LONDON — The Anglican Church of Nigeria no longer defines itself as a church in communion with the archbishop of Canterbury — something that historically has been the fundamental definition of being a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Church in Nigeria is the largest province in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. Its archbishop, Peter Akinola, has been among the most outspoken critics of pro-gay policies in Anglican provinces of the West, especially the Episcopal Church in the United States.
At its general synod in Onitsha earlier in September, the Nigerian church deleted from its constitution the requirement that it should be “in full communion with the see of Canterbury and with all dioceses, provinces and regional churches which are in full communion with the see of Canterbury.”
The archbishop of Canterbury, currently Rowan Williams, leads the Church of England and is considered the first among equals and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion.
Instead the synod laid down that the Church of Nigeria “shall be in full communion with all Anglican churches, dioceses and provinces that hold and maintain the historic faith, doctrine, sacrament (sic) and discipline of the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church as the Lord has commanded in His holy word and as the same are received as taught in the Book of Common Prayer and the ordinal of 1662 and in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.”
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