The Anglican Church could be facing a possible split this week over issues of homosexuality as leaders from across the world come together to meet in Canterbury this week.
Last week, more than 100 senior Anglicans from the United Kingdom made a call to the Church of England to 'repent' for their discrimination of LGBT+ people. These members of the church have condemned their fellow Anglicans for their actions, claiming that LGBT+ people 'have been ignored and even vilified for too long'.
An open letter, addressed to both the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the church was urged to acknowledge the fact that it had repeatedly 'failed in our duty of care to LGBTI members of the Body of Christ around the world.'
'We have not loved them as we should, we have treated them as a problem to be solved rather than brothers and sisters in Christ to embrace and celebrated. We have made them feel second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God, often abandoned and alone.' The letter read.
The open letter also made calls for the church to repent for accepting and promoting discrimination, and apologise for perpetuating rather than challenging ill-informed beliefs that surround members of the LGBT+ community in the past.
The letter will be amongst issues to be discussed this week when the Anglican Church meet at Canterbury for communion. It is being speculated that some archbishops are going to perform a walk out over the issue, including archbishops from Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and other African countries.
The church has split once before over the issue of homosexuality in the past, the breakaway group of the Anglican Church in North America was founded in 2009, after a gay bishop was consecrated in New hampshire.
Many are praising the members of the church who are calling for a change in the attitudes towards LGBT+ people, though it is difficult to see what changes may occur, as many member of the Anglican Church still hold steadfast in their homophobic views.
Amy.
xx
No comments:
Post a Comment