Confessional fellowship will ‘reassert Bible’s authority’

Posted on July 3, 2008 
Filed under News

Archbishop Peter JensenThree archbishops who participated in the recent Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem addressed hundreds of Church of England clergy July 1 about a newly formed network they assert will bring needed authority to the Anglican Communion.

“There are moments in the church where authority has to be taken, and this is one of those moments where the most senior people available have decided to come together to take their authority to do certain things which they have the capacity to do,” said Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney in remarks reported by the London Telegraph. …

Archbishop Jensen dismissed as mythological the idea that the Archbishop of Canterbury exercised legal or juridical power over the Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s power is largely moral, he said, adding “that the last five years have seen a diminution of the moral authority that he is able to bring to this role.” The loss of moral authority was not Archbishop Williams’ fault, Archbishop Jensen said, and probably would have happened to “whoever had been the archbishop.”

– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: GAFCON media team.)