Popular American pastor Rick Warren said recently that he supports the decision made by Ugandan bishops to boycott the landmark Anglican conference to be held later this year in England.
Warren, who was in Uganda last week to launch the country’s first national Purpose Driven Living program, expressed his support last Thursday shortly after arriving in the country.
The influential pastor praised the Ugandan bishops who came across to him as “godly men who believe in the authority of Scripture, love Christ with all their hearts, and have a passion for taking the Good News to the entire world,” according to an email sent to The Christian post confirming Warren’s support.
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, the archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda and bishop of Kampala, announced Uganda’s boycott of the Lambeth Conference in February.
The Lambeth Conference is a major worldwide gathering of bishops in the Anglican Communion from all 38 provinces and occurs once every ten years.
Orombi explained that Uganda’s action is in response to the invitation of the openly gay U.S. bishop V. Gene Robinson to participate in the conference. In 2003, Robison became the first openly gay bishop to be consecrated by the Episcopal Church.
Robinson’s ordination caused a deep rift in the Anglican Communion between churches that believe homosexuality is a sin and those that support the consecration of gay clerics.
Several U.S. Episcopal churches have since broken away from the national Episcopal body including several historic and large churches in the denomination. Many Anglican leaders worldwide have also strongly vocalized their opposition to The Episcopal Church’s stance on homosexuality.
Top Anglican leaders have tried to negotiate with both sides to keep the worldwide communion together but many fear that it will officially break apart with the differences growing deeper and more serious.
Comments
I have often wondered why many in the Episcopal community label those who are boycotting Lambeth, and those parishes and churches who break away, as "schismatic" -- while the Episcopal leadership did not view their own prior consecrating of an active homosexual as schismatic.
Obviously, this prior "in your face" action, was the epicenter of the schism. Of course, the consecration of Gene Robinson was the fruit of years, even decades, of the leadership of the Episcopal church parsing (or rejecting) Scripture to make it fit within the framework of the apostate social standards of modern society -- rather than counting THE WORD as Holy, authoritative, and accurate in its teaching.
Schism is far better than apostasy.
The Lambeth Conference is about consensus, a Hegelian process to separate truth from scripture and continue the journey to further apostacy.
Archbishop Gomez told ABC the Lambeth Conference was the sole vehicle for coming to a “communion-wide consensus” on the issues dividing the church.
Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen called upon all orthodox Anglican bishops to boycott Lambeth. “I would urge those bishops who believe that unrepentant active homosexuality is wrong not to compromise their own beliefs, the scriptures, the church of God and the holiness of Christ” and accept the Archbishop of Canterbury’s invitation.
To go to Lambeth and be present with those bishops who consecrated Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire is to have “fellowship with false teachers in their wicked work.
The goal of the American bishops is to overturn the 1998 statement on homosexuality,
Consensus is the compromising tool of the devil. The process of consensus is a Hegelian process to unshackle truth from scripture and journey off to continued apostasy. The Lambeth conference is about consensus.
Archbishop Gomez told ABC the Lambeth Conference was the sole vehicle for coming to a “communion-wide consensus” on the issues dividing the church. “If a significant number of bishops stay away from it, then a consensus would be impossible.”.......
...the Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen called upon all orthodox Anglican bishops to boycott Lambeth...To go to Lambeth and be present with those bishops who consecrated Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire is to have “fellowship with false teachers in their wicked work. It cannot help but diminish faithful Christians’ confidence in you as a leader. To believe otherwise is a further illustration of the naivety, which leads you to attend,” he said.
The goal of the American bishops is to overturn the 1998 statement on homosexuality, he said. “They came last time for the final debate and they lost. They come this time with an action that they refuse to repent of. The American bishops did not listen last time they will not listen this time,” he said.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
If the author of this article had really done her homework, she would have learned that the proposed Ugandan boycott really has very little to do with whether or not V.Gene Robinson is in attendance or not. The boycott is rooted in the very real division in The Episcopal Church (the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion) and thus the AC about the authority of scripture and the divinity of Christ.
Check out the post by Simplicity in Christ - Uganda - The Second Purpose Driven Nation
http://christsimplicity.wordpress.com/category/peace-plan/
Interesting!
Good to see Mr Warren stand for the truth in this. I just wish he would have restricted his passion to the contents of his Purpose Driven Life book and let the Lord lead others through the Spirit. Instead he is seemingly trying to guide Christians along the lines of what he understands the Lord to be saying to him. And hence the Purpose Driven This and the Purpose Driven That. Just preach the Word, brother, and let the Holy Spirit do the guiding of His people in response to that Word. Not to worry, Jesus WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH.
Actually, he was invited to be there, just restricted as to his participation. He was upset with the restriction and is opting out.
Please check the facts first. Gene Robinson was specifically NOT invited to Lambeth; therefore that cannot be the reason Bishop Orombi is boycotting the conference.