, increasing numbers of former Christians are now to be found in American mosques on Friday declaring Islamic prayers from the same lips that once uttered the words of Christian hymns ancient and modern.” It is Dobbs who is also struck that 80% of these converts are women. The BBC concludes it is fair to state that, “Cana says the women are attracted by ‘the apparent order and simplicity of the Islamic faith and its ability to successfully manipulate governments and public policy’.”
As to the sentence, “It says the women are marrying Muslim men partly because of the dearth of marriageable men in their own churches” the BBC reporter confirms by email that “it” refers to CANA and that Dobbs made this point in a telephone interview with the reporter’s colleague.
Here is another source of the article by Dobbs. The headline given is “No Such thing as ‘Moderate Islam’, says Islam Expert.”
More from the CANA website,
[Dobbs says] Islam continues to invade the Church here in the U.S., where Christians are increasingly subject to statements from Episcopal bishops and other leaders who confuse parishioners about the theological irregularities of Islam and champion ‘open pulpits’ where mullah’s are invited to teach from lecterns once dedicated to the proclamation of the historic Christian faith,” Rev’d Dobbs continued.
“Countless pastors and churches are being drawn into discussions on Islam and Christ, but we cannot let polite multi-faith dialog substitute for the truth of the Gospel message. CANA is committed to providing resources to help Christians deepen their understanding of Islam and to develop the appropriate Biblical response,” he said.
CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns agrees.