On the Threshold of the Great Anglican Communion Reset
The American Anglican Council‘s Canon Phil Ashey writes from Kigali –
“The first official draft of the GAFCON statement was read today to GAFCON Kigali delegates. The hard work to create an in-depth, thorough, and sweeping evaluation of the issues facing the Anglican Church, the proposed solutions, and the future for biblically faithful Anglicanism were positively received. We are grateful for their hard work and transparency. Tonight, these primates and church leaders will gather again to gather feedback from delegates who met after the reading of the statement in regional gatherings to discuss the draft and make suggested changes. We eagerly await the reading of the final statement on Friday morning!
This morning, Archbishop James Wong (Indian Ocean) taught from Colossians 1:28-2:23 on being “Rooted and Grounded in Christ.” Ultimately, this is what I believe the GAFCON Conference Statement is calling us to be. As Archbishop Wong noted, St. Paul actually uses a mixed metaphor, both a garden and a building, “rooted and built up” (Col. 2:7). We are to bear fruit and grow up to be a place together where God himself may dwell. That is the future of the great Anglican Communion reset.
What Paul described in Colossians is similar to the struggle we now face in the Anglican Communion. The church in Colossae was divided between those who had a simple faith in the supremacy of Jesus Christ and those who believed in “fine sounding arguments,” “hollow and deceptive philosophies,” and the “human traditions and elemental spiritual forces” of the world (Col. 2:4,8). What a perfect description of the context in which the Anglican Communion finds itself today, divided between those who believe in the supremacy of Jesus Christ and the clarity, authority, and superiority of his Word—and those who have produced “find sounding arguments” that have seduced people away from the love of Christ and his teaching, including his teaching on marriage. What St. Paul said is what GAFCON says today: “Do not be deceived.” In the context of our divided Communion, Archbishop Wong concluded, “Look up to Jesus and see that no one takes you captive to anything that takes you away from Jesus!”
In Colossians 2:2, St. Paul describes his mission to the Colossians and others who have not yet met him in these words: “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love.” Just as he encouraged the Colossians to put love and unity together said Archbishop Wong, so GAFCON and the Global South are calling all orthodox Anglicans to stand firm by coming together “in love and unity to overcome the spiritual forces that draw us away from Jesus Christ.” The unity of the 85% of global Anglicans represented by GAFCON and the Global South must, therefore, be rooted in love of Jesus and love for one another.
That’s what I heard in the GAFCON Statement today. It is a call to evangelism, discipleship, and mission. But it is also a call, in the words of Archbishop Wong, “to good order, to be like an army in lines unbroken, in discipline, following the great tradition and rule the Colossians had already received, ‘So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Col.2:6-7).
May this be the word and the spirit of the great Anglican Communion reset!”
– Received via e-mail.
Two highlights from Day 2 of GAFCON IV
There is much to see – but here are two highlights –
Bishop Glenn Davies’ background on what led up to GAFCON I, 2008 and what came after.
It’s a very sobering accounting of recent history. Do watch and share:
He mentions the Kuala Lumpur Statement, 1997.
See also: The Anglican Debacle: Roots and Patterns – by Dr. Mark Thompson, March 2008.
And Bishop Keith Sinclair’s address:
“What we have seen over the past years is the unfolding of a tragedy.”
Bishop Sinclair refers to Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10,
and Peter Jensen’s editorial in the current issue of The Global Anglican.
Time to move on past Canterbury and seek the renewal, revival and reform of the Anglican way — Archbishop Beach tells GAFCON IV
“GAFCON IV will not spend five days bemoaning the failures of the Church of England, but is focused on recalling the wider Anglican world to renewal, revival and reform, the chairman of GAFCON the Most Rev. Foley Beach indicated in his presidential address tonight. …”
– At Anglican.ink, George Conger shares his take on Archbishop Foley Beach’s address on the first night of GAFCON IV in Kigali.
The Challenge of, and the Challenge to, GAFCON
“As the fourth GAFCON conference begins today in Kigali, we are glad to publish the latest editorial from The Global Anglican, written by Peter Jensen, himself a former General Secretary of GAFCON.
This edition of The Global Anglican is due to be published at much the same time as the fourth Gafcon Conference is meeting in Kigali Rwanda.
In speaking of the challenge of Gafcon, I ought to indicate, of course, that I myself was present when the idea of Gafcon was born in December 2007 and helped organise the first Jerusalem Conference in June the next year. Following that I became the General Secretary of Gafcon, a position I held until 2018. Thus, I am no uncommitted bystander, although I am no longer present at the key policy-making decisions.
However, I can speak with some knowledge about the history and significance of the movement, and I want to discuss something of the challenge that Gafcon represents in the Anglican Communion and a particular challenge that Gafcon faces. …”
– Read Peter’s full editorial at Church Society’s website.
Photo: Archbishop Kwashi with Archbishop Peter Jensen in Jerusalem in 2018.
Preview of the ‘Heart of Gafcon’ live broadcast — Starting Monday 17th April
GAFCON IV begins in Kigali, Rwanda, on Monday. Here’s a brief preview.
We’ll have a link on our website to the broadcast for each day. Stay tuned!
60 Days of Prayer for the Church
Church Society in the UK has been promoting “Sixty Days of Prayer for the Church“.
“Church Society is calling us to 60 days of prayer for the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion. The Church of England is teetering on the precipice of grave doctrinal error and pastoral disaster. The potential implications will be felt across the Anglican Communion, with many provinces having already made it clear that they cannot continue in fellowship with the Church of England. The situation is extremely serious, and what we most need is to call on the Lord.
For several years, at Church Society, we have made weekday posts throughout Lent on a number of theological, biblical and pastoral themes.
This year, however, it seemed appropriate to use this time to call the church to prayer. The collects of the Anglican church are intended to gather up the thoughts of the people into short, clear prayers, and so we will be using these as the basis for our prayers.
Each day we will be posting a selected collect along with some thoughts about its significance for the contemporary church, and we hope that these will prompt your own prayers.
The sixty days begin on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, and finish at the end of the GAFCON meeting in Kigali, on April 21st.
Please join us for this important season of prayer.”
It’s not too late to join in prayer. You can see each of the daily posts at the Church Society website.
Today’s post: Withstand the world, the flesh and the devil, by Sandy Grant, is a reflection on the collect for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity –
“Almighty God,
grant your people grace
to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.”
and Stephen Tong wrote this post on the collect for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Stephen Noll: The Next Step — Formation of a New Communion of Churches
Dr Stephen Noll has concluded his series of 14 Theses suggesting ways forward for Biblically faithful Anglicans –
“These Fourteen Theses represent an attempt to sketch a providential history of global Anglicanism over the past twenty-five years. …
These Theses describe an ‘Ebenezer moment’ for the Anglican Communion and propose a critical next step: a costly but necessary separation from the Church of England as the mother church and from the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury as a focus of Anglican unity. In truth, this separation has been happening since 1998, as Global Anglicans have begun charting their own way forward.
Any genuine reform of the Church involves a threefold cord: renewal of faith and mission; reform of doctrine, discipline, and worship; and reordering of church polity at the local, regional and international levels. …”
GAFCON press release 9th March 2023
Press release, 09 March 2023
“Many Anglicans across the world are deeply distressed by the Church of England’s recent decision to separate from the historic faith through the creation and implementation of prayers of blessing for same-sex marriages.
Several churches and Provinces within the Anglican Communion are considering their future with respect to the Church of England. The Primates of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (who represent the majority of the world’s worshipping Anglicans) have already declared that they are in impaired communion with the Church of England and said that they do not recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury as the “first among equals” leader of the global Anglican Communion.
The Gafcon Movement is a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to proclaim the unchanging truth of the Bible in a changing world, and to support those who wish to remain Anglican but feel they are no longer able to sit under the authority of their Bishop or Diocese.
On 20 February 2023 the Gafcon Primates endorsed the statement released by the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans pointing to Paragraph 13 of the Jerusalem Declaration (2008) which says: ‘We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed’.
In a number of countries around the world (including Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, the United States, and Wales), Gafcon has supported the establishment of alternative episcopal oversight for those Anglicans who in good conscience cannot remain part of their provincial Anglican Church.
Presently, the Gafcon Primates are meeting regularly with the Primates of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches and other Orthodox Primates across the world to discern the path forward. The outcome of these meetings will affect the majority of the 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
Gafcon will not be commenting on the content of these meetings while they are ongoing but will be releasing a statement at the end of the upcoming GAFCON IV Conference to be held from 17-21 April in Kigali, Rwanda.”
‘Catastrophic” — Dr Lee Gatiss on the Global South’s rebuke of the Church of England
Church Society Director Lee Gatiss is interviewed by Dave Piper for Trans World Radio about the Global South’s rejection of the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“Lee argues this has left the majority of Anglicans worldwide aghast.
He says vicars will essentially be left to decide doctrine themselves – and could get it in the neck if they go against society’s views on marriage and sexual relationships. And he warns some parishes and dioceses could break away and seek oversight from outside of the UK.”
Church of England departs historic Christian faith – with Archbishop Justin Badi
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“12 Primates of the Global South Provinces have issued a statement saying ‘The Church of England has departed from the historic faith, passed down from the Apostles.’
The Primates – who are all national leaders within the denomination – say that the Church of England has disqualified herself from leading the Anglican Communion.
They say the Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith.
The Chair of Global South, Archbishop Justin Badi of South Sudan, says they are withdrawing support for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who has led his House of Bishops to make recommendations that run contrary to the faith & order of the orthodox provinces in the communion.”
Grieving the Anglican Communion: English Primacy and the Anglican Consultative Council
“After the high drama of the Church of England’s General Synod, we had one day to wash and repack before flying to Ghana for the eighteenth plenary meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-18), hosted by the Province of West Africa.
It was like being evacuated from the battlefield to a temporary sanctuary, where the artillery bombardment is hushed, wounds can be bandaged, and the foot soldiers of rival armies lay down their weapons for mutual refreshment and embrace. Eight days of Anglican bliss, while all around us the Communion implodes. …
The Anglican Communion has been in choppy seas for several decades, but the bishops of the Church of England are now driving it directly towards the rocks. If they do not change course, then what can be salvaged from the imminent wreckage? At the ACC we worked gallantly, with cheerful smiles, trying to believe it was ‘business as normal’, but all the time aware that the epoch-changing statement from the primates of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) would be waiting for us when we returned home.”
– At Psephizo, Andrew Atherstone reflects on the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council last week and the seismic shift taking place in the Anglican Communion.
He points out,
“Global South provinces have now seized the initiative to establish firebreaks between themselves and the Church of England. Emergency action is needed, if the riches of the Anglican Communion are not to be squandered forever.”
Andrew Atherton is Latimer Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and biographer of Justin Welby.
Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia responds to Church of England General Synod
THE PROVINCE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
18th February 2023
PASTORAL LETTER
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
The General Synod of the Church of England recently passed a motion permitting their priests to conduct blessings for same-sex civil unions. Understandably, many members of our Province are troubled by this development and wish to seek clarification regarding its implications for us.
We are deeply disappointed by the Church of England’s decision and unequivocally state that the blessing of same-sex unions has no biblical ground whatsoever, since Scripture teaches unambiguously that marriage is between one man and one woman. The Church of England has said that their doctrine of marriage remains unchanged. Be that as it may, in the Anglican understanding the words used in a church service, whether they are part of the liturgy or are prayers for persons, must be faithful to Scripture. The provision of a form of words for such blessings violates this key theological principle.
Although we cannot condone the decision made by the Church of England, we affirm that God loves persons of all sexual orientations, and we resolve to do likewise. We cannot approve of relationship choices that Scripture clearly forbids, but we will care for and journey with such persons, praying that the Lord will enable them to live in obedience to His Word.
Since Anglican provinces are autonomous and do not come under the authority of the Church of England, the latter’s decision will not change our position and practice. As a Province, we will remain faithful to the teaching of Scripture. We also reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Formularies the Thirty-nine Articles, the Ordinal, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Books of Homilies – while noting that they do not grant any concession for the blessing of same-sex unions.
Despite our grave reservations regarding the Church of England’s decision, we believe that the unity of the Anglican communion should not be lightly abandoned. Hence, we will remain in communion with the Church of England while praying fervently for her and speaking boldly for God’s truth. May His purpose prevail.
With every blessing In Christ,
The Most Reverend Datuk Melter Jiki Tais
(Primate of the Anglican Church In South East Asia, Bishop of Sabah)
The Right Reverend Datuk Danald Jute
(Bishop of Kuching)
The Right Reverend Dr Titus Chung Khiam Boon
(Bishop of Singapore)
The Right Reverend Dr Steven Abbarow
(Bishop of West Malaysia)
Text via Anglican Mainstream. Photo: St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore.
Bishop Alfred Olwa on what the Anglican Communion needs
From The American Anglican Council:
“During his trip to Uganda to be with the leaders of the Church of Uganda, Canon Phil [Ashey] got to sit down with Bishop Alfred Olwa about the work of Gospel ministry in Uganda, the Global Communion and the fighting against false teaching, and how to move forward in faith for the sake of the world.”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey speaks with Bishop Alfred Olwa.
He expresses hopes for closer fellowship between GAFCON and the Global South and is looking forward to GAFCON IV in Kigali. (Bishop Olwa is well-known by many in Sydney after his time at Moore Theological College.)
Image: Bishop Olwa speaking at GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem.
What next for the Anglican Communion & Church of England – with Dr Peter Jensen
In this week’s The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic Steele speaks with Dr Peter Jensen, former General Secretary of the GAFCON movement and former Archbishop of Sydney.
There is deep sadness over what has happened.
“This has been, and is, the decisive moment,” he says.
Mentioned in the conversation is the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Acra, Ghana. Here are videos of
Welby proposes pulling Canterbury out of Anglican instruments of communion
“The Archbishop of Canterbury will surrender his authority as first among equals among the primates of the Anglican Communion in light of the General Synod of the Church of England’s adoption of gay blessings.
Speaking to the opening ceremony of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Accra, Ghana on 12 February 2023, the Most Rev. Justin Welby stated ‘I will not cling to place or position as an Instrument of Communion.’
His concession comes the day before 12 of the primates affiliated with the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans meet to offer a united response to last week’s vote in General Synod. The decision to introduce same-sex blessings, without seeking a Scriptural or theological foundation for the decision, or respecting the church’s agreements with other Anglican provinces has prompted the largest provinces: Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya to break fellowship. …”
– Is the Archbishop of Canterbury offering to jump before he is pushed? George Conger has this report at Anglican.ink.
Photo credit: Jaqui J Sze, Archbishop of Canterbury’s office.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…