The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) will not "recognise and support" the plans by parent church in England to consecrate a 50-year-old homosexual as a bishop even if it means losing support from Canterbury.
ACK head, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi yesterday broke his silence over the matter which is threatening to split the World Anglican Communion.
He ruled out possibility of Kenyan Anglicans recognising the decision by its spiritual head, Dr Rowan Williams, to violate the Canonical laws (laws governing the Church) by consecrating the homosexual.
He however said ACK will not ostracise lesbians and homosexuals in the church because this would be against its obligation of pastoral care.
Williams is set to consecrate Dr Jeffrey Johns as the suffragan (Assistant) Bishop of Reading Diocese in England on October 9, a move that has sparked protest from both the traditional conservatives and evangelicals.
In Africa, Nigeria has already severed links with the parent church over the matter, while South Africa has expressed restrain.
Dr Johns, a notable gay rights activist, is living with a fellow male clergy with whom he says he has had a 20-year-old faithful relationship with.
Archbishop Rowan, a liberal who is six months old in office, has defied his predecessor, Dr George Carey, who forewarned last February that embracing such practices could lead to a fundamental split in the 70-million member world-wide Anglican Communion.
Yesterday, Archbishop Nzimbi said the ACK will convene the House of Bishops of Kenya next Wednesday to legitimise the stand of the church.
The primate said that although House of Bishops- which he chairs, had not met over the issue, Kenya will remain against the decision by the mother Church.
He asserted that same sex marriages go against the Biblical teachings and the canonical law which governs the Anglican church.
Reacting to an exclusive story carried by the East African Standard , Nzimbi urged Kenya's regional counterparts Tanzania and Uganda not support the move by the mother church.
Meanwhile, ACK has distanced itself from the controversy facing its parent Church in England over the consecration of a 50-year-old homosexual as a bishop.
ACK Provincial Secretary Bishop William Waqo said the church was opposed to the move and that its "stand on this matter is very clear."
"We are completely opposed to such an ordination and marriage. It is not in line with Biblical principles and Christian ethics," he said in an interview yesterday.
Waqo said the Kenyan communion's position on the issue has been made and will continue to be made "in no uncertain terms."
Waqo revealed that the Kenyan Church had expressed its concerns on the matter to Canterbury (the Anglican headquarters), but would not divulge further information.
Asked what steps the church would now take on the matter, the Bishop said such a procedure would have to await further consultations through the administrative organs.
Kenya is one of the 38 provinces (affiliates) that make up the 70 million-member global communion whose seat is the See of Canterbury, currently headed by Archbishop Rowan Williams.
Waqo also defended the church's choice of Archbishop Williams against allegations that he had failed to condemn all sexual behaviours outside a one-man, one-woman marriage and allegedly embraced liberalism. "He consults widely before making a decision," Bishop Waqo said.