The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has stressed the need for the Anglican Church of Ghana to fully support the LGBTQ+ community.
According to the Archbishop of Canterbury, “the majority of Anglicans within the global Anglican Communion are committed to upholding both the traditional teaching on marriage as laid out in the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution I:10, and the rights of every person, regardless of sexual orientation, before the law.”
He stated that " the Anglican Communion also made a commitment “o assure [LGBTQ+ people] that they are loved by God and that all baptized, believing, and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ.”
Justin Welby has therefore urged the Anglican Church of Ghana to faithfully abide by the teachings and traditions of the Anglican Church.
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“I remind our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Church of Ghana of these commitments. We are a global family of churches, but the mission of the church is the same in every culture and country: to demonstrate, through its actions and words, God’s offer of unconditional love to every human being through Jesus Christ."
However, leaders of the Anglican Church of Ghana on October 10, 2021 expressed their support for the anti-gay bill in a statement signed by the Most Reverend, Dr. Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Metropolitan Archbishop.
The statement said“ We the House of Bishops representing the Anglican Church, Ghana (Internal Province of Ghana have thrown our weight behind the anti-gay (LGBTQI+) bill currently before the House of Parliament, Ghana. Our support is borne out of the belief that the practice is unbiblical and ungodly”.
“We see LGBTQI+ as unrighteousness in the sight of God and therefore will do anything within our powers and mandate to ensure that the Bill comes into fruition,”
But the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby said although he is "gravely concerned by the draft anti-LGBTQ+ Bill", he "will be speaking with the Archbishop of Ghana in the coming days to discuss the Anglican Church of Ghana’s response to the Bill".
