GAFCON grows – conference doubles

“Not to choose to embrace Jesus is to choose to reject Jesus.” This stirring call to Jesus-centred mission, and biblical faithfulness came from Ugandan Bishop Alfred Olwa at the start of Global Anglican Future Conference 2018 in Jerusalem today.

The meeting is the third GAFCON and came 10 years after the first gathering which established a movement to promote bible-based, mission-focussed ministry in the Anglican Church.

The conference is unique because unlike other Anglican Communion gatherings lay people participate, as well as clergy and bishops.

GAFCON 2018 is meeting in the Jerusalem International Convention Center in order to fit the two thousand delegates – almost twice the number who met in 2008. …

– Read today’s report from Jerusalem by Russell Powell.

GAFCON described as ‘ecumenical gathering’ by Anglican Communion News Service

“The third international conference organised by the Gafcon movement has begun in Jerusalem. Organisers say that 2,000 people are taking part – media reports suggest that 230 are from Uganda.

The ecumenical gathering attracts a large number of Anglicans. Many in Jerusalem are now members of independent churches set up in opposition to official Anglican Churches and Provinces. …”

– Here’s a rather sad news report from the Anglican Communion News Service.

GAFCON livestream from Jerusalem

The GAFCON livestream is available while sessions are in progress.

Watch it live here.

Less than two days to #Gafcon2018 !

Less than two days to #Gafcon2018 ! from GAFCON Official on Vimeo.

In this pre-GAFCON2018 video, Dominic Steele speaks with Charles Raven in Jerusalem.

“The Gafcon Jerusalem 2018 conference starts Monday morning at 8:30am Jerusalem time. Delegates are arriving in Jerusalem from 50 countries around the world.

Charles Raven is Membership Development Secretary for Gafcon and is speaking here with Dominic Steele about the hopes and dreams for this week in Jerusalem.

Livestream the conference from Monday at gafcon.org/live or fb.me/gafconference.

For posts related to Gafcon’s 2018 Jerusalem conference please use the hashtag, #gafcon2018”

Catch the action from Monday, 7:00am Jerusalem time = 2:00pm AEST.

‘Belonging and renewal in our Anglican Communion’

“… I sometimes encounter confusion about who is and isn’t in the Anglican Communion.

This was something that Archbishop Justin spoke about during the CAPA meeting. Let me make this clear: there are 39 provinces around the world which are part of the Anglican Communion. The latest to be added to our global family was Sudan in July 2017.

The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) is not a province of the Communion. And nor is the newly-formed Anglican Church in Brazil (ACB). Why? The answer is very simple: it is necessary to be in communion with the See of Canterbury in order to be part of the Anglican Communion. …”

– On the eve of GAFCON 2018, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, ‘Secretary General of the Anglican Communion], makes clear who is, and who is not, a part of the Anglican Communion, in his understanding. The leaders of GAFCON, representing something like 80 percent of church-attending Anglicans worldwide, would doubtless beg to differ.

Related:

GAFCON General Secretary Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen interviewed by Anglican TV’s Kevin Kallsen.

The Anglican Church in Brazil and the Anglican Communion – Dr. Peter Jensen:

“… Of course the new Anglican Church in Brazil is an authentic part of the Anglican Communion. It is not a matter of recognition by Canterbury. But, like the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Brazilians invite Canterbury to recognise spiritual reality, and to use its influence to help align the old instrument of the Anglican Communion with the spiritual reality and new growth of the Communion. Will this happen?”

The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil changes its canons to permit same-sex marriage – Anglican Communion News Service, referring to the liberal denomination which is ‘in communion with the See of Canterbury’.

Pray for GAFCON 2018 Jerusalem

From GAFCON, a request for prayer to our heavenly Father –

“Please pray with Gafcon for our Jerusalem 2018 Conference between 17-22 June.

Please set aside time to pray for each daily need if you can.   Read more

Anglican Unscripted – Interview with Archbishop Peter Jensen, June 2018

Anglican TV’s Kevin Kallsen interviewed GAFCON General Secretary Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen about GAFCON 2018 and the future of the GAFCON movement.

Embedded above – or watch here. Most encouraging.

Proclaiming Christ to the nations

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the momentous resolution concerning human sexuality adopted by the 1998 Lambeth Conference of bishops from around the Anglican Communion.

In essence, Resolution I.10 reiterated our long-held doctrine that only marriage is the God-ordained place for sexual relations. Hence one of the opening paragraphs of Resolution I.10 states:

[This conference], in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;

The phrase “in view of the teaching of Scripture” is critical. It is the teaching of God’s word that must direct our lives, and despite its counter-cultural perspective in today’s society …”

– Archbishop Glenn Davies writes on the eve of GAFCON 2018 – at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Preparing for GAFCON in seven contentions

In the run up to GAFCON 2018 this week, Dr. Stephen Noll makes a clear case:

“…Lambeth 1998 was the last true Lambeth Conference, with Gafcon as its successor, and … the 2007 Primates’ Meeting at Dar es Salaam was the last true Primates’ meeting convened by Canterbury …”

Read his introduction below –

“I have been preparing for Gafcon for a long time – a quarter century at least, although I did not know it at the time. Last year I began to assemble and edit my writings in a book, The Global Anglican Communion: Contending for Anglicanism 1993-2018.

Then about eight weeks ago, I took up blogging, which was something of a challenge for a digital dinosaur like myself. Among my blog posts, I have labeled seven Contentions. As I pack bags to leave for Jerusalem, I would like to sum up the logic of these Contentions.

I am going to begin at the end with Contention 7: Lambeth Speaks Plainly (That Was Then). I have been privileged to attend three major Conferences in 2013, 2008 and 1998. And the Lambeth Conference in 1998 is where it all began. Passage of Lambeth Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality was an historic event in three ways:

1. It articulated a clear moral case on the pressing issue of homosexual practice by stating that God ordained two and only two ways of faithful sexual relationships: marriage of one man and one woman and abstinence for those not married. This moral stance was based on the authority of the Bible and hence homosexual practice, gay ordinations, and same-sex “unions” are “incompatible with Scripture” and could not be advised.

2. It was a Resolution written and promoted by the bishops of the majority Global South churches, who overcame the machinations of the Communion bureaucracy. For these churches, Lambeth I.10 continues to be a non-negotiable statement of Anglican orthodoxy, even as the Lambeth Establishment has tried to insert “faithful same-sex partnerships” as a third alternative.

3. It was the culmination of “enhanced” conciliar governance by the Primates, who were authorized to monitor the response of the Episcopal Church and others who defied the Resolution. When the Archbishop of Canterbury reneged on the Primates’ resolutions in 2007, the Global Anglican Future Conference resulted, led by a Gafcon Primates’ Council.

For this reason, I have argued that Lambeth 1998 was the last true Lambeth Conference, with Gafcon as its successor, and that the 2007 Primates’ Meeting at Dar es Salaam was the last true Primates’ meeting convened by Canterbury, which has been succeeded by the Gafcon Primates. …”

– Read the full post by Dr. Stephen Noll, in which he summarises the contentions he has articulated these last two months. (Also in his new book.)

GAFCON – Uniting and Reforming: Part 4 – Bishop Tito Zavala

“In the Anglican Church of Chile, we are very expectant for GAFCON 2018.

This event is much more than just a conference, it is the manifestation of a living movement of Anglicans, led by God, which seeks to change the world through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ.

We return to Jerusalem together this year, but what does this mean for us? …”

– GAFCON has published part 4 of their ‘Uniting and Reforming’ reflections from GAFCON participants. This one is from Bishop Tito Zavala.

GAFCON Chairman’s June 2018 letter

“Some 2,000 delegates will be welcomed to Jerusalem this month and many more will be able to share in GAFCON 2018 as it unfolds with reports through each day and live streaming accessed through the Gafcon website.

We thank the Almighty God for the privilege of being able to gather in this city where the great events of our salvation were enacted, but it is not now necessary to go on pilgrimage to encounter the living God. Through God’s Word and by the power of God’s Spirit, every local church becomes the household of God and an anticipation of the heavenly Jerusalem. …”

– GAFCON Chairman, Archbishop Nicholas D. Okoh, writes less than two weeks before GAFCON III.

He also provides a link to GAFCON’s Fuel for Prayer booklet (PDF).

Brazil’s Anglican Church changes its canons to permit same-sex marriage

“The General Synod of the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil – the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil – (IEAB) has approved changes to its canons to permit same-sex marriages. Civil same-sex marriages have been legal in Brazil since 2012. In a statement, the Province said that the move would not require liturgical changes, because gender neutral language had already been introduced into its service for the solemnization of marriage in the 2015 Book of Common Prayer.

The move was overwhelmingly carried by the Synod members with 57 voting in favour and three against. There were two abstentions. …”

– Report from the Anglican Communion News Service.

By contrast: The Anglican Church in Brazil and the Anglican Communion – Dr. Peter Jensen:

“The basic reason why there is a division amongst the Anglicans of Brazil is because the Episcopal Church of Brazil has departed from the teaching of Scripture, and hence from Anglican teaching, concerning sex and marriage. The division is not over a matter of church politics or personal ambition. It is a matter of the fundamentals of the faith, of what makes a true church, of the authority of God’s word.

In 2005, the Diocese of Recife withdrew from the existing Church body over this issue. In so doing it was being true to Scripture and to the overwhelming majority view of the Communion’s Bishops as expressed in Lambeth 1.10 of 1998. …”

GAFCON — Uniting and Reforming

In the run up to this month’s GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem, GAFCON has begun publishing reflections from some who attended precious gatherings.

Published so far: Melvin Tinker, Jane Tooher, and Winnie Njenga.

Sin and Error in the Church

“One of the most striking things about the Bible is its reality. It has often been observed, for example that only one of its heroes – the Son of God himself – is without sin.  Sometimes the sins of the saints are very serious indeed.

The Bible’s reality includes its description of the Church. As Acts 4 draws to its conclusion with a description of the wonderful generosity of Christian people to those in need, we may think that the presence of the Spirit has led to instant and complete holiness. Then comes the story of Ananias and Sapphira to bring us back to reality. …”

– Read Dr. Peter Jensen’s latest post at the GAFCON website.

The Anglican Church in Brazil and the Anglican Communion

GAFCON General Secretary, Dr. Peter Jensen, has responded to a claim that the new Anglican Church in Brazil is not authentically a part of the Anglican Communion:

“Of course the new Anglican Church in Brazil is an authentic part of the Anglican Communion.”

Why say that? Read his full statement below, dated 25 May 2018 –

“In the London Church Times (18th May 2018), Bishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council claimed that Gafcon had been ‘inaccurate’ in describing the newly formed Anglican Church in Brazil as part of the Anglican Communion and claimed that “To be part of the Anglican Communion requires being in communion with the see of Canterbury, which this Church is not.”

Here lies the difference between mere institutionalism and spiritual reality.

The basic reason why there is a division amongst the Anglicans of Brazil is because the Episcopal Church of Brazil has departed from the teaching of Scripture, and hence from Anglican teaching, concerning sex and marriage. The division is not over a matter of church politics or personal ambition. It is a matter of the fundamentals of the faith, of what makes a true church, of the authority of God’s word.

In 2005, the Diocese of Recife withdrew from the existing Church body over this issue. In so doing it was being true to Scripture and to the overwhelming majority view of the Communion’s Bishops as expressed in Lambeth 1.10 of 1998. In 2016, after court cases, it had to surrender much of its property. And yet, under God, the Diocese continues, grows and is now in a position to become a Province, with several Dioceses.

Throughout this period, orthodox Bishops (such as Archbishop Greg Venables of South America) upheld the Diocese and supported it and ministered within it. Because this was an issue of basic theology, the Gafcon movement recognised the Diocese and arranged for the consecration of the present Archbishop. Gafcon held on to faithful Anglican Christians whose ‘fault’ was merely that they were accepting biblical and Anglican teaching. Gafcon holds the Communion together while we wait to see if other instruments of the Communion will do what is right.

The Gafcon Primates Council was not mistaken in recognising the Anglican Church in Brazil as a Province of the Anglican Communion. This step has also been supported by leaders of the Anglican Global South. This also is a recognition of spiritual reality.

Communion with the see of Canterbury used to be a welcome, useful and easily understood way of describing the Anglican Communion. But with leadership comes responsibility. So far, the recent Archbishops of Canterbury have not used the power of their office either to discipline those who have created disorder and threatened the basis of our faith, or to reach out the right hand of fellowship to those who have stood firm.

The institution has triumphed while faithful Anglicans are disaffiliated and deprived.

It was this failure that our 2008 Jerusalem Statement and Declaration faced when it was affirmed that ‘While acknowledging the nature of Canterbury as an historic see, we do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury.’ The only justification for the continued pre-eminence of the see of Canterbury would be if it serves the apostolic gospel. At present it is not doing so effectively. Again, the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration brings the problem into focus when it claimed ‘We can only come to the devastating conclusion that we are a global Communion with a colonial structure’.

Of course the new Anglican Church in Brazil is an authentic part of the Anglican Communion. It is not a matter of recognition by Canterbury. But, like the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Brazilians invite Canterbury to recognise spiritual reality, and to use its influence to help align the old instrument of the Anglican Communion with the spiritual reality and new growth of the Communion. Will this happen?”

– Source: GAFCON. (Emphasis added in the pull-quote at top.)

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