More Akinola – the man is REFRESHING!

Baby Blue Online

Ruth Gledhill went to Abuja Nigeria to interview Absp. Akinola. Every time I read of the man, my admiration grows!

On Islam and Christianity in Nigeria’s North:

“We began to see certain threats in the north,” says Dr Akinola. “Religious disturbances, crises, rioting, to the extent that Christians were killed and maimed and properties looted.” His response was informed by his missionary vocation. “By virtue of our religion we cannot fight because we are told, if you are slapped on the right cheek you must turn your left cheek. Love your enemy and pray for him. So how do we respond to these unprovoked attacks on Christians? Evangelism is the answer. Make the Church grow.”

The bigger the Church gets, the fewer conflicts Christians will face. “That is what we believe. So we have put ourselves into the work of mission very seriously.” The era of bishops living like lords in their own little empires has long gone. “Every bishop in his area is an evangelist,” he says.

On growing his church:

He decided to aim for doubling the Church. He is nearly there, with almost 130 dioceses and bishops, including Bishop Martyn Minns, consecrated recently to care for conservative evangelicals in the US. His bishops pastor to nearly 20 million practising Anglicans. That compares with an official tally of 25 million in the Church of England, but a paltry one million of these are churchgoers. Dr Akinola points out that the US Episcopal Church has fewer than two millon worshippers, served by 200 bishops. “If I had the means of supporting them I would have 200, 300 bishops,” he says. “We are growing. There are many reasons why we are growing. We believe we have no option but to take the command of Christ very seriously.”

KJS and the rest of 815 should take heed; he is schooling you, utterly, completely, totally. The snide manner by which you regard him exposes your arrogance.

This African-led contra-imperial action won’t be fading away when retires either:

Many bishops in the West are looking forward to his retirement, but they might be better sticking with what they know. There are 120 more bishops in Nigeria, all of them with the potential to become the next Primate. If Rowan Williams hopes that by dragging things out, he can delay schism until Akinola retires and then bring Nigeria into line, he’s in for a shock. As Akinola speaks, the fire that has been masked behind his diffidence grows stronger. I get a sense that the battle for the soul of the Anglican Church, for the soul at the heart of Africa itself, has only just begun.

Lastly, three more quotes:

On Gene Robinson: “The problem is Ecusa and the Western church’s way of seeing and handling Scripture. Gene Robinson is just a symptom … When you are ordained into the ministry of the gospel of Christ a minister is supposed to be a wholesome example to the whole flock. When you have chosen a particular way of life, a particular orientation, you can only be an example to your own little clique. That in itself negates your ordination. So we have been on this now for so many years, so many meetings, so many committees, task forces, pronouncements, communiques, all to no avail. It is like the harder we work, the more difficult it is. So we have broken communion with The Episcopal Church, not just Nigeria but many provinces in the Global South. Our life together is not what it used to be”

On Church unity: “The condition of having communion together is for The Episcopal Church to return to where we were by giving up its agenda … Our unity will never be at the expense of truth, of the historic faith.”

On the Episcopal Church: “Has The Episcopal Church ever listened to anyone? They have not listened to the Lambeth Conference, to the Primates communiques. Who’s kidding who?”

Wow. Just wow.