No consequences, so it’s full steam ahead
That’s the impression one might gain from reading “A letter from Lusaka” – a Letter to members of the Episcopal Church from TEC’s three members of the Anglican Consultative Council.
“Because this ACC meeting was held in the shadow of the January Primates Gathering and Meeting that sought to restrict our participation as members from The Episcopal Church, we want to assure you that we participated fully in this meeting and that we were warmly welcomed and included by other ACC members. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby did report to the ACC on the Primates Gathering and Meeting on the first day of the meeting. Beyond that report, ACC members seemed to have little energy for answering the primates’ call for consequences, for discussing disagreements over human sexuality, or for taking up the call of Anglican Communion Secretary-General Josiah Idowu-Fearon to pursue the Anglican Covenant. Yesterday, in fact, a resolution that sought to pursue further consequences against The Episcopal Church was withdrawn just before it was scheduled for debate.
Instead our fellow ACC members and we were enlivened by our shared concerns about intentional discipleship, gender-based violence, climate change, religiously motivated violence, food security and other issues that affect all of us across the Anglican Communion…”
– Read it all at The Episcopal News Service.
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans New Zealand launched with two conferences
“Nearly 500 Anglicans from around New Zealand, including the Vicars of many larger churches, have met together this week at two conferences in Auckland and Christchurch to launch the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans NZ (FCANZ). FCANZ is a local expression of the Gafcon movement, and a message of support was read out at the conferences from Most Rev Dr Eliud Wabukala, Chair of the Gafcon Primates.
Video greetings were also received from Most Rev Foley Beach (Primate of ACNA) and the Rt Rev Richard Condie (Bishop of Tasmania and Chair of FCA Australia).
Rev Canon Vaughan Roberts (St Ebbe’s, Oxford) gave 4 talks on True Gospel, True Sex, True Love and True Unity, and was joined by Rev Canon David Short (Vancouver), Dr Peter Adam (Melbourne), Rev. Dr. Sarah Harris (Auckland) and others.
The formation of FCANZ has been in response to the passing of Motion 30 in 2014 and the subsequent release of the ‘A Way Forward’ Report, due to be presented to the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia next month. The report proposes the blessing of same-sex civil marriages thereby rendering them as “rightly-ordered” relationships opening up the possibility for those in them to be accepted as candidates for ordination.
Rev Jay Behan, Chair of FCANZ, said ‘This week has been a hugely significant moment for orthodox Anglicans in New Zealand. FCANZ is committed to promoting faithfulness and providing fellowship, and orthodox Anglicans now know that through the FCANZ there is a place for all orthodox Anglicans in New Zealand, whether they are inside or outside the current Anglican structures.
We continue to pray that General Synod will pull back from making a decision which will tear the fabric of the communion, undermining the allegiance to General Synod for many Anglicans in New Zealand.’
– Media release from FCANZ, via Anglican Mainstream.
Anglican Consultative Council declines to go along with ‘consequences’
“An April 18 Anglican Consultative Council marathon resolution-passing session saw ACC members take stands on climate change, gender justice, safe church environments, youth involvement in the communion, solidarity with persecuted people, and interfaith and ecumenical relations, among other issues.
And the council declined to endorse or take any action similar to the primates’ call in January for three years of so-called “consequences” for the Episcopal Church…”
– A sadly unsurprising decision by the Anglican Consultative Council – via The Episcopal News Service. (Related: Genesis 3:4.)
Prayer requested for GAFCON Primates Council meeting this week
The GAFCON Primates Council is meeting this week in Nairobi (18th-23rd April 2016). As ever, they value your prayers as they seek to guard the gospel so it can be faithfully proclaimed.
From GAFCON:
The January gathering of Primates in Canterbury saw many people around the world praying for the GAFCON Primates and the wider Anglican Communion. Thank you if you were one of those people. As the GAFCON Primates Council meets this week in Nairobi, they would value your prayers again. Below are some points to guide your prayers as well as your praise to our God who is rich in mercy and grace.
- for the Primates’ willingness to serve the Anglican Communion through the GAFCON Primates Council despite the heavy burdens they carry in their own Provinces.
- for the courageous and faithful leadership of Archbishop Wabukala as he stands down as chairman at this meeting.
- for safety in travelling and at the venue, for visa arrangements to go smoothly and for everyone to arrive as scheduled.
- that the Primates will be united and strong in their love for God’s Word and their resolve to see the Church of God healed and renewed.
- for wisdom in the decisions that need to be made about GAFCON 2018 and the development of the GAFCON movement.
- for the Advisers, Consultants and Secretariat staff who will be supporting the Primates.
- for this meeting to be an encouragement to the Anglican Church of Kenya.
Back to Basics Part 6 — Will you stand with us?
“No one wants to see an end to the Anglican Communion. That is why the Primates went to Canterbury.
Certainly the leaders of GAFCON are clear on this point. They are not proposing to replace the Communion. They are dealing with schism, not provoking it.
Their insight has always been clear: since the institutional structures have failed to hold the fellowship together around the truth, the answer must be a spiritual one.
A prophetic voice is needed…”
– In the last of his six-part series Back to Basics, GAFCON General Secretary, Dr. Peter Jensen, invites like-minded Christian believers to stand with those who stand for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
‘Forgery and false pretenses’ on the eve of ACC-16
“Just when you thought Godly order couldn’t unravel any further, it appears that it has.
According to an article published on Anglican Ink, a fraudulent letter was posted on the Anglican Church of Kenya’s website, with Archbishop Wabukala’s digital signature, purporting to reverse his public decision not to send a delegation from the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) to the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council which begins today.
Here are the facts that we know…”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey summarises the latest intrigue.
ACC ‘forms its own views’
“The Anglican Communion Standing Committee, which met April 6-7 in Lusaka, Zambia, issued the following report to the 16th Meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council…
The Standing Committee received a report from the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Primates’ gathering in January 2016 and noted the stated commitment of the Primates to ‘walk together’ despite differences of view. The Standing Committee welcomed the formation of a Task Group as recommended by the Primates to maintain conversation among them with the intention of restoration of relationship, the rebuilding of mutual trust, and healing the legacy of hurt. The Standing Committee considered the Communiqué from the Primates and affirmed the relational links between the Instruments of Communion in which each Instrument, including the Anglican Consultative Council, forms its own views and has its own responsibilities…”
– from The Episcopal News Service.
Related: Media briefing gives outline for ACC-16. (Anglican Communion News Service.) Should we hope for at least a mention of evangelism or the Great Commission?
Archbishop Mouneer Anis explains why he is not going to ACC-16 Lusaka
“Archbishop Mouneer Anis writes a sombre letter to his fellow Primates informing them he will not be attending the upcoming ACC-16 meeting in Lusaka.
Whilst he had every good faith to attend, the clear disregard for the Primates’ decision reached in January 2016 Primates Gathering, that TEC not is not to be represented in the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, prevents him from doing so in good conscience.” (From GAFCON.)
Here’s the text of his letter. Paragraph breaks added for ease of reading.
My dear brother archbishops,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.I am writing to let you know that I have decided not to attend the ACC-16 in Lusaka. My decision has come after a long period of prayer and conversations.
As many of you know, it is not easy for me to withdraw from meetings, but this time I felt that if I were to attend, I would be betraying my conscience, my people, and the Primates who worked hard last January to reach a temporary solution in order to keep walking together until such time as we can reach a permanent solution.
I thought that the decision of the Primates’ Meeting in January would be followed through and TEC would not be represented in the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion but sadly this is not the case.
I don’t mind the participation of TEC in the General Meeting of the ACC, but the decision of the Primates was very clear that they should not be nominated or elected in internal standing committees. Although I was disturbed by the statements made by the chairman of the ACC while he was in the USA, I had still intended to attend the meeting. However, as it became clear that the decision of the Primates’ Meeting about the participation of TEC in the Standing Committee would be disregarded, it was then that I decided not to attend.
I see that there is a lot of confusion about the role of the Primates’ Meeting and the ACC. Neither have jurisdiction within provinces, but both have roles in regulating the relationship between provinces. The Primates’ Meeting has “enhanced responsibility in offering guidance on doctrinal, moral and pastoral matters” (Lambeth 1988) and to make “intervention in cases of exceptional emergency which are incapable of internal resolution within provinces, and giving guidelines on the limits of Anglican diversity” (Lambeth 1998).
Some think that because the ACC is the most representative of the instruments (including bishops, clergy, and laity), it is more authoritative. This is not true. It’s very name, “consultative”, reminds us that it is not an “Anglican Synod” but merely an advisory group. The Instruments of Unity, in order to have good relationships, need to support each others’ decisions in those areas of responsibility given to them by Lambeth Councils.
I will be praying for the members of the ACC-16 so that they may affirm and respect the decisions of the Primates’ Meeting. If this happens, it will bring hope back and we will be able to think of the future together.
+ Mouneer Egypt
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis
Archbishop of Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Via GAFCON.
Reflections on Archbishop Mouneer Anis’ boycott of ACC-16 Lusaka
“The announcement yesterday by Archbishop Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem and the Middle East) that he will not be attending the upcoming Anglican Consultative Council meeting (ACC-16) has sent shock waves through the leadership of the Anglican Communion…
The Episcopal Church’s intention to continue to participate in the Joint Standing Committee of the ACC (also known as the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion), was just too much. It was a clear and direct rejection of the discipline prescribed by the Primates. It is an act of rebellion aided and abetted by Chairman Tengatenga’s denunciation of the Primates authority.”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey asks is there now any reason at all for any of the GAFCON and Global South Primates to attend ACC-16.
He also looks at the Constitution of the Anglican Consultative Council, and argues why Biblically faithful Primates need to act.
Back to Basics Part 4 — Repentance
“As we think through the significance of the meeting of Primates in Canterbury, we come to the key subject of repentance.
The issues before us have doctrinal and political aspects. But, finally, they are spiritual and that is why repentance matters.
The original tragic division in the Anglican Communion was the responsibility of certain North American Anglicans. They have been invited back into communion with those who severed relationships.
But this is not simply a matter of apology without change.
The need is repentance, with the hope of reconciliation and restoration…”
– GAFCON General Secretary, Dr Peter Jensen, writes the fourth of six reflections in the light of January’s Primates Meeting.
What is the Anglican Consultative Council meeting for?
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has written to urge all Anglican primates to attend the Anglican Consultative Council in Lusaka from April 8-19.
The primates of Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda have indicated that their representatives cannot attend because the spirit of the Primates Meeting in Canterbury, which introduced consequences for TEC and its participation in Communion decision-making on doctrine and polity, appears to be being overridden or ignored. …
Kenya and Nigeria were very gracious in trusting the conversations at Canterbury and the decisions made there. They now suspect that they were misled.
Lusaka is not the place to sort out church polity, unity, doctrine or matters of sexuality. Those are the callings of the primates meeting and the Lambeth conference of Bishops.”
– Chris Sugden writes for The Church of England Newspaper. Via Anglican Mainstream.
The Primates’ Authority does not depend on Canterbury
“As I observed last week, the Primates must be wondering why they even came together in January at Archbishop Welby’s request if he is now unable to defend them.
And as Archbishop Mouneer notes, that is the source of our impaired Communion. It is a great pity that the source of impaired communion lies in great part in the lack of leadership by Canterbury himself.”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey looks at the failure of Canterbury to respond publicly to the Anglican Consultative Council’s public repudiation of Primatial authority.
Back to Basics 3 — Fellowship
“Fellowship, or Communion, is a very precious gift of the gospel. The Lord Jesus laid down his life for his Church, his Bride. Christians are united to Christ for their salvation. Inevitably, then, we are united with one another. We are all one in Christ Jesus.
I have been trying to think through the implications of the January meeting of Primates for the Anglican Communion and for GAFCON.
The Communique and the story of the meeting certainly put a lot of store on fellowship and unity. The Primates, we are assured, were unanimous in their desire to walk together, difficult though it is…”
– Dr Peter Jensen, GAFCON General Secretary, writes the third of his reflections following the Primates Gathering in January 2016.
Church of Nigeria not taking part in ACC Lusaka meeting
“During the Canterbury meeting itself, the way and manner in which those who hold the orthodox view of human sexuality and marriage were spoken of by the authorities, and denounced as “homophobic”, left no one in doubt that we were in the wrong place…”
– Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Primate of Nigeria, explains why the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) won’t be represented at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, next month. Via GAFCON.
To go Forward we must go Back
“Since the Primates gathering in January I have been trying to assess its significance for the Anglican Communion.
I am not alone in thinking that the GAFCON movement and its Primates played an important role in the outcome. But it is possible to lose clarity in the midst of all the talk and interpretations. We need to go right back to basics to be sure of our identity, our purpose and our policies as a Communion.
We need to go back to basics to make sure that our witness is heard…”
– Dr Peter Jensen, GAFCON General Secretary, has released the first of six reflections on the fundamentals underpinning the Christian faith.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…