Church Society report on GAFCON
“Last week I had the privilege to attend the Global Anglican Futures Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. My experience of this conference of over 1300 bishops, clergy, and laity from around the Anglican world was moving, positive, and optimistic. …”
– Church Society Director Lee Gatiss shares his experience of GAFCON 2013 in Nairobi. GAFCON Media photo of the Bishops’ photo by Andrew Gross, ACNA.
GAFCON Final Day highlights
This video of GAFCON Final Day (Saturday) highlights has now been posted.
It includes the reading of The Nairobi Commitment.
San Joaquin Diocese mourns retired Bishop John-David Schofield
“It is with a heavy heart but a joyful spirit that I must share with you the passing of our beloved brother, the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield. Bishop Schofield died peacefully at home sometime last night sitting in his favorite green chair and was found this morning by friends.”
– from current Bishop Eric Menees. (Bishop Schofield led his diocese as they broke from ECUSA in 2007.)
Story: Fresno Bee. Related posts on our website.
Blessing same-sex relationships in the Church of England?
“I have now confirmed from a number of sources what the Pilling Report is going to recommend. The final draft is ready and it will propose that the Church of England introduce some form of liturgy that will bless same-sex relationships. There is absolutely no doubt that this is what the outcome of the committee’s deliberations will be…
Once that happens we will have formally declared same-sex unions to be holy. In the Church of England our liturgy is our doctrine and the moment we have a rite that in any way affirms same-sex relationships then we will have fundamentally changed what we believe. …
The entire College of Bishops, not just Diocesans but every Suffragan as well, will meet on 27 January 2014 to discuss the report. This is likely to be an emotional event but it will be the first collective opportunity for Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic Bishops to clearly, gently but firmly say that they will have no part in this.”
– The Rev. Peter Ould in the UK sounds an ominous warning.
Background:
“05 January 2012. The membership of a group to advise the House of Bishops on the Church of England’s approach to human sexuality has been announced. The Group will be chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling…” – The Church of England website.
Richard Gibson to be Principal of Brisbane School of Theology
“Richard Gibson has been appointed Principal of Brisbane School of Theology. Richard has a long association with Moore, first as a student at Moore in 1986 and then as a teacher for the past twenty years.
Richard, and wife Kim, plan to move to Brisbane in June, 2014 to take up the position at the start of second semester.” – News from Moore College.
And the corresponding announcement from the Brisbane School of Theology.
Nairobi Communique and Commitment
The GAFCON 2013: Nairobi Communique has been released. It’s an important document.
Here’s the Conclusion –
“We are conscious of many pressures on faithful gospel witness within the church, but equally conscious of the great need the world has to hear the gospel. The need for the GFCA is greater now than when we first met in Jerusalem in 2008.
We believe the Holy Spirit is challenging us and the rest of the Anglican Communion to remain faithful to our biblical heritage; to support those who suffer as a result of obedience to Christ; to deepen the spiritual life of our churches; and to respond to anti-Christian pressures with a renewed determination to spread the gospel.
The seriousness with which we take our mission and our fellowship will be reflected in the way individual churches make the GAFCON vision their own, and in how we resource the work the GFCA seeks to initiate.
We invite all faithful Anglicans to join the GFCA.”
Read the Nairobi Communique and Commitment on the GAFCON website – or download it as a PDF document.
See also the highlights video for Friday.
And see the GAFCON Nairobi Photo Album.
(Photo: Delegates celebrate the adoption of the Communique and Commitment on the final day of GAFCON 2013. Photographer: Russell Powell.)
Phil Ashey reports from GAFCON
In his latest “Anglican Perspective”, the American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey speaks with great hope about the future of GAFCON and its part in the Great Commission.
GAFCON Friday Press Conference
GAFCON has released a brief highlights video of the Friday press conference.
Archbishop Ben Kwashi reaffirmed the commitments of GAFCON I – to trusting in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world, and in the Scriptures as our authority, with a focus on Mission.
Dr Ruth Senyonyi of Uganda spoke of the foundation of the Biblical view of marriage.
GAFCON General Secretary Dr Peter Jensen praised the organisers and the people of Kenya for their welcome.
GAFCON votes to expand
GAFCON is continuing to build for the future:
“To affirm and endorse the position of the Primates Council in providing oversight in cases where Provinces and Dioceses compromise biblical faith, including the affirmation of a duly discerned call to ministry. This may involve ordination and consecration if the situation requires.”
GAFCON News Release, Friday 25th October 2013 –
The second Global Anglican Future Conference, which concludes this weekend in Nairobi, resolved to expand its leadership role in supporting and recognising Anglicans in places where Biblical faith has been compromised.
A meeting of bishops within the conference this week voted without dissent to affirm the Primates Council in recognizing and overseeing theologically isolated Anglicans. This includes the expansion of the Anglican Mission in England and similar bodies around the Communion.
The text of the GAFCON Bishops’ resolution follows:
To affirm and endorse the position of the Primates Council in providing oversight in cases where Provinces and Dioceses compromise biblical faith, including the affirmation of a duly discerned call to ministry. This may involve ordination and consecration if the situation requires.
The 331 Bishops and Archbishops attending GAFCON 2013 met at All Saints Cathedral, a greater number than in the first GAFCON in Jerusalem in 2008.
“We came to Nairobi seeking God’s guidance for the future. Should we stop? Should we slow down? The Bishops told us we must go on.” said Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and Chairman of GAFCON.
The General Secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Dr Peter Jensen, said “The problems of the communion in the 21st Century were aired last weekend. But this conference, this movement, is not just calling attention to the dysfunction, it’s about building for the future.”
The General Secretary described GAFCON as unique – gathering Archbishops, Bishops and clergy as well as lay men and women.
Those attending also took part in smaller groups discussing issues such as marriage and family, women, Gospel and culture, theological education and Islam.
The conference attracted 1,358 delegates – 871 Clergy, 487 laity.
There will be a final conference communiqué released tomorrow with more detail and further announcements about the future of the movement.
– from GAFCON. Photo: Andrew Gross, ACNA. (Emphasis added.)
Women’s mini-conference
The Women’s mini-conference is the focus of this highlights video from GAFCON.
Bishop Charlie Masters talks about the Diocese of Niagara
“At GAFCON 2, Bishop Charlie Masters discussed how ANiC [Anglican Network in Canada] priests were treated by their former church. …”
– Anglican TV via Anglican Samizdat.
(Context: earlier posts mentioning Charlie Masters and St. George’s Lowville.)
Global challenge – the UK situation
Paul Perkin, Vicar St Mark’s Battersea Rise in London gave GAFCON attendees an update on the situation in the UK –
“The largest Anglican church in England has 23 ordained ministers and thousands of young people being discipled to follow Christ. It is producing over 30 ordinands every year. …
So Jesus is the sovereign, risen Lord, miraculously active in the UK, prospering gospel evangelism, pouring out his Holy Spirit, growing the churches and planting new ones, and bringing glory to himself in it all.
However, the opposite to the dream of the church penetrating the nation is the nightmare of a secular nation invading the church. This is the contrary scene and it is also happening in Britain.”
– Read his remarks via the GAFCON website
or watch them via Anglican TV (19 minutes).
Prime Minister says he will attend sister’s wedding, but not support the marriage
“Tony Abbott says he will ‘do the right thing’ and attend his gay sister’s wedding but could never support the marriage. …”
– Report from News.com.au.
(h/t SydneyAnglicans.net. Photo pm.gov.au)
Related: When a private act sends a public message – Albert Mohler.
The Grace of God OR the world of the West?
“My first really significant encounter with worldwide Anglicanism came at theological college.
It was 1990 and an east African priest was on secondment with us. He preached in the college chapel. He posed a question. Which gospel, he asked, which gospel do you westerners want us to believe? The one you came with or the one you preach now? Which gospel? I was horrified, not because what he said was not true. I was horrified because it was true.
My east African brother’s question has nagged away at me ever since. But how has it come about that we have a different gospel now from the one we first preached. What is this difference between what we westerners say now and what we said then? …”
– Dr. Mike Ovey, Principal of Oak Hill College, speaking at a GAFCON Plenary session. Full text PDF from GAFCON. Watch it here, courtesy Anglican TV. (Photo: Stephen Sizer.)
See also:
Archbishop Peter Jensen – “GAFCON is a way of delivering friendship and unity” – Sunday 20th October – transcript (GAFCON) and video (Anglican TV).
GAFCON 2013 Tuesday Highlights
A 2 minute 40 second video-montage of Tuesday at GAFCON in Nairobi.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…