THE ARCHBISHOP of Cape Town has appointed a Commission on Human Sexuality to report to both the Synod of Bishops this month and to table a motion at Provincial Synod 2019.

The aim of the Commission among other things is “… to amend Canon 34 which will enable ministry to those in Same Sex Unions and the LGBTI Community in the context in which ACSA operates in Southern Africa”.

The process is said to be a programme of ongoing ‘conversations’ throughout the Province, especially at parish level. The guidelines state that “…the most important and critical facet of the Commission’s Work, is [to] ensure full inclusivity and diversity in this debate.”

A priest of the Anglican Church of South Africa commented: “This is a direct copy of the strategy employed within the Episcopal Church (USA), the Anglican Church of Canada and other revisionist Provinces in the Anglican Communion, whereby the doctrine of the Church and the clear teaching of scripture have been questioned and undermined.

“Right from the beginning the premises and claims of gender ideology have been accepted without question. The ultimate result of this process, if it succeeds in its aims, will be the importation of a false theological anthropology and a false gospel of inclusion without repentance.”

Observers say that it was therefore ‘no surprise’ that the ordination took place on Sunday 10 September of Clint Kimble, an accountant and church planter, as a mission priest of the Church of Uganda at a hotel amidst some of the most spectacular scenery in the world in the Winelands of Franschhoek near Cape Town where Trinity Anglican Church, Franschhoek, a founding member of the Southern Mission Society (SMS) meets.

Bishop Joel Obetia, formerly Bishop of Made and West Nile in the Church of Uganda, and formerly Chairman of the Board of Uganda Christian University, with the full concurrence of the Primate of Uganda, performed the ordination.

Archbishop Moses Deng, of the internal province ofNorthern Bahr El Ghazal in the Church of South Sudan, preached on the parable of the talents on the authority, responsibility, accountability, reward and judgement of mission.

Bishop Obetia explained that the concern of the Church of Uganda is to support and encourage mission so that people may worship God.

Anglican clergy from six provinces of the Anglican Communion joined in the laying-on of hands.The local Democratic Alliance MP, Patrick Atkinson, also attended and prayers were said for his ministry. A member of the church was also commissioned by Bishop Joel for youth ministry.

“There were angels in the room,” commented one member of the congregation, moved by the worship in the service.

Trinity Church is served by mission priests of the Church of Uganda, including New Testament scholar Rev Dr Rollin Grams, and Rev Gabriel Smith, who leads the East Mountain Mission Community, which is also a part of the SMS.The service was attended by leaders of the Reformed Ethiopian Catholic Church of South Africa who are joining the Southern Mission Society.

It says that its “goal is to see the church equipped to flourish and make a significant difference in building the Kingdom of God on this continent.This we believe will affect a moral order for Southern African societies, that will help shape the direction of the educational and health systems, engage constructively with the economic, political and social life on the basis of a well articulated Christian worldview .”

Membership is offered to all individuals (and churches) that subscribe to the principles laid down in the Gafcon Jerusalem Declaration.