A bishop supporting homosexual rights has been rejected as a top leader in the Anglican Church in Malawi.

|TOP|On Friday, the Anglican Church of Central Africa released a statement following a special church court of confirmation dealing with the objection of the Anglican Church in Malawi against the appointment of the liberal British vicar Nicholas Henderson as the country’s three bishops, according to Reuters.

The Central Africa Province includes Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with over 600,000 members. In Malawi, there are three dioceses – Lake Malawi, Northern Malawi and Southern Malawi – with the Diocese of Birmingham as their companions.

"The court declined to confirm Reverend Nicholas Henderson as bishop of the Lake Malawi diocese on grounds that ... (his) active association as general secretary of the Modern Church People's Union made him unsuitable for confirmation," the statement read, as reported by Reuters.

Sources say the Modern Church People's Union is an organisation supporting liberal theology and homosexual rights. It is also actively engaged in the process of promoting the ordination of women to the Church of England. Henderson was a former chairman of the group and he was elected on July 29 to head the Anglican Lake Malawi diocese.

|AD|There has long been a debate over homosexual clergy within the Anglican Communion worldwide. While the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada hold a comparatively liberal view on the issue, the majority of Anglicans in Africa, South America and Asia strictly oppose homosexuality.

Some conservatives have even threatened to leave the Communion following the appointment of gay U.S. bishop, Gene Robinson, and a Canadian decision to bless same-sex unions. In mid September, the Anglican Church of Nigeria decided to delete all former references to "communion with the see of Canterbury" from the Constitution of the Church.

The Anglican Church of Malawi, just as the rest of majority conservative Africa, rejects the leadership of a pro-gay British bishop in the nation.

Archbishop Bernard Malango, who leads the Anglican Church in Central Africa, told Reuters, "The confirmation of Henderson as bishop would have violated the very foundation of the Anglican faith. We cannot support this because it is not compatible with our tradition and faith."

"I already informed him about his rejection yesterday and he is in a state of shock," he added.

Henderson has been working with the Lake Malawi diocese for the last 18 years.







Eunice Or
Christian Today Correspondent