| Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) | |
The GAFCON StatementSTATEMENT ON THE
GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE
Praise the LORD!
It is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. (Psalm 147:1-2)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ: We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, send you greetings from Jerusalem!
Introduction
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008, is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are
Anglican: 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s
Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20).
GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby:
- launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans
- Publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship
- Recognise GAFCON Primates’ Council.
The Global Anglican Context
The future of the Anglican Communion is but a piece of the wider scenario of opportunities and challenges for the gospel in 21st century global culture. We rejoice in the way God has opened doors for gospel mission among many peoples, but we grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations, where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness. The vacuum left by them is readily filled by other faiths and deceptive cults. To meet these challenges will require Christians to work together to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway. It will entail the planting of new churches among unreached peoples and also committed action to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.
The Anglican Communion, present in six continents, is well positioned to address this challenge, but currently it is divided and distracted. The Global Anglican Future Conference emerged in response to a crisis within the Anglican Communion, a crisis involving three undeniable facts concerning world Anglicanism.
The first fact is the acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different ‘gospel’ (cf. Galatians 1:6-8) which is contrary to the apostolic gospel. This false gospel undermines the authority of God’s Word written and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the author of salvation from sin, death and judgement. Many of its proponents claim that all religions offer equal access to God and that Jesus is only a way, not the way, the truth and the life. It promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right. It claims God’s blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony. In 2003 this false gospel led to the consecration of a bishop living in a homosexual relationship.
The second fact is the declaration by provincial bodies in the Global South that they are out of communion with bishops and churches that promote this false gospel. These declarations have resulted in a realignment whereby faithful Anglican Christians have left existing territorial parishes, dioceses and provinces in certain Western churches and become members of other dioceses and provinces, all within the Anglican Communion. These actions have also led to the appointment of new Anglican bishops set over geographic areas already occupied by other Anglican bishops. A major realignment has occurred and will continue to unfold.
The third fact is the manifest failure of the Communion Instruments to exercise discipline in the face of overt heterodoxy. The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, in proclaiming this false gospel, have consistently defied the 1998 Lambeth statement of biblical moral principle (Resolution 1.10). Despite numerous meetings and reports to and from the ‘Instruments of Unity,’ no effective action has been taken, and the bishops of these unrepentant churches are welcomed to Lambeth 2008. To make matters worse, there has been a failure to honour promises of discipline, the authority of the Primates’ Meeting has been undermined and the Lambeth Conference has been structured so as to avoid any hard decisions. We can only come to the devastating conclusion that ‘we are a global Communion with a colonial structure’.
Sadly, this crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it cannot simply be patched back together. At the same time, it has brought together many Anglicans across the globe into personal and pastoral relationships in a fellowship which is faithful to biblical teaching, more representative of the demographic distribution of global Anglicanism today and stronger as an instrument of effective mission, ministry and social involvement.
A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, are a fellowship of confessing Anglicans for the benefit of the Church and the furtherance of its mission. We are a fellowship of people united in the communion (koinonia) of the one Spirit and committed to work and pray together in the common mission of Christ. It is a confessing fellowship in that its members confess the faith of Christ crucified, stand firm for the gospel in the global and Anglican context, and affirm a contemporary rule, the Jerusalem Declaration, to guide the movement for the future. We are a fellowship of Anglicans, including provinces, dioceses, churches, missionary jurisdictions, para-church organisations and individual Anglican Christians whose goal is to reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world.
Our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion. We, together with many other faithful Anglicans throughout the world, believe the doctrinal foundation of Anglicanism, which defines our core identity as Anglicans, is expressed in these words: The doctrine of the Church 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 Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. We intend to remain faithful to this standard, and we call on others in the Communion to reaffirm and return to it. While acknowledging the nature of Canterbury as an historic see, we do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Building on the above doctrinal foundation of Anglican identity, we hereby publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of our fellowship.
The Jerusalem Declaration
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.
1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring
forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to
contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and
obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s
Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the
death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all
who come to him in repentance and faith.
6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we
uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to
be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of
Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the
basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed
commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those
who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate
justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic
ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold
orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.
12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we
acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on
issues that divide us.
13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or
deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.
14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of
history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing
lives.
We believe the Holy Spirit has led us during this week in Jerusalem to begin a new work. There are many important decisions for the development of this fellowship which will take more time, prayer and deliberation. Among other matters, we shall seek to expand participation in this fellowship beyond those who have come to Jerusalem, including cooperation with the Global South and the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa. We can, however, discern certain milestones on the road ahead.
Primates’ Council
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, do hereby acknowledge the participating Primates of GAFCON who have called us together, and encourage them to form the initial Council of the GAFCON movement. We look forward to the enlargement of the Council and entreat the Primates to organise and expand the fellowship of confessing Anglicans.
We urge the Primates’ Council to authenticate and recognise confessing Anglican jurisdictions, clergy and congregations and to encourage all Anglicans to promote the gospel and defend the faith.
We recognise the desirability of territorial jurisdiction for provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion, except in those areas where churches and leaders are denying the orthodox faith or are preventing its spread, and in a few areas for which overlapping jurisdictions are beneficial for historical or cultural reasons.
We thank God for the courageous actions of those Primates and provinces who have offered orthodox oversight to churches under false leadership, especially in North and South America. The actions of these Primates have been a positive response to pastoral necessities and mission opportunities. We believe that such actions will continue to be necessary and we support them in offering help around the world.
We believe this is a critical moment when the Primates’ Council will need to put in place structures to lead and support the church. In particular, we believe the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation currently known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognised by the Primates’ Council.
Conclusion: Message from Jerusalem
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, were summoned by the Primates’ leadership team to Jerusalem in June 2008 to deliberate on the crisis that has divided the Anglican Communion for the past decade and to seek direction for the future. We have visited holy sites, prayed together, listened to God’s Word preached and expounded, learned from various speakers and teachers, and shared our thoughts and hopes with each other.
The meeting in Jerusalem this week was called in a sense of urgency that a false gospel has so paralysed the Anglican Communion that this crisis must be addressed. The chief threat of this dispute involves the compromising of the integrity of the church’s worldwide mission. The primary reason we have come to Jerusalem and issued this declaration is to free our churches to give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ.
It is our hope that this Statement on the Global Anglican Future will be received with comfort and joy by many Anglicans around the world who have been distressed about the direction of the Communion. We believe the Anglican Communion should and will be reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into all the world and present Christ to the nations.
Jerusalem
Feast of St Peter and St Paul
29 June 2008
Jerusalem A Historic MomentJERUSALEM: Historic Moment As Orthodox Anglicans Ratify New Direction for Church
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
June 29, 2008
Describing it as a solemn and important moment, Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen told 1,200 pilgrims at the Renaissance Hotel that the Anglican Communion "is about to receive a dose of order."
Moments later, Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola stepped up to the podium and announced that a statement had been written and accepted by the leadership. Copies were then handed to all the participants. Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi proceeded to solemnly read it aloud.
At the conclusion of the Statement, the delegates rose to their feet as one and broke into applause.
Akinola then returned to the podium and asked, "Is it your will it be adopted. Cries of 'yes' resounded throughout the ballroom."
The Archbishop of Tanzania, the Rt. Rev. Valentino Mokiwa then rose and asked for the people's prayers. Immediately, Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda) Greg Venables, (Southern Cone) and Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda) stepped up to the podium and publicly signed the document. Archbishop Mokiwa (Tanzania) still needs to obtain clearance from his House of Bishops, but indicated that would not be a problem. Archbishop Peter Jensen also affirmed the document, but could not sign it as he is not a Primate. Archbishop Justice Akrofi (West Africa) also signed it.
"That glorious future we have been looking forward too has been borne," cried Akinola. The 1200 pilgrims then stood as one and broke out in the doxology.
The Nigerian Primate then gave the final blessing. The delegates roared "Amen" and sang an African hymn. Following this, they all broke out and sang, "To God be the Glory great things he has done."
Dr. Os Guinness, author, social critic, and plenary speaker told VOL, "This is an historic moment. 200 years of slow hemorrhaging of faith from the liberal revisionism of the Enlightenment has finally been staunched by a major movement of faith and truth."
What has happened here today in Jerusalem is momentous. A new day has dawned for world Anglicanism. The Anglican Communion will never be the same again.
What they told the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, was clear and unequivocal. They will not tolerate a global communion with a colonial structure. They then said Dr. Williams had overturned the conciliar authority of the Communion by deflecting the Primates' demand in 2003 for discipline of TEC. Above all, they stated that they don't need to go through Canterbury to get to Jesus. The participants also affirmed the need for a new North American Anglican province, which will undoubtedly get Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop, riled up and consulting her attorney, David Booth Beers. Since none of the U.S. bishops here signed the document, there is not a lot she can do.
What the participants heard today, they will carry back to their parishes and dioceses in the US and Canada. What they say will only hasten the schism started by liberals and revisionists with their actions in 2003.
At a press conference, the five primates, including Bishop David Anderson of CANA, were questioned on the statement with one reporter asking if the statement was more magisterial than expected. Archbishop Orombi replied that it was within the framework of the Anglican Communion with recognition, for the moment, that Dr. Rowan Williams was still the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola said that with the turmoil in the Anglican Communion this Declaration is "a fresh hope and fresh beginning. We are going to send it out with a covering letter as a chance to renew... to start all over again and march on."
Asked if GAFCON is "a church within a church" Akinola said "No". "I don't agree with that description. We are part of the worldwide church."
He said that history has been made. "What we have today is not just Global South members, but a global coming together of faithful Anglicans from around the world. What the official Instruments of the Communion have not been able to do this conference has done."
Questioned about who would support a new North American Anglican orthodox Province, Bishop David Anderson said all the Episcopal bishops present were on board. "There was an overwhelming consensus. Our hope is for a re-gathering of a portion of the church that has scattered. Heterodoxy is untenable."
He said that the new province will not be just the US and Canada, but it will be transnational in character. Asked about a timeline, Anderson said, "We want to go home and figure out what needs to be done."
Questioned about the American Anglican Council and the American Anglican Network, Anderson said, "to the extent that they are part of the communion, they are all signatories of Common Cause and Bishop Robert Duncan is moderator of both AAN and CCP.
Asked about the implications of the province being a new legal entity, Anderson said they would have to explore that over the coming months.
"The Province is in a proto stage. It has gone a long way and we would need to see how that plays out. Perhaps, by the end of the year, we will have a petition to lay before the Primates."
END
Anglican Communion Facing a SplitJERUSALEM: ANGLICAN COMMUNION FACES SPLIT
North American Province Will Become a Reality
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
June 28, 2008
Believing that God has called them to a "new work", Primates at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) announced tonight that they have launched a movement of Confessing Anglicans that will, in effect, be a rival Anglican Communion.
Tomorrow, when orthodox Anglicans meet for their final day of pilgrimage, 1,200 representatives including 303 bishops of the Anglican Communion representing more than 70% of the Communion, will announce the formation of a new Anglican body that will affirm "'the faith once for all delivered to the saints"' as a bulwark against the growing and rampant liberalism in the mostly Western church.
While the word "schism" is not found in the text, it is, to all intents and purposes, a formal split from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the four Instruments of Unity.
The new global Anglican fellowship will act, for a time, within the present organization, but many see fragmenting synodical boundaries of the Church of England. In North America, a new North American Anglican Province will be set up to draw together members of Common Cause Partnership and various Anglican evangelical and Anglo-Catholics jurisdictions, setting it on a collision course with the liberal (some believe revisionist) Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada.
Coming as it does, just two weeks before some 600 bishops representing only 30% of the Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury, this fellowship meeting in the land of Jesus' birth, poses a direct challenge to the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, as well as to the Primate of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori and to Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada. Most of the Anglican bishops here will not attend Lambeth.
This momentous decision, the likes of which we have not seen in 500 years of Anglican history, made by representatives from all 38 provinces, will directly affect nearly half the total number of provinces in the communion including, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, India, Sydney, and the Southern Cone, which makes up two-thirds of all worshipping Anglicans.
Years of endless talking and listening have come to an end over a number of issues including the acceptance of pansexuality within the Episcopal Church, the Canadian and now the Church of England. These "pilgrims" want nothing more to do with the liberalism that has penetrated and bankrupted the Anglican Communion. Whole dioceses and parishes are now in serious decline. There is litigation against orthodox parishes wanting nothing more to do with liberalism.
The action taken by these mostly Evangelical Anglicans is the most devastating blow to the unity of the Anglican Communion in the West since the 16th Century Protestant Reformation.
These Anglicans will now forge ahead to meet the challenges by planting new churches among unreached peoples and to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.
The GAFCON theological leaders laid out a 14-point statement of theological orthodoxy which includes, among other things, affirming the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, upholding the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as espressions of the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. They uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God's Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
The conveners say they want a "federation of provinces" which Dr. Rowan Williams has repeatedly resisted. He has staked his job on trying to keep the worldwide Communion together. Some believe his job might now be in jeopardy, as he has singularly failed to do this.
The orthodox Province of Nigeria has deleted all reference to Canterbury from its constitution. It appears other provinces will now follow. One Episcopal diocese (San Joaquin) has already fled The Episcopal Church. Three more dioceses are expected to make the break following Lambeth. Some 300 churches have left The Episcopal Church and attached themselves to a number of African jurisdictions. They argue that it is the liberals, not them, who have adopted innovations leading to the breakdown of the communion. They say liberals have abandoned the biblical faith and the teachings of Christianity.
It is unclear what the legal implications will be in England, where the Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church. In the U.S. and Canada, where parishes are fleeing The Episcopal Church, millions of dollars are being spent on litigation to keep properties in TEC. Most must close, once the parishioners have fled. Many have simply left their properties. Others are fighting to keep them.
It is expected that the new fellowship will include those churches that have separated from TEC since 1977 over such issues as Women's Ordination and other doctrinal matters.
Here at GAFCON, in Jerusalem, are bishops from the Church of England, Sydney, South Africa, the Southern Cone, US, India, TEC, Canada and the Reformed Episcopal Church in the US. There are also representatives from the American Anglican Council, Anglicans for Life, Anglican Relief and Development, and the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). US representatives from CANA, the Anglican Missions in the Americas, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda are also present. None of these latter bishops have been invited to Lambeth.
One report from the "London Times" says that more than 600 Church of England clergy, representing almost as many parishes, are expected to swear allegiance to the new body when they meet on Tuesday at All Souls, Langham Place, which is regarded as Britain's evangelical flagship.
The fellowship was given a boost in North America on Friday when a Virginia judge ruled that a group of 11 breakaway parishes could keep their property. Lawyers from the Episcopal Church will appeal. The case is being watched closely by dozens of other parishes. There are at least three dioceses also planning to break away, observed the Times.
One of the lightning rod issues for the new movement is the 2003 consecration of the non-celibate homogenital Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. In addition to this, another issue has been the authorization of same-sex blessings in the ultra-liberal Diocese of New Westminster in Canada.
The key players in this new fellowship include the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali; the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables; the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi; the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen; and the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev Benjamin Nzimbi, who led the committee drawing up the final communique in Jerusalem. Archbishop Venables says he will be at the Lambeth Conference.
Dr Jensen said, "American revisionists committed an extraordinary strategic blunder in 2003 . They did not think that there would be any consequences.
"Now, if they did not believe that there would be consequences, that is an arrogant thing, I have to say. But I don't know them, so I really cannot say. The consequences have been unfolding over the last five years. Now their church is divided. It looks as though there will be permanent division, one way or the other.
"All around the world, the sleeping giant that is evangelical Anglicanism and orthodox Anglicanism has been aroused by what happened in Canada and the United States of America. It was an act of folly."
The fellowship will draw up its own Book of Common Prayer,using the original formularies as outlined by Thomas Cranmer, and incorporated into the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
END
Tentative Steps to A New FutureJERUSALEM: GAFCON Leaders Take Tentative Steps Forward to a New Future
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/24/2008
Leaders at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) are spending their days in private closed sessions, trying to discern the principles by which they can navigate into the future.
Bishop Bill Atwood, a US-based Kenyan bishop, told a press conference that agreed upon principles will lead to a new awareness of voluntary association which will, in turn, lead to a shared purpose and vision, and ultimately to shared structural mechanisms.
He stopped short of declaring a new Anglican entity or that GAFCON would be a rival or alternative Anglican Communion. "Structural life proceeds out of the realities of relationships. There is no constitution in the wings that people can line up...it has to grow out of relationships," he said.
"Our authority is to the Holy Scriptures and the historic way in which the church has received and interpreted scripture."
Asked when there would be a "concrete structure", Atwood said there was no timeline.
"The commitments we have to each other are to a high level of commitment. We need to discern who is collaborating with us, and who is not. A 'high level of commitment' means to have an expressed commitment among provinces and how they pursue mission and honor each other. If someone wants to introduce change, that would be unacceptable, he said.
Questioned on the Anglican Covenant being drawn up by the Anglican Communion that is still being talked about, Atwood said we must discern the principles by which we navigate. "We will not accept the lowest common denominator which everyone can agree upon to sign off on."
"We must navigate by what these things are that gather us together. We do not want to engage with those who can trip us and hurt ourselves."
Atwood said he was concerned about the prosperity gospel being pushed in Africa and said it showed a superficiality of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Asked if GAFCON was the loyal orthodox opposition in the Anglican Communion, Atwood said that GAFCON really was the Anglican majority and not a tiny remnant trying to recover the castle. "It is many faithful people and the reality is that the vast majority Anglicans around the world would agree with that. If they disagreed they would be the loyal opposition.
"When we live out of what is real power, we must speak the truth in love." Atwood said the starkness of disagreement is not narrow. "In the world of ideas, you can find vigorous examples of many Anglican leaders who disagree with various lines in the creeds. There is not one single issue. It is about Anglican identity. There are many core issues."
The Rev. Dr. Cesar Guzman, an Anglican theologian from Chile, said that new emerging theological institutions must have the gospel at the center and be prepared to spread the gospel.
"We do not want theological institutions that are self-serving. We want theological institutions to go out and spread the gospel. Many First World theological institutions have gone out the window. At its heart, theological education is the gospel, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the right order of relationships.
"We must ask what is a truly Christian way for Anglicans and we want theology to explain that it must be truly Christian. It will take the shape of Anglicanism and then it must be according to local culture. But it must be gospel driven with Jesus Christ and Holy Scripture at the center."
The Rev. David Short, rector of the largest Anglican Church in Canada, said the church has moved away from the message of the gospel and as a result its numbers have dramatically decreased and ordinands to the ministry have also decreased. "The Church has lost 18,000 congregants and seen a 28% decrease in ministers. The Anglican Church desperately needs ministers formed by the gospel who can be used by God to bring godly, biblical reformation and renewal to churches. Those churches that are growing in Canada are those which preach the gospel and those that receive gospel innovations are closing and dying."
END
Archbp Jensen refutes charges of SchismJERUSALEM: Archbishop Peter Jensen Refutes Charges that GAFCON is Schismatic
News Analysis
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
6/21/2008
Dr. Peter Jensen, one of the leaders of the GAFCON leadership team, refuted charges by the British press that leaders of this gathering of Global Anglican leaders are planning 'schism'.
In remarks at a press conference, the Australian Archbishop said that the actions of the Canadians and the Americans in 2003 have ripped the communion.
"If we're talking about schism and the breakup of the communion - that's where it starts and that is where the responsibility is. What GAFCON is doing is saying that given that new state of affairs, how now can we live together and how can we sustain the highest level of communion and work well together. My way of putting it is to say that the British Empire has now ceased to be and the British commonwealth of nations has come into existence or the nuclear family has turned into an extended family. This is the new reality. I don't hear GAFCON saying or GAFCON being a further cause for schism."
The London TELEGRAPH newspaper blasted headlines around the world saying that a rival communion was in the works led by pan-Anglican African leaders bent on destroying the Anglican Communion, as it now exists. Jensen threw cold water on the idea of an immediate break with Canterbury arguing that it is North American liberals who have broken with the Anglican Communion by consecrating an avowed homosexual living in sexual sin with his male partner in 2003. We are simply acknowledging the existence of that rift, he said.
Speaking about the GAFCON meeting, the Evangelical Sydney Archbishop had this to say: "We're looked forward to this immensely. Already the gathering of the initial team has been an extraordinary, bracing occasion and one which we have enjoyed thoroughly. I am looking forward to an extraordinarily interesting and rather exciting conference I have to say and you may be interested to know that I personally, speaking for myself now, personally wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury just a couple of weeks ago to assure him of my prayers for Lambeth and for the successful outcome of the Lambeth conference and he has now written to me and assured me of his prayers for us and his prayers for a successful outcome of this conference as well. So I think that's worth knowing when we talk a great deal about things like schism and so forth."
All the leaders from the Global North and South have echoed this in private plenary sessions reiterating that it is not this conference, but that it is the actions of liberal and revisionist bishops, an Anglican archbishop and the American Presiding Bishop, who have broken away from Anglican norms and biblical authority, that have been 'schismatic'. They resent the notion that they are doing and saying anything other than what Anglicans have always believed and held onto including the authority of Scripture, the 39 Articles, The Articles of Religion and the Lambeth Quadrilateral. Said another Anglican Primate to VOL, "We have not moved, they have."
More than one thousand Anglicans from 25 nations, including 300 bishops, are on their way to Jerusalem to attend the Global Anglican Future Conference. The meeting, which will be held June 22 - 29, includes daily addresses from key Anglican pastors, teachers and leaders.
The Most Rev. Peter Akinola, primate Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), will formally welcome pilgrims to GAFCON on June 22. There are over 22 million Nigerian Anglicans in church every Sunday, making the Church of Nigeria the largest church of the Anglican Communion.
After a pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane on Monday morning, the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of Uganda, will deliver the keynote address, "Jesus Christ as Lord" on Monday afternoon.
On Monday, Dr. Os Guinness, a reknown scholar and author of more than 25 books, will speak on "The Gospel and Secularism."
On Tuesday afternoon, pilgrims will be invited to a discussion addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis. Mr. Daniel Muvengi, the Rev. Aaron Mwesigye, the Rev. Noel Bewarang, and the Rev. Canon Vinay Samuel will lead the session. . The Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester in the United Kingdom, will be speaking on "The Nature and Future of the Anglican Communion."
Pilgrims will have the options of participating in a walking tour of the Old City (of Jerusalem) or of the Ophel Gardens on Wednesday. That evening, Professor Lamin Sanneh of Yale University, Dr. Salim Munayer, and Mr. Evan Thomas will lead a session on "The Gospel and Religion."
Pilgrimages and sessions will continue throughout the remainder of the week. On Thursday, Mr. Kim Tan, Mr. Andrew Tanswell, Mr. Jerry Marshall and Daniel Muvengi will offer a session on "Enterprise Approaches to Poverty." On Saturday, June 28, Archbishop Elias Chacour, Palistinian Israeli Archbishop of Galilee for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, will give an address near the Mount of Beatitudes on the theme "Jesus the Galilean - Jesus Teaches."
A series of small group workshops will also be available to pilgrims. Daily workshop topics include "Gospel and Leadership," "Evangelism & Church Planting," "Anglican Identity in the 21st Century," and many others. All pilgrims will share in discussions about the conference statement during the week.
GAFCON will draw to a close on Sunday, June 29 with a final Eucharist. Archbishop Greg Venables, Province of the Southern Cone, will deliver the keynote address, entitled "Jesus Christ is Lord."
END
The GAFCON Primates call on the Communion for Renewal of AnglicanismJERUSALEM: GAFCON Leaders Call for Renewal of Anglicanism
Leaders Disavow Accusation of Schism
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
June 19, 2008
Leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) reaffirmed the historic faith saying it is the actions of North American liberals that have caused the rift in the Communion. Archbishop Peter Jensen stated that the consecration of a homosexual bishop has made the situation "irreversible" in the Anglican Communion.
Jensen told a press conference that for some GAFCON will be an alternative to Lambeth. Some conservatives will go to one conference and some will go to both conferences (Lambeth and GAFCON). He said GAFCON is not a further cause for schism. "What has happened in the Anglican Communion has rocked us all."
Jensen said a newspaper report in "The Telegraph" newspaper that Anglican Communion leaders meeting in Amman had formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican Communion was inaccurate. The report said GAFCON leaders would no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexuality.
"If there is a rift, it was caused by the actions of The Episcopal Church in 2003 with the consecration of Gene Robinson. As a result, the Anglican Communion has been damaged. The response to that is that people have been crossing boundaries and consecrating bishops with orthodox people removing themselves from local Anglican churches while wanting to remain Anglicans. We are seeing a reshaping of the (Anglican) landscape, so now we have to work to see what that looks like.
"People talk about schism - breaking away - but as far as I am concerned I am not hearing about breaking up the communion. North Americans have rent the communion. We are trying to renew the communion. I want to see it better than ever before. It will be different, however.
"GAFCON is a movement, not just a convention. It will likely have a future life and the present leadership would take that life on." Jensen said that what that looked like is yet to be discussed.
Jensen said he had been in touch recently with the Archbishop of Canterbury to assure him of his prayers for Lambeth and for a successful outcome. "He has assured me of his prayers for a successful outcome for this conference as well.
"This is a different conference. It is a conference brought about in the last ten years by the monumental events which has changed the whole landscape and now we must work out what to do with the future."
Jensen said the conference would not focus on human sexuality, but will move beyond that discussion.
"We will study God's word pray and meet in small groups." He said that the Network of provinces has 27 different countries strengthening each other, "so the Anglican communion might be strengthened by this conference."
Jensen said the GAFCON pilgrimage is a response to what the American Church did in 2003 when they ripped the communion apart. "That's where it started and that where the response is. GAFCON recognizes that a new state of affairs has come into existence and the question is how can we live together and sustain the highest level of communion."
Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola, who was not given diplomatic clearance to attend the pro-GAFCON theological Consultation in Amman and who is accompanied by a bodyguard because of threats on his life, said "The lord sent me ahead of you. We have come together like this is critical. If we make a list of the things God has done in the last few weeks regardless of persecution we must acknowledge that we have come together...it has happened."
Akinola said that despite rumors and newspaper stories, "we should not dwell on those stories. If we look at the life before us we cannot be compared to the suffering of the Apostle Paul. We refuse to be intimidated and distracted."
The feisty Nigerian Archbishop reiterated what Sydney Archbishop Jensen said, that it is the North American church by their actions that had torn the fabric of the communion. "We must agree together as a family on the boundaries. We are encouraging you to stand firm on the authority of the Word of God and we want this conference to honor God. Let us remain focused. God is with us, His promise is sure."
The pre-GAFCON consultation will continue until Sunday when some 1,000 laity and clergy from across the Anglican Communion will gather at the Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem. The conference will address such topics as the gospel and culture, Christian leadership, evangelism, church planting, theological education, biblical interpretation, family and marriage. The conference will also examine the Anglican identity and what the essence is of the Anglican identity. Pilgrims will also visit the great biblical sites to remind themselves of the historic nature of the Christian faith and where it all started.
At a press conference today, a document "The Way, The Truth and the Life" was introduced to reporters by GAFCON leader, the Rev. Dr. Vinay Samuel, who heads the theological Commission for GAFCON. "We are not running away we are engaging the issues. We are asking is truth accessible." This document can be seen in its entirety here: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8450
END
|
|
|
 |
Click Here for a MAP to our worship address
As we enter the new year our first liturgical season is Epiphany. Taken from the word that means the "shedding of light", we celebrate the revelation of Jesus Christ to the whole world.
Beginning on the 17th we will be studying the Fruit of the Spirit after our coffee time, beginning at 11:15. This will be a four-week study ending on Feb 14th, the last Sunday of Epiphany. That Sunday will also be a Missions Emphasis Sunday, with a special presentation on World Missions, prayers and giving opportunities. Watch for more info on that special Sunday.
Jan 24th we will join with thousands of churches nationwide in the observance of Sanctity of Life Sunday, and in our support of a vital local pregnancy resource, Alternatives Pregnancy Centers. Once again this year we will fill "baby bottles" with our offerings and bring them back to present to Alternatives on Feb 7th.
We welcome you to be a part of our fellowship of faith. We love to see new faces, so come along and see what God is doing.
Fr. Phil+ |
|
|
