Statement from the Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Kaziimba in Response to the Church of England’s Decision to Bless Same-Sex Unions [abridged]. Read the full statement here – https://churchofuganda.org/…/response-to-church-of…/
The Church of England decided yesterday to allow clergy to preside at Blessings of Same-sex Unions and they approved supplemental prayers and liturgies for such occasions. In other words, a gay couple joined together in a civil marriage in England would then go to the church to receive prayers of blessing.
The Bible’s teaching is that lifelong, exclusive marriage between one man and one woman is the only context for sexual relationships. The Bible, therefore, calls any other kind of sexual relationship a sin. Whether it is adultery, or fornication, or polygamy, or homosexual relationships. They are all sin and they all separate us from God.
When Jesus was questioned about a woman caught in adultery, he told her to “Go, and sin no more.” That’s the message of repentance and faith that we uphold and preach in the Church of Uganda.
The Church of England, on the other hand, has now departed from the Bible and their new message is the opposite message of the Bible. They are now saying, “Go, and sin some more.”
They are even offering to bless that sin. That is wrong. As Church of Uganda we cannot accept that. God cannot bless what He calls sin.
We now want to ask the Church of England, “Do you have the integrity to step out of the Anglican Communion because you have departed from the Anglican faith?” God called you to preach a Gospel of repentance and faith. Instead, you’re like Jonah. You have disobeyed and are running in the opposite direction.
God called the church to go to Nineveh and preach repentance, but the Church of England is running to Tarshish and preaching acceptance of sin. There is no way we are walking together.
The Church of Uganda has more than 200 members traveling to Kigali in April for the 4th Global Gafcon meeting. We will be there with many Bible-believing Archbishops, Bishops, and Anglicans from all over Africa and the world. These are the ones who have not bowed their knee to Baal. (1 Kings 19.18)
We shall pray, and sit together, and discern the mind of Christ for the way forward. I ask your prayers for wisdom, for, indeed, we need the wisdom of Solomon to know how to faithfully respond to the crisis at hand.
