Anglican Unscripted 753 — Archbishop Foley Beach Interview

At Anglican Unscripted Kevin Kallsen speaks with GAFCON Chairman Archbishop Foley Beach.

They speak about Lambeth, the Anglican Communion and hopes for the future, including the relationship between GAFCON and the Global South.

(The Pastor’s Heart comes in for honourable mention!)

Orthodox Bishops reaffirm Biblical teaching at ‘partial’ Lambeth

“The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches has reaffirmed a landmark agreement on marriage and sexuality, calling for a ‘resetting’ of the Anglican Communion back to its biblical roots.

The statement came at the end of a meeting in Lambeth called by the English Archbishop Justin Welby. The Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally called a meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world every 10 years.

However, the last full meeting of bishops was in 1998, when the Lambeth Conference passed what is known as Resolution 1.10. …”

– Russell Powell provides a handy summary of Lambeth 22, at SydneyAnglicans.net

Photo: Archbishops Tito Zavala and Justin Badi at the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, 5th August 2022. Canterbury. Photo by J. Trickey, GSFA.

A response to Lambeth from the Chairman of GAFCON

“Sadly, rather than being a source of healing and unity, the Lambeth Conference compounded the problems. The Lambeth Conference was filled with confusion, and what that means for global Anglicanism has just begun to be felt. The Canterbury Communion is broken, not just metaphorically, but literally …

We are living in a unique moment in which, by the grace of God, global Anglicanism can be genuinely reformed by Biblical repentance and renewal. This will be the focus of the Gafcon IV Conference next April when we gather in Kigali, Rwanda. The world needs the transformation that comes from hearing and responding to an unambiguous, saving faith in Jesus Christ.”

– Archbishop Dr Foley Beach, Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, has written a letter to members of the GAFCON family. He both laments the failure of Lambeth and sees the opportunities that lie ahead for global Anglicanism.

Read it all here.

Peter Jensen on Lambeth — Repentance is needed

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“The Anglican Communion is broken and needs to repent.

Provinces of the Anglican Communion are now free to develop their own teaching on sexuality, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

There will be no contending for the faith (cf Jude 1:3) or withdrawing fellowship from the sexually immoral.

Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop Justin Welby arranged the Lambeth Conference so that delegates didn’t get to vote on the most contentious issue of the day – sexuality.

Rather he wrote to delegates announcing that Lambeth 1:10 still applied, but there would be no consequences for ignoring it.

Former Archbishop of Sydney and former General Secretary of Gafcon Peter Jensen joins us to review the confusion in global Anglicanism in the wake of Lambeth22.”

– Watch or listen here. A fascinating and encouraging discussion. Do watch right to the end.

Communique by Orthodox Bishops Presented by GSFA Primates Steering Committee present at Lambeth Conference 2022

Communique by Orthodox Bishops – Presented by: GSFA Primates Steering Committee present at Lambeth Conference 2022

“We grieve at the continued tear in the life of the Communion occasioned by those Primates and Provinces who declined to follow the guidance offered by Resolution I.10, and the consequent absence of significant numbers of orthodox Bishops from our assembly both in 2008 and now. The unchecked spread of revisionism has necessitated the new structure of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) since 2019 for enhanced ecclesial responsibility across orthodox Provinces, and the movement impetus of the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) since 2008 for reform, renewal and proclamation of the Gospel. …”

– Read the full Communique (PDF file) at the Lambeth ’22 Resource Group website.

See also:

Orthodox Bishops Map Out a Robust Future & Hopeful of a Re-Setting of The Anglican Communion – Issued by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (PDF file).

Global South Primates reset the Anglican Communion

“So, together with those who painfully and in good conscience decided not to come, we want to register our collective ownership and stewardship of a Communion that in God’s grace has become worldwide.” – Communique of Orthodox Bishops (par 5.10)

“The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) steering committee presented their Communique of Orthodox Bishops Present at Lambeth Conference 2022.

Considering the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement that he will not under any circumstances discipline or sanction a church that refuses to abide by Lambeth Resolution 1.10 (1998), it seems he has allowed these orthodox bishops to provide a blueprint for resetting the Anglican Communion.

This reset would be based on a shared confession of faith in genuine communion with interdependence and covenants of mutual accountability. Anglican identity is doctrinal, grounded in the Holy Scriptures, the ancient Fathers, the Book of Common Prayer 1662, and its ordinal which is reiterated in the document.

It is striking to note that it does not make Anglican identity a product of relationship to the See of Canterbury or any other sociological or historical anchor. Moreover, in contrast to the Abp. of Canterbury’s statement during the session on the Human Dignity Call, the orthodox bishops of the GFSA state unequivocally that if Anglican identity and unity are rooted in common doctrine, then we cannot be a communion with a plurality of beliefs. …”

– This Special report by the American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey gets to the heart of the matter.

In his closing remarks, he writes,

“Since many, if not most, of the Global South bishops here are also members of GAFCON, how can these two bodies collaborate more intensively in healing the wounds to the Anglican Communion? As I wrote in my reflections on what the face of this emerging communion may look like, is it possible that GAFCON and the Global South could collaborate as a mission society and a Mother Church in the same way Paul and Peter collaborated in the Book of Acts?”

See also:

Lambeth 2022 Diary: Hope and a Future – Thursday 4th August.

“Yesterday the Lambeth Conference of Bishops travelled by bus to Lambeth Palace for a day of planting one tree and discussing the proposal to create a worldwide “Anglican Communion forest.” I find it remarkable that the issue of the authority of the Scriptures, over which our Anglican Communion is divided, was given only two hours on Tuesday in contrast to an entire day to plant a tree and address climate change. That fact alone speaks volumes about the dysfunction in the Lambeth-driven Anglican Communion, but there have also been hopeful moments that help pivot us from all that is wrong with the Anglican Communion towards what a post-Lambeth Communion could look like in the days ahead. …”

GSFA Press Conference photo: J Trickey / GSFA.

The Limitations of Lambeth

“In less than a week’s time Anglican bishops from around the world will gather for what is usually a decennial Lambeth Conference in London.

This year, a sizeable number of bishops will not be attending the conference in protest at what they see as departures from biblical truth and standards of behaviour by a growing number of provinces in the Anglican Communion. They hold little hope that these departures will be addressed by the conference since so many of the bishops who will be attending have promoted them or have refused to speak against them.

It is important to manage our expectations as the conference approaches. …”

– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson reminds us where the true authority lies for the churches of the Anglican Communion.

LAMBETH 1998: Diary from the Last True Lambeth Conference

“This is the 24th anniversary of the historic 1998 Lambeth Conference, which is remembered for its Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality.

I was present there, representing the American Anglican Council (AAC). In this capacity I filed a three-week ‘Diary’ of the Conference. I am posting this diary without revision, except for the final week.

Lambeth 1998 was the last Conference convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attempt to resolve anything of substance. The 2008 Lambeth Conference left behind a undigested glob of ‘indaba.’ The 2022 Conference promises much of the same with a series of indistinct trumpet ‘calls.’ It may be said that the Conference is already all over but the photo op, which no doubt is exactly what the planners intend.

The mantle of serious Anglican discourse has now passed to the Global Anglican Future Conferences, especially those in 2008 and 2018. …”

– The Rev Dr Stephen Noll has published his first hand account of Lambeth 1988 – what he calls “the last true Lambeth Conference”.

Fascinating and sobering. And thank God for GAFCON!

GAFCON Sunday message from Archbishop Ben Kwashi

“This Gafcon Sunday (26 June 2022) will mark 14 years of faithfully proclaiming the unchanging word of God to a lost and desperate world.”

– See more here.

Don’t forget GAFCON Sunday

“Churches around the Anglican Communion are being urged to mark Sunday, June 26th as GAFCON Sunday, as the Global Anglican Future Conference enters its 14th year.”

– A reminder from SydneyAnglicans.net.

GAFCON Sunday 2022

GAFCON Sunday 2022 is coming up on June 26.

African church leader to address GAFCON Australasia

“A national church gathering of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Australasia will hear from international leaders including GAFCON General Secretary, Archbishop Ben Kwashi. …”

– Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net gives a preview of the conference.

Photo: Archbishop Kwashi with Archbishop Peter Jensen in Jerusalem in 2018.

GAFCON 4 goes to Rwanda

“After two meetings in Jerusalem in 2008 and 2018, and one in Nairobi in 2013, the organisers of the five-yearly Global Anglican Future Conference have decided that the 2023 meeting will be held in Kigali, Rwanda.

The conference has been a landmark in international Anglicanism. …”

– Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Image: GAFCON.

Holy Week Message from Archbishop Foley Beach

“We do not pray to a God who is aloof. We pray to a God who knows what it is to suffer pain, who through the suffering of the Cross made the way of life and peace and has not abandoned us to our suffering. …”

Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, and Chairman of GAFCON, Dr. Foley Beach has released his Easter message – Read it all here.

The Challenges of Global Anglicanism #6: Episcopacy in England, Africa and North America

Church Society is continuing its series on the Challenges of Global Anglicanism:

“Lee Gatiss introduces three bishops from different parts of the Anglican world who speak about episcopacy and being a bishop today.

The bishops are: Rod Thomas, Bishop of Maidstone in the Church of England; Stephen Fagbemi, Bishop of Owo in the Church of Nigeria; and Julian Dobbs, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).”

Watch or listen here.

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