GAFCON Prayer requests — March 2016
“We thank you for your continued support and prayer for the GAFCON movement. We would like to ask for your prayer over the next few weeks for a number of important areas:
1. The GAFCON Primates Council in April 2016
As the GAFCON Primates prepare to meet in Santiago de Chile please pray for the following …”
– Prayer is the wonderful privilege of all Christian believers. Here are some prayer requests from GAFCON.
Archbishop Ntagali’s Lenten Appeal to Pray for Uganda and the Anglican Communion
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, has issued this call to prayer for Uganda, and for the Anglican Communion. Here are two key quotes:
“Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is like we are back in 2003 where we continue to be betrayed by our leaders. The Primates voted to bring discipline to TEC and, yet, we now see that the leadership of the Anglican Communion does not have the will to follow through. This is another deep betrayal.” …
“There will be a GAFCON Primates Council meeting in Chile in April, and we will discuss how to continue advancing the mission of GAFCON as a renewal movement within the Anglican Communion. As I have stated previously, we are not leaving the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion. We uphold the Biblical and historic faith of Anglicans and have come together in fellowship with other Provinces and national fellowships that have made the same decision.”
Full text below: Read more
TEC will go to the ACC meeting in Lusaka and they will vote, ACC chairman says
“The Episcopal Church “cannot be kicked out of the Anglican Communion and will never be kicked out of the Anglican Communion,” the chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council told a seminary audience last week…”
– Report from Anglican Ink via GAFCON.
GAFCON Chairman’s Pastoral Letter February 2016
“Some of you are asking what GAFCON’s approach will be during the three years that TEC are subject to sanctions and what will happen at the end of that time, given that TEC appear to have moved well beyond the possibility of changing course.
At our Primates Council in April, we will take counsel together on these matters, but I can say that all of us in the GAFCON movement need to set our faces to go to Jerusalem. While we honour Canterbury as the mother See of the Anglican Communion, it was at Jerusalem that we placed our hope for the future in Jesus and the truth of the Bible…”
– Read all of Archbishop Eliud Wabukala’s letter here.
Bishop Charlie Masters’ Reflections on Canterbury – Two weeks after
Bishop Charlie Masters, of the Anglican Network in Canada, shares some further reflections on what happened at the Primates’ Meeting in Canterbury –
“Those of us who have been living through what’s known as the realignment of Anglicanism – which incidentally began June 15, 2002 in Vancouver – are familiar with the image of the iceberg. What you see above the waterline though it may be immense is actually less than 1/8 of the complete iceberg; 7/8 of the iceberg looms below the surface. It is a big mistake to assume that the visible ice is all there is.
As Archbishop Foley said in his statement what happened at these meetings was only a beginning. But it IS a beginning, for which we can thank God.
As to the issue of discipline, although one could argue that the scope was far too narrow and the discipline far too weak and that others, including the ACoC should have been included, nevertheless this small step of discipline WAS taken. What was done was a good beginning…”
– Read it all on the ANiC website – or here as a PDF file.
ACNA clarifies Archbishop Beach’s participation at Primates 2016
“The Anglican Church in North America has received numerous questions regarding whether or not Archbishop Beach was ‘a full voting member of the Primates Meeting…’.”
– Statement from ACNA.
‘The Ugandans remember’
In this week’s video chat (Anglican Unscripted) between Anglican TV’s Kevin Kallsen and Anglican Ink’s George Conger, the topic is the Primates’ Meeting, and the TEC response.
They ask if the exclusion of TEC from certain kinds of participation is a consequence (as the Archbishop of Canterbury says) or discipline? They also respond to suggestions from some in North America that only the Anglican Consultative Council, and not the Primates, has authority to act on these matters.
Watch it here. 18 minutes.
Related
Legalism v. love — Peter Ould on responses to the Canterbury communique – Anglican Ink.
“Here’s two simple things to remember.
i) They’re absolutely right (the ones who claim the Primates have no statutory power to demand such a sanction / consequence)
ii) It doesn’t matter in the slightest, the sanction / consequence is still going to happen because the force behind them is not one of law but one of love…”
A grubby little incident – by Robert Tong at SydneyAnglicans.net, on the 2009 Anglican Consultative Council -14 meeting in Jamaica.
“In a naked display of political power, the American Episcopal Church leadership stopped the Rev Philip Ashey, the clergy representative of the Province of Uganda, from taking his place at the 14th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council held in Jamaica…”
‘Primates reaffirm teaching on marriage’ — encouragements and concerns
“In the immediate aftermath of the gathering of Anglican Primates last week, what are we to make of it all? … Some of the initial headlines suggested that all will be well for the Church, but a closer analysis shows that there are some real concerns going forward, as well as some encouragements…”
– Anglican Mainstream’s Rev. Andrew Symes comments on the outcomes of the Primates’ Meeting.
Amidst some real encouragements, he turns to the apologies which have been voiced by some –
“While part of the Church’s role is to encourage love of neighbour and pastoral care of all people, its Gospel witness is compromised if it suggests that it is saying sorry to people whose feelings have been hurt by the clear teaching of the Bible and basic principles of Christian discipleship.”
Anglican TV interviews ACNA Primate Foley Beach on the Primates’ Meeting
“tremendous for GAFCON.”
In this 20 minute interview with Archbishop Foley Beach, recorded by Anglican TV’s Kevin Kallsen, Archbishop Beach speaks about his experience of the Primates’ 2016 meeting. Very frank, informative and encouraging.
‘Time for GAFCON to lay down conditions for Lambeth 2020’
“GAFCON needs to make clear soon that it will not participate in Lambeth 2020 if the ACNA bishops are not invited. If it does not publicly lay down this condition, then that would allow the revisionist institutional narrative to gain momentum in the Anglican Communion.”
– in an opinion piece published at Anglican Mainstream, The Rev Julian Mann argues that GAFCON needs to set its sights on the 2020 Lambeth Conference (if it hasn’t already).
Photo: Julian Mann with Archbishop Dr. Ben Kwashi.
Dr Peter Jensen reflects on how the Primates’ meeting went
“A small beginning to what we long for – the renewal of our Communion.”
Peter Jensen interviewed from London by Dominic Steele
Dominic Steele writes:
“Dr Peter Jensen, the General Secretary of GAFCON and Former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, will be speaking with me from London at 9pm on Sunday night on 2CH 1170 about the outcome of the important meeting of the international leaders of the Anglican Church this week in Canterbury.”
The interview was conducted, as advertised, and the audio file is now available on Dominic’s website.
Dominic also spoke with David Ould for his take on Primates2016.
A Response to the Primates Gathering 2016 Statement — Canon Phil Ashey
The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey:
“I am writing from Canterbury, England, where the staff of the American Anglican Council has been on site assisting Archbishop Foley Beach and the GAFCON Primates in their witness at the Primates gathering this week. There is a saying about the fog of war: when it descends, there is often confusion and disorientation in the midst of the fight. Here, it would certainly be fair to say that situations changed on a daily, if not hourly basis. In the fog of war, rarely are battles decisive. More often, they turn out to be one step among many in a long and costly road to victory. Read more
Anglican Network in Canada’s Bishop Charlie Masters statement from Canterbury
Anglican Network in Canada’s Bishop Charlie Masters reports from Canterbury
“Once Primates had finally addressed the issue of discipline, it was time for Archbishop Beach to quietly step away from the remainder of the meeting as ACNA had committed itself to only continue at the meeting if TEC and the ACoC had stepped away and until repentance and godly order were restored. The ACoC remained and, although mild sanctions were applied to TEC, its Primate also remained in the meeting.”
Full text below: Read more
Archbishop Foley Beach reports on the Primates’ Gathering
Archbishop Foley Beach, Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, reports on the Primates’ Gathering –
“The sanctions are strong, but they are not strong enough, and to my deep disappointment, they didn’t include the Anglican Church of Canada as they should.”
Full text below: Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…