The Kigali Commitment — GAFCON IV Conference Statement — resetting the Anglican Communion on its biblical foundations.

The Kigali Commitment –

Released on the final day of GAFCON IV, 21 April 2023

PDF version here. Or full text below:

(Also available in Swahili, French, Spanish and Portuguese.)

Read more

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. …”

– Read Theses 11 to 14 here.

Key English churches take action as C of E ‘walks away’

“Some of the largest churches in London and Oxford have announced estrangement from the Church of England, including a pause on paying financial contributions.

St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, a large evangelical church with an outreach in London’s financial quarter, was the first to react to the decision by the General Synod to approve a report by the House of Bishops that introduces prayers of blessing for same-sex couples. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell summarises the response of key evangelical churches in the Church of England – including the news that St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford is also pausing financial contributions to their diocese.

See also:

A response from Vaughan Roberts – Anglican Ink.

‘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.”

Watch here. 8 minutes.

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.”

– Watch or listen here.

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.

GSFA Primates statement: “the Church of England has… disqualified herself”

This statement has been released today by the Primates of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches:

Here are some key quotes from the statement  –

“…the Church of England has … disqualified herself from leading the Communion as the historic ‘Mother’ Church …

The GSFA is no longer able to recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Hon & Most Revd Justin Welby, as the “first among equals” Leader of the global Communion.  …

GSFA Primates will expeditiously meet, consult and work with other orthodox Primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation …

We do not accept the view that we can still ‘walk together’ with the revisionist provinces …”.

Full statement below:

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches

PRESS STATEMENT

February 20, 2023

STATEMENT OF GSFA PRIMATES ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND’S DECISION REGARDING THE BLESSING OF SAME SEX UNIONS 

With great sorrow at the recent decision of the Church of England’s General Synod to legitimise and incorporate into the Church’s liturgy the blessing of same sex unions, ten Primates of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) met virtually on 13 Feb 2023 under the chairmanship of Archbishop Justin Badi (Chairman of GSFA & Primate of South Sudan) to discuss our response. 

The panel of Primates agreed on the following resolutions which it now commends to the orthodox provinces and dioceses who are part of her Fellowship for the respective Primate & Province to consider and deliberate on.

1.) As the Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles by this innovation in the liturgies of the Church and her pastoral practice (contravening her own Canon A5), she has disqualified herself from leading the Communion as the historic “Mother” Church. Indeed, the Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith expressed in the Anglican formularies (the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal and the Book of Homilies) and applied to the matter of marriage and sexuality in Lambeth Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. 

2.) As much as the  GSFA Primates also want to keep the unity of the visible Church and the fabric of the Anglican Communion, our calling to be ‘a holy remnant’ does not allow us be “in communion” with those provinces that have departed from the historic faith and taken the path of false teaching. This breaks our hearts and we pray for the revisionist provinces to return to ‘the faith once delivered’ (Jude 3) and to us. 

3.) The GSFA is no longer able to recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Hon & Most Revd Justin Welby, as the “first among equals” Leader of the global Communion. He has sadly led his House of Bishops to make the recommendations that undergirded the General Synod Motion on ‘Living in Love & Faith,’ knowing that they run contrary to the faith & order of the orthodox provinces in the Communion whose people constitute the majority in the global flock. We pray that our withdrawal of support for him to lead the whole Communion is received by him as an admonishment in love. 

4.) With the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury forfeiting their leadership role of the global Communion, GSFA Primates will expeditiously meet, consult and work with other orthodox Primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation. We look forward to collaborating with Primates and bishops in the GAFCON movement and other orthodox Anglican groupings to work out the shape and nature of our common life together and how we are to keep the priority of proclaiming and witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world foremost in our life as God’s people. Together with other orthodox Primates, we will seek to address the leadership crisis that has arisen because for us, and perhaps by his own reported self-exclusion, the present Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer the ‘leader’ of the Communion and no longer the Chair of the Primates’ Meeting by virtue of his position.  

5.) GSFA Primates will carefully work with other orthodox Primates to provide Primatial and  episcopal oversight to orthodox dioceses and networks of Anglican churches who indicate their need and who consult with us. This is to ensure that the faithful all across the worldwide Anglican Church but who find themselves in revisionist Provinces receive the pastoral oversight, guidance and care of a global, connectional Church which the Anglican Communion is meant to be.  

6.) Given this action by the Church of England’s General Synod, we believe it is no longer possible to continue in the way the Communion is.  We do not accept the view that we can still “walk together” with the revisionist provinces as prescribed by the Anglican Communion Office and in the exploratory way proposed by IASCUFO (Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith & Order) at the recent Anglican Consultative Council (ACC)-18 meeting. 

7.) GSFA Primates are joint-stewards together with other orthodox Primates of the Anglican Communion, defined by its Formularies and that has been birthed and sustained by God through the centuries. We are accountable to the whole and to each other for the historic Christian faith and its practice in our autonomous Churches. The Church of England is the “historic first” province, but now that it has departed from the historic faith the responsibility falls to the remaining orthodox Primates. We will not walk away from the Communion that has so richly blessed us and for whose faithfulness to God and His word our forebears have paid a costly price. What has happened in the Church of England has only served to strengthen our resolve to work together to re-set the Communion, and to ensure that the re-set Communion is marked by reform and renewal. Only then will the Anglican Church as a whole be able to be God’s channel of light and transformation in a dark and broken world. Only then will we be able to live out our witness as part of God’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. 

To this end, GSFA will work humbly, boldly and charitably with other orthodox parts of the global Anglican Church. In our own Provinces, we will repent of the ways in which we ourselves fail to keep the covenant God has given us in Christ Jesus. We will ask God to purify and build up our churches so that we can authentically and passionately take the Gospel out to our respective nations and assigned fields.

And with a renewed and reset Communion, we will be able to join hands in mission and ministry across the nations to be a bright, collective light in the midst of the major challenges of our time.

This is what we in GSFA are looking forward to as we prepare for our first GSFA Assembly under our Covenantal Structure (Cairo, 2019) , which will be from 28th-31st May 2024 in Cairo.

To God be the glory as a new light mercifully dawns on His Church in the midst of the growing darkness. Isaiah 60:1-3.

__________________________________________________________________

This Statement is endorsed by the following GSFA Primates

1. Archbishop Justin Badi (Primate of South Sudan & Chair of GSFA)

2. Archbishop Hector (Tito) Zavala (Primate of Chile & Vice-Chair of GSFA)

3. Archbishop James Wong (Primate of Indian Ocean, GSFA Steering Committee member)

4. Archbishop Titre Ande (Primate of Congo, GSFA Steering Committee member)

5. Archbishop Stephen Than (Primate of Myanmar, GSFA Steering Committee member)

6. Archbishop Foley Beach (Primate of North America, GSFA Steering Committee member)

7. Archbishop Samuel Mankhin (Primate of Bangladesh , GSFA Steering Committee member)

8. Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba (Primate of Uganda)

9. Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo (Primate of Sudan)

10. Archbishop Samy Shehata (Primate of Alexandria)

11. Archbishop Miguel Uchoa Cavalcanti (Primate of Anglican Church in Brazil)

12. Archbishop Leonard Dawea (Primate of Melanesia)

Footnotes:

1 The GSFA is currently composed of 14 Provinces from a larger grouping of 25 Global South provinces. These 14 provinces plus one diocese have either signed on to be members of GSFA via assent to its Covenantal Structure (Cairo, 2019) or given written indication that a process to pursue GSFA membership has begun in their province. (See www.thegsfa.org)

2 ‘Orthodox’ provinces are those which hold to the plain and authoritaIve teaching of holy Scripture as historically understood, and correspondingly their ‘Faith & Order’ is consistent with what the Scriptures as a whole teach.

3 ‘The Church of England’s General Synod has welcomed proposals which would enable same-sex couples to come to church after a civil marriage or civil partnership to give thanks, dedicate their relationship to God and receive God’s blessing.’ (https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/prayers-gods-blessing-same-sex-couples-take-step-forward-after-synod)

4 Canon A5 : ‘The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-Nine ArIcles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal.’

5 Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10 on Human Sexuality states that “while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation …” The ResoluIon also states that the Lambeth Conference “cannot advise the legiImising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions.”

6 The ‘holy remnant’ in Scripture refers to that segment among God’s people who remain faithful to God’s covenant against wind and tide by trusting and obeying God’s word and keeping to God’s standard of right and wrong. They do so in spite of secIons of the wider community they belong to conforming to the world around them and disobeying the revealed word of God.

7 ‘Revisionist’ provinces are those who take a liberal view on the interpretation of holy Scripture and introduce new and innovative doctrines that do not agree with the plain teaching of Scripture as historically understood by the Church. In their ‘faith & order,’ revisionist provinces and dioceses move increasingly away from the bounds of Scripture.

Available here as a PDF file.

Emergency GSFA Primates Meeting — Statement coming on Monday

From The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches:

“Emergency GSFA Primates Meeting following CofE General Synod decision (Feb 2023)

The GSFA Primates met virtually on the 13th of February 2023 to reflect on the Church of England’s recent decision to bless couples in same sex union and make the appropriate response towards this innovation. After discussing the matter, the Primates agreed that the Church of England has departed from the historic faith of the Church.

The GSFA will issue a Statement on Mon 20th February of what was decided at the said meeting.”

Photo: GSFA Press Conference during the Lambeth Conference, July 2022.

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.

Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches responds to C of E General Synod vote

“The role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in leading the House of Bishops to make the recommendations that undergird the Motion, together with his statements, alongside the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of London leading up to the General Synod, cause the GSFA to question his fitness to lead what is still a largely orthodox world-wide Communion.”

Here is the full statement released shortly after the Church of England General Synod vote:

RESPONSE FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH FELLOWSHIP OF ANGLICAN CHURCHES TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ‘BLESSING’ OF GAY UNIONS

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) deeply regrets the decision of the Church of England’s General Synod today, supporting the House of Bishops’ proposals to ‘bless’ Same Sex Unions – which goes against the overwhelming mind of the Anglican Communion.

Whatever the legal advice that the CofE’s Doctrine of Marriage has not changed, we hold the well-established view that Anglican liturgy expresses its doctrine. Furthermore, with the adoption of the Motion, the ‘public perception’ and reality at parish level shall be that the Church no longer sees the Union of one man to one woman for life as the only way intended and blessed by God, for the flourishing of marriage, family, communities, and national life.

The Church cannot ‘bless’ in God’s name the union of same sex partnered individuals, much less sexual relationships between same-sex persons which in God’s Word He declares to be sinful.

The role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in leading the House of Bishops to make the recommendations that undergird the Motion, together with his statements, alongside the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of London leading up to the General Synod, cause the GSFA to question his fitness to lead what is still a largely orthodox world-wide Communion.

In view of these developments, the GSFA will be taking decisive steps towards re-setting the Anglican Communion (as outlined in our ‘Communique’ following the 2022 Lambeth Conference). Orthodox Provinces in GSFA are not leaving the Anglican Communion, but with great sadness must recognise that the Church of England has now joined those Provinces with which communion is impaired. The historical Church which spawned the global Communion, and which for centuries was accorded ‘first among equals’ status, has now triggered a widespread loss of confidence in her leadership of the Communion.

Next Monday the Global South Primates shall meet to consider more fully the decision by the General Synod and shall release a more detailed response in due course. Whilst the GSFA is giving its full attention to developments in CofE, it is also in much prayer and practical concern for the earthquake tragedy in Turkey & Syria. We invite the General Synod to join us in prayer and practical action.

ENDS

Editor’s Note:
The GSFA is a worldwide fellowship of orthodox Anglican Provinces and Dioceses. Presently, 25 Provinces belong to, or are associated with the Fellowship. See www.thegsfa.org

This copy via Anglican Mainstream.

‘Total betrayal of the doctrine of marriage’

Speaking with the Christian Institute in the UK, Global South spokesman the Rev Paul Eddy highlights the failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury and calls on evangelical bishops to speak out against the House of Bishops proposals.

Global South Releases Response to Same-Sex Blessings in Church of England

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA)

Press Release

For Immediate release 24 January 2023

CHURCH OF ENGLAND ‘BLESSING’ GAY UNIONS WOULD VIOLATE BIBLICAL TEACHING & JEOPARDISE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY’S CONTINUING ROLE IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

IF the General Synod of the Church of England affirms the House of Bishops’ recommendations to ‘Bless’ Same Sex Marriage, or Civil Partnerships, the Church of England will be in violation of the “clear and canonical teaching of the Bible”, and it will lead to “impaired communion with many provinces of the Anglican Communion”.

The role of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as a “moral leader, and a figure of unity within the Communion” will also be “severely jeopardised”. So says the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) which covers around 75% of Anglicans across the globe, ahead of the Synod’s London meetings, February 6-9.

The House of Bishops’ Response to the six-year Living in Love and Faith ‘listening’ process says lawyers have advised them that the official Doctrine of Marriage would remain, despite the Church, from now on “joyfully welcoming and recognising permanent, stable same sex relationships” through services and prayers of blessing.

The Most Reverend Justin Badi, Primate of South Sudan, and Chairman of the GSFA responded, saying: “What the English bishops are recommending constitutes unfaithfulness to the God who has spoken through His written word. Their Response belies the loss of confidence by the bishops in the authority and clarity of the Bible as we have received it. They are re-writing God’s law for His creation; laws that are re-affirmed by Christ in the Gospel accounts.”

Last summer, at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, the GSFA sounded a global call to re-affirm ‘Lambeth 1.10’ (the Anglican Communion’s official teaching that the only place for sexual intimacy is marriage between one man and one woman for life, and specifically rules out blessing of same sex relationships). Archbishop Badi says the bishops’ proposals are “in clear contravention of Lambeth 1.10” , and “will lead to consequences for the Communion if the General Synod affirms. We therefore call on Synod to reject the bishops’ proposals on blessing same sex unions.”

Archbishop Badi said the GSFA “laments the bishops’ collective failure to keep their ordination/consecration vows to defend biblical truth by their life and doctrine, and are dangerously accommodating the culture of the day”. He said their 53-page Response: “turns out to be a farcical compromise, with many contradictions, and no theological case made for blessing same sex unions.” The GSFA says that the proposed pastoral resource of Prayers of Love and Faith for blessing and affirming gay couples, contradicts Holy Scripture taken as a whole, and in particular, the bible’s teaching on marriage and sexual ethics.

Theology apart, the GSFA also says the attitude towards the Anglican Communion shown by the House of Bishops in their Response once again demonstrates a problematic relationship between the Mother Province and the world-wide Anglican church.

Archbishop Badi said: “Anglican ecclesiology requires that provinces don’t act independently of each other. Even more so for the CofE in its special historical and ecclesiastical role in the Anglican Communion. Assent by General Synod would show disregard for the wider Communion (the majority of whom hold to orthodox teaching on Marriage & sexuality), and will increase the pressure for the Communion to fragment. Several GSFA provinces are already in ‘impaired communion’ with revisionist provinces like The Episcopal Church (USA), the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales. If Synod votes to back the bishops’ recommendations, then it is foreseeable that several Global South provinces will also be in impaired Communion with the Church of England.”

However, the primate says this does not mean GSFA provinces will leave the Communion. He added: “It would only double their desire to reset and revitalise the Communion along biblical lines, and in keeping with its formative theology, ecclesiology and ethos. The Anglican Church has always seen itself as an expression of God’s ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.’

“GSFA provinces are committed to our calling to be ‘a holy remnant’ within the Communion, marked by its loyalty to God and the plain teaching of holy scripture – whatever the cultural winds of the day. But a Synod vote in favour of the bishops’ proposals would be a major step in revisionism and sadly, alienate the Mother Church from large swathes of the Communion. It will inevitably lead to a re-configuration, and a re-structuring of the Communion as we currently know it.”

Archbishop Badi says it would also remove the Archbishop of Canterbury’s moral right to be an Instrument of Unity for the Communion. He said: “Archbishop Welby cannot compartmentalise his role as Primate of England from his role as ‘first among equals (head of the world-wide Communion)’. He says he will not personally use the ‘prayers of blessing’, but his “extremely joyfully celebratory” welcome of the blessing prayers, and his leadership of the House of Bishops in proposing this Response, means that he is actually advocating false teaching from a biblical point of view.”

The GSFA says if any Communion province was considering changing its Doctrine of Marriage, and/or its Pastoral Guidelines, then this should first be discussed and decided by the Primates’ Meeting. That is, if a global Anglican Church as a ‘communion of churches’ is to be maintained, rather than “a loose network, or federation of autonomous national or regional Churches,” he explained.

To orthodox clergy and laity in the Church of England, Archbishop Badi was keen to send a clear message of encouragement and support. He said: “The GSFA is committed to care for those who abide by the ‘faith once delivered’, and who want to be true to the Communion, and its foundational roots, while responding to a changing world. In a word, we seek to continue to ‘shepherd’ those who want to be faithful to the covenant-keeping God revealed in Christ and the Scriptures. This includes Orthodox Anglicans in England, bishops, clergy and laity. We will do this as best as possible in a non-schismatic way.

“We will also be especially mindful to care for, and encourage those who are same sex attracted, but whose love of the Lord, and His teaching, mean they abstain from same sex unions. Our mission of ‘truth and grace’ in a broken world will also include welcoming and relating to those in some form of same sex relationship. We will welcome them as persons into our church communities, relate to them as they present themselves, and seek to introduce them to the transforming love of Christ that heals our brokenness, and helps all of us sinners to be continually transformed more and more into His likeness.”

Finally, the GSFA leader says he believes that particularly over the last decade, the debate on marriage and sexuality has distracted, if not diverted, the life in many parts of the Communion, and certainly the Church of England, from the main task of the Church: proclaiming Christ and making disciples of all who live in the nation, including those who increasingly, in a confused and morally ambivalent society, struggle with issues of identity. He concluded: “The mission Christ entrusted to His Church must cause us to take the Gospel out to those who have yet to know and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ, and to live out the kingdom in a holistic way. We will, in the grace of God, both defend and propagate this death-defeating, life-transforming Gospel.”

The GSFA has recently invited orthodox provinces across the Communion to formally sign up as full Covenant Members of the Fellowship. It is also in the process of offering Associate Membership to Anglican Churches and organisations within revisionist provinces who are seeking to be a ‘holy remnant’, and who may require support from the global body of Anglicans, including alternative episcopal oversight at some point.

• For more information about the GSFA, and membership, visit www.thegsfa.org

ENDS

(This copy with thanks to The American Anglican Council.)

Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches Christmas message 2022

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people; A light for the nations, …” (Is 42:6).

“The above words from Isaiah give the GSFA its self-identity as a ‘servant of the Lord’ in these troubled times. We thank God for our roots that go back to the first Anglican South-South Encounter in Limuru, Kenya in 1994. We marvel at how God has built up our ecclesial grouping since then through successive cohorts of Global South Primates. …”

– Archbishop Dr Justin Badi has released this Christmas message on behalf of the Global South Primates.

Are We Really A Communion?

“Over the decades, and on many occasions, we Anglicans gave thanks to God for the ‘gift of the Anglican Communion’. Yes, we saw the Communion as ‘a gift’ because we enjoyed being a family of churches. A global family of Anglican churches of diverse nations, living in different countries, speaking a variety of languages and yet we are in full communion with each other.

…

I am deeply saddened to say that the Anglican Communion we have loved, though it has kept its name, yet has lost its heart; which is the interdependence. Provinces taking unilateral decisions without consideration ‘how it might harm the mission of other Provinces’, or how it might cause divisions, or disruption of fraternal relations with other provinces.

None of us forget the appeal made by the Anglican Primates during their meeting in 2003 in regard to the consecration of Gene Robinson in The Episcopal Church USA (TEC) [5]:

“If his consecration proceeds, we recognise that we have reached a crucial and critical point in the life of the Anglican Communion and we have had to conclude that the future of the Communion itself will be put in jeopardy. …. This will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level and may lead to further division ….”

When TEC ignored that appeal and went ahead with its unilateral decision to consecrate the practicing gay Gene Robinson as bishop, our mission here in Egypt within the Islamic world was badly affected in the following way …”

– The Global South Fellowship Of Anglican Churches has released this message from the Archbishop Emeritus Dr Mouneer Anis.

Calls for Archbishop Welby to repent – with Foley Beach, James Wong and Andy Lines

From The Pastor’s Heart:

Claims today that the global leader of the Anglican Church is out of step with God.

The Primates of the Global Anglican Fellowship (GAFCON), meeting in Kigali Rwanda, have said that Archbishop Justin Welby has,

‘Departed from the authentic exercise of his office by normalising and praising those who have departed from biblical teaching and practice…and giving equal place to practices contrary to biblical norms, as Anglicans have received them.  We urge him to repent.’

And the Archbishop of Canterbury’s explanations are described as disingenuous if not duplicitous.

The Gafcon Primates statement comes on top of the statement from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, which if anything, is even stronger.

The Global South Fellowship says,

‘Archbishop Welby’s first position is lamentable; his second is repugnant to our understanding of the authority and clarity of Holy Scripture. The notion of ‘pluriform’ truth is contrary to the Anglican Ordinal which binds duly consecrated bishops to be responsible for the guarding, teaching and imparting of divine truth in Holy Scripture.’

Archbishop Welby’s actions, which have provoked the criticisms, are his appointment of a new Dean of Canterbury (the lead minister of Canterbury Cathedral in the UK) of a man in a civil same sex partnership.

The Global South statement says,

‘It feels as if the present Archbishop of Canterbury has shut the door of the [Canterbury] Cathedral to orthodox bishops, clergy and members of the [Anglican] Communion.’ 

We are speaking today with:

Watch or listen here. A very sobering situation.

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