Church of Nigeria Formally Accepts Emerging Anglican Province

The Church of Nigeria, the largest province in the Anglican Communion, has become the first to formally accept a new orthodox province emerging in North America.

Although official recognition from the entire 77 million-member Anglican Communion is expected to take years, the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria resolved unanimously to be in "full communion" with the emerging Anglican Church in North America and recognize it as a branch in the global body, according to an announcement on Friday.

Bishop Robert Duncan, who is to lead the Anglican Church in North America, praised the decision.

"In this one action, leaders representing every diocese in the Church of Nigeria, which in turn count as members more than a quarter of the world’s Anglicans, have declared themselves to be full partners of the Anglican Church in North America," Duncan said in a statement.

"They have stated clearly that we stand together on the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible, the historic creeds and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as our only Savior and Lord," he stated.

Duncan and a host of conservatives in North America as well overseas had been calling on The Episcopal Church – the U.S. arm of Anglicanism – to repent and get back in line with traditional Anglicanism and Scripture, particularly since it consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003. But the conservative group saw little hope that the U.S. body would change direction from what breakaway Anglicans claim to be a departure from Christian orthodoxy. Read more
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