Church of England criticised over gay marriage stance

The chairman of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans has said he fears the Church of England is heading down the same road as the pro-gay Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada in compromising on homosexuality.

Writing to supporters of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala expressed his dismay that the US and Canadian Churches "continue to promote a false gospel and yet both are still received as in good standing by the Archbishop of Canterbury".

"Furthermore, the Church of England itself, the historic mother church of the Communion, seems to be advancing along the same path," he said.

The FCA is preparing for its second Global Anglican Future Conference, GAFCON 2013, in October. Around 1,300 people are expected to attend the gathering in Nairobi, Kenya.

In the first of his planned monthly messages to GAFCON supporters, Archbishop Wabukala went on to accuse the Archbishops of York and Canterbury of not being strong enough in their opposition to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.

"While defending marriage, both the Archbishops of York and Canterbury appeared at the same time to approve of same-sex Civil Partnerships during parliamentary debates on the UK's 'gay marriage' legislation, in contradiction to the historic biblical teaching on human sexuality reaffirmed by the 1998 Lambeth Conference," he said.

"In these circumstances, attempts to achieve unity based merely on common humanitarianism and dialogue, without repentance, sacrifice the transforming power of the Gospel."