African Anglican churches urged not to follow Western liberals in acceptance of gay marriage, stick to Bible teachings

A senior leader of the African Anglican community urged members to denounce their Western counterpart's acceptance of gay marriages and to stick to what the Bible teaches.

Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion, addressed the members of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) during their meeting in Rwanda to the uphold their conservative values based on the teachings of the Bible and to reject the forward steps by the Anglican churches in the West.

Idowu-Fearon condemned the Western churches for openly accepting gay marriages.

"We will never allow our churches to be taken over by views and programmes which suggest that the Bible is wrong," said Idowu-Fearon, according to the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS).

"We will not crumble or bow the knee to a godless secular culture that despises the Bible and what it teaches," he vowed.

He also criticized these Western churches for claiming to be progressives for taking a position which the Nigerian primate viewed as in direct contrast to the Bible. Idowu-Fearon pointed out instead that the African churches should be considered as the progressive ones because they refuse to be swayed by the liberal values of the West.

The Anglican secretary-general also urged the African leaders not to allow themselves or their churches to be defined by "the pride of those who see us as lagging behind them" in almost all aspects, including theology.

Idowu-Fearon rallied the African churches to focus their attentions instead to the real problems in society that are poverty, lack of drinking water, HIV/AIDS, development of future leaders and threats of militant Islam.

At least 32 delegates also expressed a lack of confidence over the Church of England's synod on gay marriage held last month.

"Whatever their stated purposes, the outcome has not led to a greater confidence that the Church will be guided by the authoritative voice of the Scriptures, and its decisive shaping of traditional Anglican teaching, in any forthcoming discussions," read the statement released on Anglican Mainstream.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby reportedly aimed for compromise on the homosexuality issue in order to avoid splinter among its Anglican churches.