Top Nigerian has doubts about Anglican split plan
Thu Jun 29, 2006
By Estelle Shirbon

ABUJA (Reuters) - The Anglican Church of Nigeria, a fierce opponent of gay bishops and same-sex marriage, expressed doubt on Thursday about creating a second-tier membership in the worldwide Anglican Communion to accommodate liberal churches.

Archbishop Peter Akinola, head of the second-largest province after the Church of England, told Reuters he thought Anglican churches should either be in or out of the family.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans, has proposed an associate membership for churches such as the U.S. Episcopal Church that support gay rights reforms.

That came after the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) declined last week to repent for naming an openly gay bishop in 2003. Other member churches, especially in Africa, reject openly gay clergy as un-Biblical and condemn the ECUSA for acting unilaterally. the rest