African clergy told to re-evangelise 'ailing' Anglican church

The archbishop of Uganda has urged hundreds of African bishops to shake off their fears, shame and superficial dependency and re-evangelise the "ailing" churches of the west.

In a rallying cry to the biggest constituency of the Anglican Communion, Henry Orombi said yesterday was time for Africans to "rise up and bring fresh life in the ailing global Anglicanism".

His call came on the day that US Episcopalians published a guide on liturgical and ceremonial resources for clergy and same-sex couples.

Orombi was addressing 400 bishops who are in Entebbe, Uganda, this week for the second meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa. He told them the "potentials" attending the conference must be free to go to Europe and the US and revive the "Mother Church desperate for the gospel".

Listening was the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who faces an awkward week as he visits Uganda for the first time since he took office in 2002.

According to the Daily Nation in Kenya, African church leaders will use the meeting to reiterate their concerns about homosexuality and criticise the archbishop for failing to punish communities that welcome gays and lesbians into the pews and priesthood.

Orombi told the paper: "Homosexuality is incompatible with the word of God. It is good archbishop Rowan is here. We are going to express to him where we stand. We are going to explain where our pains are."

Years of dispute over the issue had already divided the Communion, he added. "There is already a break. It doesn't need to be announced. It is in the way people act."

Earlier this year, the US Episcopal Church consecrated Mary Glasspool, a partnered lesbian, as an assistant bishop of Los Angeles. The move led to a rebuke from Williams, who said the regrettable situation had "important implications" for Anglican unity, and the wrath of conservatives, who called it an "aberration" and condemned the Americans for committing themselves to a life against scripture.

With Orombi and his peers once more denouncing homosexuality, it was coincidence that thousands of miles away the US Christians were making concerted efforts to help gay and lesbian couples in their parishes and the clergy who minister to them.

All Whom God Has Joined: Resources for Clergy and Same-Gender Loving Couples has a foreword from the Rev Gene Robinson, who created an international storm seven years ago by becoming the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion.

The book is described as "a unique collection of liturgical and ceremonial resources as well as pastoral care tools and insights on same-sex covenanting ceremonies for clergy and couples addressing these issues".

Williams used his sermon to allude to the difficulties in the Communion, saying bishops had a "special responsibility to show the world the preciousness of those who are hated or neglected by others or by society at large".

Clergy had to listen to those they led and served, to find out what "their own hopes and needs and confusions are". They could not pick and choose who they ministered to, he added.

"We must love and attend to their humanity in all its diversity. We cannot assume we always know better, that we always have the right answer to any specific question."

It was not enough to go into new territories having learned the words of the local language, it was about "learning to listen and respect", he told the bishops.

SIC: TGUK