Global conservative Anglican leaders withdrew their recognition on April 22 of the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as its leader, amid disagreements about blessing same-sex couples.
The primates announced the move at the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which ended this weekend in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali.
The Kigali commitment issued at the end of the weeklong conference reflected a consensus among Anglican conservatives, with a majority from Africa and the Global South.
“We have no confidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the other instruments of communion led by him are able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of scripture,” the primates said in a statement.
The primates accused successive archbishops of Canterbury of failing to guard the faith by “inviting bishops to Lambeth (official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury), who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to scripture.”
This failure of church discipline, the primates said, has been compounded by the current Archbishop of Canterbury who has welcomed the provision of liturgical resources to bless practices contrary to scripture.
“This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible,” it said.
The clerics expressed their hard stance during the conference.
Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Nigeria, described as “troubling for many Anglicans” the Church of England’s new move on civil marriages, while Archbishop Laurent Mbanda from Rwanda and newly-elected chairman of GAFCON, told Anadolu the Bible should remain the center of reference.