Comments on: The big gay Nigeria problem

By: Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:25:14 +0000

Well, it has to be a bit more complicated. There are — at last count — two Unitarian (no Universalist history there) churches in Lagos, one having come out of the other. The first church (and perhaps both) is ethnically Yoruba, and while I’m no expert in Yoruba culture, I have been reading that there’s a native anti-gay bias among the Yoruba that predates Christian mission, but has been aggravated by it. Abp. Akinola, a Yoruba, prompted the reportage.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:46:14 +0000

Scott or anyone who might know — Any idea what the stand of the Nigerian Unitarian Universalist church might be on homosexuality? They’ve been around for nearly a hundred years, and I do wonder what kinds of stances they take on such matters.

By: Rev.Tom Gilbert

Rev.Tom Gilbert — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:04:00 +0000

Scott, thanks so much for posting the information about the serious Nigerian situation. Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria need all the help they can get. I’m also glad to see that Jane Redmont posted a link to Matthew Thompson’s Political Spaghetti in the comments above. So I won’t link to it again here. Many Blessings.

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:50:28 +0000

Thanks, Scott.

Of the four links above, the two blogspot links (to Richard’s blog and mine) were broken — it may be my fault. Here they are again:

Richard on the heart of the Anglican communion:
http://caughtbythelight.blogspot.com/2007/03/our-churchs-heart.html

Yrs truly on Anglican women and what they have to say:
http://actsofhope.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-now-anglican-women-speak.html

They both have hyphens (en-dashes) in them so maybe that’s the problem. Should you have problems reaching them, you can just click on my name above to get to my blog and then look a few days down for the fabulous Anglican women’s statements, and you can get to Richard via my blogroll in the right-hand column under “Blogging Anglicans.” His comment on the heart of the Communion is his latest comment and it’s short and has a great link to a collective blog by the West Coast folks currently in South Africa.

Whew — sorry again.

By: Scott Wells

Scott Wells — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:28:37 +0000

For the readership — comments with multiple links — a good sign for spam — are held for moderation. A spam filter on rare occasion will grab a legitimate comment, and I’ll never see it. One would-be commenter has been banned — others have banned this individual, too — and I’ll delete his writings without acknowledgment. Everything else should post.

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:14:36 +0000

Oops, there is no moderation and it never did post. I’m wondering whether there is a length limit. Let me try again here. Here’s what I tried to post a few hours ago (I kept a copy when it didn’t post)…

And yet in most congregations life goes on, and fruitfully so.

Also, as my friend and brother in ministry Richard Helmer notes on his blog, there are other things going on, internationally as well as in the U.S. See his post at http://caughtbythelight./blogspot.com/2007/03/our-churchs-heart.html about where the thinks the heart of the Anglican Communion really is.

and also the TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission) website at
http://www.team2007.org/ (many Anglicans from many countries at this South Africa conference!)

and Episcopal News Service coverage of the TEAM conference at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_23466_ENG_HTM.htm and its focus on the Millennium Development Goals.

Speaking of Africa, remember the South African Anglican church is a whole different story from the Nigerian Anglican church. (Read any statement by Archbishop Ndungane, Archbishop Tutu’s worthy successor.)

And bear in mind that in all cases, we need to *listen to the women* for another side of the story: see http://actsof hope.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-now-anglican-women-speak.html .

Which doesn’t mean we are not suffering from pain and division and nasty politics. But that’s not the whole story.

And the Nigerian gay legislation –as you do well to remind us and as I have noted on my own blog– is appalling and frightening.

Thanks for the sibling affection and solidarity.

Jane

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:03:01 +0000

Scott, my apologies, I posted two or three times because the comment didn’t appear and I forgot that you moderated comments. You only need to post it once, once you see it ;-). I think folks will be interested in the links on it.

All good wishes,
Jane

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 01:58:59 +0000

Also, as my friend and brother in ministry Richard Helmer notes on his blog, there are other things going on, internationally and in Africa. as well as in the U.S. See his post at http://caughtbythelight.blogspot.com/2007/03/our-churchs-heart.html about where he thinks the heart of the Anglican Communion really is

and also the TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission) website at http://www.team2007.org/ (many Anglicans from many countries at this South Africa conference!)

and Episcopal News Service coverage of the TEAM conference at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_23466_ENG_HTM.htm and its focus on the Millennium Development Goals.

Speaking of Africa, remember the South African Anglican church is a whole different story from the Nigerian Anglican Church. (Read any statement by Archbishop Ndungane, Archbishop Tutu’s worthy successor.)

And bear in mind that in all the cases, we need to listen to the women for another side of the story: see http://actsofhope.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-now-anglican-women-speak.html

Which doesn’t mean we are not suffering from pain and division and nasty politics. But that’s not the whole story.

And the Nigerian gay legislation –as you do well to remind us and as I have pointed out on my own blog– is appalling and frightening.

Thanks for the sibling affection and solidarity.

Jane

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:47:09 +0000

And yet in most congregations life goes on, and fruitfully so.

Also, as my friend and brother in ministry Richard notes on his blog, there are other things going on, internationally and in Africa. as well as in the U.S. See his post at http://caughtbythelight.blogspot.com/2007/03/our-churchs-heart.html about where he thinks the heart of the Anglican Communion really is and also the TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission) website at http://www.team2007.org/ (many Anglicans from many countries at this South Africa conference!) and Episcopal News Service coverage of the TEAM conference at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_23466_ENG_HTM.htm and its focus on the Millennium Development Goals.

And that in all the cases, we need to listen to the women for another side of the story: see http://actsofhope.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-now-anglican-women-speak.html

Which doesn’t mean we are not suffering from pain and division and nasty politics. But that’s not the whole story.

And the Nigerian gay legislation –as you do well to remind us and as I have pointed out on my own blog– is appalling and frightening.

Thanks for the sibling affection and solidarity.

Jane

By: mskitty

mskitty — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:20:56 +0000

Yesterday I attended the lectionary study group here on Whidbey Island and our colleague, the rector of the local Episcopal parish who is part of a national Episcopalian governing council (I forget the name), poured out his grief about what is happening to the Anglican communion and described much of what you have said about Nigerian law and the complicity of the Nigerian primate. He added that one of the American charges (and probably the UK as well) is that the Nigerian Archbishop is defying and attempting to override church polity. His spouse is the new rector at a parish north of here, a parish which has split over this issue. It is truly a desperate time for our siblings in the Anglican communion.

By: Jane Redmont

Jane Redmont — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:56:52 +0000

Scott and all, the best, most complete coverage of this issue is at Matt Thompson’s Political Spaghetti blog. http://politicalspaghetti.blogspot.com/ He’s been covering this for months and always has the latest news and action alerts.