Global South Primates reset the Anglican Communion

Posted on August 6, 2022 
Filed under Anglican Communion, GAFCON, Global South, Lambeth 2022

“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.