Whereas the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) meeting in Obafemi Awolowo University, lIe Ife, Osun State has welcomed the Right Reverend Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, and
Whereas we have heard his testimony regarding the remarkable emergence of the Anglican Church in North America bringing together eleven ecclesiastical jurisdictions consisting of seven hundred congregations representing more than one hundred thousand Anglicans in the United States and Canada who have held true to the faith once delivered to the saints, and
Whereas this newly formed Anglican Church holds to the authority and trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures, the historic creeds, the traditional formularies of Anglicanism and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Saviour, and
Whereas the Constitution and Canons of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 2002 (3:1 as amended) stipulates that This Church shall be in full communion with all Anglican Churches} Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the Historic Faith} Doctrine} Sacraments and Discipline of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church as the Lord has commanded in His Holy Word and as the same are received and taught in the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal of 1662 and in the thirty nine Articles of Religion.
In pursuance of this section of the Constitution, the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) resolves that we are in full and abiding communion with the Anglican Church in North America.
We further assure them that an open door of fellowship remains theirs in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) while they remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the historic, biblical, Apostolic and Orthodox faith once delivered to the saints.
In conclusion, this Standing Committee encourages the Primate, Archbishop Peter J. Akinola to give positive consideration to the request of the Anglican Church in North America to send a delegation to the inaugural Provincial Assembly, of June 22nd to 25th, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, to demonstrate our enduring partnership in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
|