“Lord, heal me and save me.”
With the Anglican Church in Wales electing Bishop Cherry Vann, a lesbian, as Archbishop, concerns have been raised that “the church’s essential identity and biblical standards are being undermined.” According to Christian Today (CT), the Church in Wales elected Bishop Cherry Vann of Monmouth as its 15th Archbishop on July 30, with the support of more than two-thirds of the diocesan Electoral College.
Archbishop Vann was ordained in 1994 as one of the first female priests in the Church of England and only recently disclosed that she is a lesbian. She shared that at the time she lived in constant fear that her same-sex relationship would be exposed, adding, “If I had not had a firm conviction that God had called me to be a priest, I would never have survived the struggles within the church.”
In response, the Most Rev Dr Laurent Mbanda, Chair of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Primates Council, strongly criticised the decision, calling it “an act of apostasy” and “a failure of leadership.” In a letter to GAFCON members worldwide, he urged orthodox Anglicans to take a clear stand against “the relentless pressure from revisionists within the Anglican Church who seek to impose blatant immorality upon Christ’s precious church.”
He further stated, “The decision by the Church in Wales to elect Bishop Cherry Vann as Archbishop is another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy. By celebrating this election and her immoral same-sex relationship, the Canterbury Communion has once again surrendered to secular pressures that overturn God’s good Word.”
The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama, Primate of South Sudan and Chair of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, lamented, “Since the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, who openly identified as gay in the Episcopal Church USA in 2003, biblical and Anglican teaching on marriage and human sexuality has been rejected without restraint.”
Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, declared, “We condemn and unequivocally reject the election of Bishop Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales. We have come to the point where we must cry out, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’ Like the apologists and martyrs of the early church, the faithful must reject heresies and apostates from our midst, hold firmly to the Holy Scriptures, and defend our historic creeds, confessions, and catechism.” (Source: Christian Today)
The Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct. Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (Jeremiah 17:10,14)
God, we ask You to search the heart of Sister Cherry Vann and test her inmost being. Though she claims that her calling to ministry came from You, she has not stood honestly before the Lord regarding the sins that Your Word calls sin. Bring her to stand before Your Word with fear and trembling, to see how far her words and actions have strayed from the truth. Lead her to step down from the office of Archbishop, confess her sins, and turn back to You. We pray that You would once again set the Anglican Church in England and across the West—now increasingly yielding to secular values—firmly before the gospel. Heal and restore them, that they may once more be a people who rejoice in and praise the salvation of the LORD.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
