Rev. Agbali comments on the decision of the Anglican church:
This action by the Nigerian Anglican Church reflects the tension between local and global ecclessial orders and authorities. Glaringly this action brings to mind the earlier severance of ties by folks like Mojola Agbebi (D.B. Vincent) and Sokari Garrick Braide of the Niger Delta over the issues of the soul of "African" Christianity vis Western Christianity, especially within the Anglican order, leading to the birth of African ecclessial orders and movements. History, in deed has come full cycle!
Focally, the present action of the Nigerian Anglican Church vitally evokes multiple reactions. However, significant to any sphere of reactions however raw or modulated, is that fact that the Nigerian Anglicans have proved that the tie between African congregation within the Anglican folks, and other mainstream congregations like Catholicism, are negotiable whereas the issues of dogma and morals are not. It is vital to note that modern day crises ridden Western Christianity attempts to legislate dogma and practices for the third world Churches, muting their voices within an imperialist scheme, even though the exponential increase in membership and vocations are found within Churches in such places.
Rather, the West attempts to unilaterally impose their views and perception on African, Asians and other non-Western ecclessial institutions without regards to principles, except for their own instrumental convenience. Thus, the same faith and practices that they once urged upon Africans, vilifying them with adjectives of "primitive," "pagan" "uncivilized" are now recycled as glaring dogmatic hotbeds that now positively define the repertoire of faith.
Therefore, the hypocrisy of the West is glaring. Today, even within the Catholic Church, which defines "homosexuality" in general as a monstrous personality disorder is almost ready to make allowance for homosexual candidates to the priesthood who have not practiced the act for three years, but yet are willing to expel African seminarians for having "particular friendships" with females, ever before they make up their minds for ordination.
While hiding under the norm of modernity, they have refused to understand the injustice in accrediting doctrines and practices that violates the norms of charity and justice, given their blatant blidness to issues raised by Churches within the global south. Interesting, today, in question among Protestant Churches, that revolted under the ed-Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, in the attempt to do everything within what is biblical, is how so-called "unbiblical practices becoming fast part of their faith culture.
In all the autonomous action of the Nigerian Anglican Church is commendable, not merely because of the rightfulness or wrongfulness of their action as it reflects upon the issue of homosexuality, but mainly within the context that even in matters of faith, people should not, because they are considered to be residing within marginal global spaces, be taken for granted. I hope that other churches like the Catholic Church are watching and learning. Above all, history is repeating itself, when the African Church, especially the Egyptian Church fathers, following the 325 AD Council of Nicea, fundamentally called the attention of the Church to pertinent issues of doctrinal expressions within what became known as the "Christological" questions. African Church scholars and leaders- Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and later Augustine- led the Church in witnessing to the validity of doctrinal contents of the Christian faith. It is no wonder that it is the African Church that will also today wake the Western Church from its lethargic crises and muddled and molded confusion.