Dr. Augustine Unuigbe will be consecrated a suffragan bishop of the US-based Anglican Diocese of the Trinity next month by the primate of the Church of Nigeria. While a review of his doctrine as most recently stated in a sermon delivered on Pentecost Sunday was found to be contrary to the teachings and traditions of the Church of Nigeria, the archbishop’s office accepted Dr. Unuigbe’s apology for his errors and his solemn undertaking not to propagate such false teaching again.
The Church of Nigeria yesterday published a press release authored by the Bishop of the Diocese of the Trinity, the Rt. Rev. Amos Fagbamiye, announcing the consecration will go ahead on 3 July 2019. It states:
The Service of Consecration of the four Suffragan Bishop-elects in the Anglican Diocese of the Trinity (ADOTT), is scheduled for 9.00 am on Wednesday 3rd of July, 2019, by the grace of God, at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Anglican Cathedral, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. His Grace, The Most Revd. Dr. Nicholas D. Okoh Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of all Nigeria, will preside over the Service.
It would be recalled that recently, the attention of the Primate was drawn to allegations of false teaching and prosperity preaching by a “Senior ACNA Clergy” against one of the Suffragan Bishop-elects, The Revd. Canon Dr. Augustine Unuigbe. Consequently, the Primate ordered a review of the matter and directed him to make an undertaking. This necessitated detailed explanations from the Bishop-elect who had since complied with all primatial directives on issue.
Specifically, he submitted an undertaking to the Primate as directed in which he tendered an apology for any inadvertent error made in his sermon that elicited the allegations by the said “Senior ACNA Clergy.” He assured the Primate of his continuous commitment to the teachings of the Word of God in its undiluted form and that he will continue to align with the vision of the Church of Nigeria, as a “Biblebased” Church. He also re-affirmed his unflinching loyalty to the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and indeed to our Lord Jesus Christ.
While reiterating his obedience and absolute loyalty to the sole authority of the Holy Scriptures, the Bishop-elect made an undertaking that he will not engage in any form of teaching that is opposed to the Holy Scriptures and that he will desist from interfacing and arguing with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as a body or members of her Province.
As a Diocese, we believe that a fair and unbiased review of the allegations was conducted and we are delighted that the matter has now been laid to rest.
We are grateful to God for the election, the confirmation and the ministry of these Bishop-elects. We have always expressed our gratitude to the Primate and Bishops of the Church of Nigeria for their support for the growth and expansion of our Diocese, particularly in the most recent time, through the election and the forth-coming consecration of the Bishop-elects. We covet the prayers of the ‘faithfuls’ for each of them as they continue in their missionary work in North America in this new capacity.
Certainly, their election and the upcoming consecration have further energized us in our firm commitment to the continuous preaching and teaching of the Word of God as well as strengthen our resolve to focus on missionary activities in the USA and in Canada.
God being our helper, we shall remain intimately glued to the vision and mission of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), which is a Bible-based, spiritually dynamic, disciplined and an evangelical Church that demonstrates the love of Christ in all its ramifications.
THE RT. REVD. AMOS FAGBAMIYE, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc. M.Div, fss, mss, dss
The Diocesan Bishop
Anglican Diocese of the Trinity
(Church of Nigeria – Anglican Communion)
Anglican Cathedral Church of Resurrection
8350 Ditch Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46260
Tuesday, 25th June, 2019
