Primate Foley Beach calls on archbishop of Canterbury to repent as global Anglican leaders meet in Kigali

The conference was convened under the auspices of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, GAFCON, a group formed in 2008 to advocate orthodoxy in the global Anglican Communion.

The conference that takes place every five years comes two months after the decision of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex partners.

“We are here to bring the Bible to be at the center of everything," Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda said.

He said the decision by the Church of England to bless same-sex unions created confusion and compounds the division in the Anglican Church.

Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Nigeria, the general secretary of GAFCON described the Church of England's move on civil marriages as “troubling for many Anglicans.”

“We do not seek division, but rather we want to move the mission of God in the world,” he said in a statement.

Speaking at the opening on Monday, American primate Foley Beach, GAFCON's chairman, said his group “can no longer recognize” Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, as the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion.

He called on Christians to join in prayers for Justin Welby and the bishops he leads.

Beach also called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to repent.

"Sadly, with broken hearts, we must say that unless the Archbishop of Canterbury repents, we can no longer recognize him as the 'first among equals' and the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion," he said.

“You and I must repent and we become Christians again and we follow Jesus Christ.”

Welby, who previously acknowledged deep disagreement among the provinces, has urged the groups to try to “walk together.”