GAFCON 10 update
Saturday,
28 June
Like
pilgrims through the centuries, GAFCON pilgrims traveled to
Florence Awosoga (
Senior GAFCON bishops representing 10 countries were also in
Bishop Bethlehem Nopece (
Archbishops
discuss Lambeth & GAFCON with media
“The
sleeping giant of evangelical Anglicans has been aroused,” Archbishop Peter
Jensen (
Asked if
GAFCON would issue an ultimatum to the Communion, Archbishop Jensen said he did
not think so, but that the sheer existence of GAFCON poses a challenge that the
Communion must take into account.”
Commenting on his “GAFCON experience”, he said, “The last six months of
preparing for GAFCON and the last two weeks of being in GAFCON has been the
most extraordinary spiritual experience of my life
Archbishop Greg Venables (Southern Cone) explained that, while he could
not take communion with those who had turned their backs on Christ, he was
going to Lambeth and would like to have seen all GAFCON bishops at
Lambeth. “I decided to go after consulting with a large number of
people,” he said. However, he added that he fully understands and
respects the position taken by those, such as Archbishop Jensen, whose
consciences do not allow them to go. He added that he hopes the matter of
GAFCON will be raised and discussed at Lambeth.
Archbishop Venables also said the Southern Cone would continue to
provide temporary, emergency refuge for parishes and diocese in
Professor Edith Humphrey, a New Testament scholar who has been
co-leading the Family and Marriage workshops, told reporters that the error in
understanding of matters related to marriage, family and sexuality was rooted
wrong understanding of basic theology. A correct understanding of
family relationships was rooted is the Trinity, she said.
Redeemed to rebuild and restore
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous
do?” (Psalm 11:3)
“It may
seem as if the foundations of Anglicanism have been destroyed by revisionism,”
Bishop Michael Fape (
The key to
recovering authentic Anglicanism is obedience to the Scriptures. We must
offer ourselves as living sacrifices, actively working to build Christ’s
Kingdom as He commanded.
“The
essence of this GAFCON conference,” he stated, “is to reaffirm our position
that we stand by the truth of scripture. We are not here for mere religious
jamboree. We are here as a body of Anglicans committed to the orthodoxy of
scriptures. On this truth we stand and shall always stand.”
Sunday,
29 June
Pilgrimage to
GAFCON
pilgrims met with the head of the largest Christian church in the Holy Land
yesterday after visiting the Mount of Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee and
“You
are not strangers here; we are all the family of God,” he said. “We welcome you
more warmly than the weather you are in,” he said, to chuckles from the
pilgrims sitting in the 40-degree heat.
Archbishop Chacour urged GAFCON
pilgrims to include remember their Christians Palestinian brothers and sisters.
The
spiritual highlight was, without a doubt, the prayer service in the middle of
the
Anglican Network in
Office: 1-866-351-2624 ext 4020 OR 604 929-0369
Cell: 604 788-4222
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1.
JERUSALEM: ANGLICAN
COMMUNION FACES SPLIT
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/28 21:20:00 (524 reads)
JERUSALEM:
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
FULL STATEMENT BELOW: STATEMENT 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 * Encourage 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 Global Anglican Future Statement, 29 June 2008 2 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.
Global Anglican Future Statement, 29 June 2008 4
The Road Ahead
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 organize
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
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Posted: 2008/6/29 4:56 Updated: 2008/6/29 6:09 |
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Re: JERUSALEM: ANGLICAN
COMMUNION FACES SPLIT I am so happy about this, that I
am positively stunned! ________________________________________________ "This HAS TO result in an
atypical and permanent breaking away," (from an apostate communion), I
told my #1 cleric and friend. "No." he said.
"It will not come to that". 'There is yet some positive developments
that will unfold that will keep us together,' (At least until Lambeth), he
paraphrased. I am glad that I was able to
smell this out correctly (as I continue to hope). There has been too muck
mocking of God and his word. Too much reckless destruction at the hand of
demon-inspired and delusional clergy. Decades of untold filth and
corruption! The courts. The aggrieved. The
abused. The loss of faith. Parents told by smiling priests
that "churches have lots of carpets to sweep this under!" No atonement. No miracles. All
may enter. PRAISE THE LORD! for these first
steps! And more to follow. Oh, I cannot imagine the pending
anguish over this and 'aftermath'! The quaking and shaking Lambeth! Wild persecution of the faithful
at the hand of 'family', doubtless. The scrambling everywhere to pay the
bills and keep salaried marauders. And more of the innocent, and
the ones 'jarred awake' by anguish and dismay. DO NOT THINK that I revel in
this. I do not. I hate it! And I will suffer in the midst of it as I will
watch others suffer, as I attempt to do what little I can... This is about judgement. And
justice. It is about sowing the wind -
and reaping the whirlwind! This is a calling to accounts! Now falling into silence... |
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Posted: 2008/6/29 5:05 Updated: 2008/6/29 5:05 |
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Re: JERUSALEM: ANGLICAN
COMMUNION FACES SPLIT You are most DEFINITELY not alone, ZachD! And I like the
phrase Anglican
Fellowship! I
think that for the first time since the Communion came into being, it really WILL be a fellowship....in more ways
than one! Praise be to God! Cennydd |
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Posted: 2008/6/29 5:18 Updated: 2008/6/29 5:26 |
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Re: JERUSALEM: ANGLICAN
COMMUNION FACES SPLIT I was wrong. They, those working
in Jeruselem, do indeed appear to have the intestinal fortitude that I
thought they lacked. I am still not happy that they
propose to work within the present system. I still say we have to kick those
revisionist.....'s out of our tent. There should be no doubt that
TEC and those in Canada are out. We are no longer going to sit and listen. A
sin is a sin, today and for ever more. Praise the Lord |
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Posted: 2008/6/29 7:02 Updated: 2008/6/29 7:02 |
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Re: JERUSALEM: ANGLICAN
COMMUNION FACES SPLIT God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Praise Him! |
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
2.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8508
Orthodox Score Three
Significant Goals this week
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/29 13:50:00 (980 reads)
Orthodox
Score Three Significant Goals this week (EXCERPTS)
News
Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/29/2008
It was a week that orthodox Episcopalians and Anglicans in the U.S and around
the world might justly feel proud and not just a little vindicated.
The first major event was the guilty charges found against the revisionist Bishop
of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison.
........................
The second major event, for which orthodox Anglicans in the US are rejoicing,
is that a court decision in Fairfax, Virginia saw 11 faithful orthodox Anglican
congregations, which broke with the U.S. Episcopal Church, win a second court
decision. said to be worth at least $25 million.
........................
The third and most significant goal attained this week occurred here in
Jerusalem where some 1200 pilgrims gathered to reaffirm the historic Christian
Faith in the land of its birth.
Today, this fellowship of Confessing Anglicans has affirmed by acclamation a
Declaration that they will uphold the faith, maintain the sanctity of marriage,
use the classic Book of Common Prayer and form a Primates' Council to
"oversee the transition process." In effect, they told the Archbishop
of Canterbury that they don't need to go through him to get to Jesus and that
the Anglican Communion is his to lose, if he does not discipline theologically
and morally errant provinces like the U.S. Episcopal Church. For the future,
they will no longer look to him for leadership of the Anglican Communion.
This is the worst-case scenario a leader of 56 million Anglicans could possibly
face on the eve of the decennial gathering of bishops in Canterbury. To be told
that he no longer speaks for 70% of the Anglican Communion is a personal
humiliation that is hard to imagine.
This week is one that orthodox Anglicans around the world can rejoice in. They
have been beaten down (but not out) and now they are on their way up. There is
light at the end of the tunnel. A new day has dawned in the Anglican Communion,
and as one Archbishop noted, "we have seen the good hand of God work
mightily."
END
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
3.
An encouraging Jerusalem GAFCON
update from Canon Doc Loomis, AMiA Network Leader (Doc will be co-leading
with Rev William Beasley our 22nd Annual Renewal Mission 2009 in March) |
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 4. Anglican Church
offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:44PM BST 29/06/2008 | Comments 16 | Have Your Say A new church
representing almost half of the world's 80 million Anglicans has been
officially formed, posing a serious challenge to the Archbishop of
Canterbury. The organisation
created by traditionalists - called the Gafcon movement after the Global
Anglican Future Conference which led to its creation - will retain ties with
Dr Rowan Williams and will technically remain within the global Anglican
Communion. But it is also likely
to lead to orthodox Anglicans severing all links with the main churches in
America and Canada, whose liberal leaders are blamed for sparking the current
crisis by breaking with the Bible's teaching and by consecrating openly gay
clergy and blessing gay "marriages". The movement's leaders
will include at least two Church of England bishops as well as the heads of
leading African, South American and Australian churches, and it is said to
represent 35 million worshippers worldwide and so spell an end to the
"colonial" domination of Canterbury. Organisers of the Gafcon summit in Jerusalem who produced
a statement declaring the formation of the "church within a church"
were keen to state that it does not represent a complete split or schism in
Anglicanism, and that they only want to preserve the faith's original
intentions. Their
final statement stated: "We cherish our Anglican heritage and the
Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it." But
they said that some parts of the Communion were using "false
Gospel" to rewrite the Bible along liberal lines, forcing some dioceses
to break with their leaders in America and Canada and join churches in Africa
and South America. And
they claimed that the "colonial structure" of Anglicanism had
failed to discipline those churches which had broken the rules by
consecrating gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions. They
added that Anglican identity "need not be determined through recognition
by the Archbishop of Canterbury", implying that they will carry on
regardless of how their movement is viewed. Together
with a series of 14 proclamations called the Jerusalem Declaration, the
Gafcon leaders announced the formation of a new Council of church leaders. The
statement said they should ratify the formation of a traditionalist North
American province based on the existing Common Cause federation, which would
declare independence from the liberal Episcopal Church. Despite
their claims not to have caused a schism, however, the sheer size of the
church and the power of its leaders mean it will pose a serious threat to Dr
Williams, who has been carefully trying to preserve unity and his role as the
head of Anglicanism's 38 provinces since the divisions over sexuality began.
It is considered by some the most significant event in the church since the
Reformation. He
must now face a row over the introduction of women bishops at a meeting of
the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, this Friday,
followed by a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world at the
once-a-decade Lambeth Conference later in July. Most
of the church leaders who are involved in Gafcon, including the outspoken
Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, are to boycott Lambeth,
further eroding its claim to represent the whole of Anglicanism. Traditionalists
who do attend Lambeth, such as the head of the church in South America - the
Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev Gregory Venables - who has
already taken conservative American dioceses under his wing, will use the
opportunity to spell out to Dr Williams the demands of the new movement. They
say the split was triggered by clergy in the Episcopal Church - the main
Anglican church in America - who in an attempt to reflect progressive ideas
in society and make themselves relevant to younger churchgoers, began
departing from the traditional Bible view that homosexuality is sinful. Some
have denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place. The
Lambeth Conference of 1998 ruled that same-sex unions went against Scripture.
But then five years later the Americans consecrated the openly gay Gene Robinson
as the Bishop of New Hampshire while clergy in Canada began blessing gay
"weddings". An
official investigation - the Windsor Report - ruled in 2004 they must not
support gay clergy or same-sex unions but no disciplinary action was taken,
while a "covenant" spelling out rules for Anglicanism and
punishments for churches who break them has still not been adopted despite
conservatives' demands. In
response to the crisis, some American clergy began opting out of the
Episcopal Church and becoming ordained as bishops in African Anglican
churches, which take a much stricter line on the Bible and sexuality. The
Episcopal Church responded by trying to oust conservative bishops and taking
legal action to commandeer their churches, although a court ruled on Friday
that breakaway congregations can keep their property. When
it was disclosed that most of the Episcopal leaders would be attending
Lambeth this summer, many of the traditionalists around the world decided to
boycott it and instead planned Gafcon as a way to meet and discuss how they
could work together. They
were united in their outlook on the primacy of the Bible and their contempt
for the liberals who are said to be "re-writing" the Bible. But
many also wanted to show the strength of the so-called Global South - the
developing nations of Africa, Asia and South America where tens of millions
of Anglicans live. They
hope the new church will spell an end to the centuries-old dominance of
England over Anglicanism, which many at Gafcon view as a remnant of the
British Empire, with Dr Williams this week dismissed as a colonial relic. Some
within the movement had demanded a complete "amputation" from
Canterbury as the only way to preserve its integrity, but after a week of
discussions in Jerusalem attended by more than 1,000 people including 300
bishops it was decided that the new movement should try to reform Anglicanism
from within by reaffirming the primacy of the Bible. Delegates
at Gafcon said bishops "repeatedly leaped in the air" and were
"weeping with joy" when they were read the text of the statement
announcing the new movement. The
Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, said this week that the "sheer
existence" of the Gafcon movement posed a challenge to the existing
Anglican Communion but insisted the liberals had brought the split upon
themselves. "The
American revisionists committed a strategic blunder in 2003. I don't think
they believed there would be consequences. It was a horrific strategic
blunder they committed and there are consequences. The consequences are
unfolding and our churches are divided." "Our
churches are now divided and a permanent division exists around the world.
The sleeping giant of evangelical and orthodox Anglicanism has been roused in
Canada and the US." |
|
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 5. http://theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=438574&type=home Conservatives say not quitting
Anglican Communion By Reuters
Archbishop
Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya attends a news conference during the Global Anglican
Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem June 26, 2008. REUTERS/Ammar Awad JERUSALEM
(Reuters) - Conservative Anglican leaders pledged on Sunday to stay in the
worldwide Anglican Communion but form a council of bishops to provide an
alternative to churches they say are preaching a "false gospel" of
sexual immorality. The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) said member
churches would continue sponsoring breakaway conservative parishes in liberal
western member countries and called for a separate conservative province in
North America. It also said in a final declaration that Anglicanism -- the
third largest group of Christians after Roman Catholics and Orthodox -- was
not "determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of
Canterbury" Rowan Williams. "We
cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no
intention of departing from it," it said after a week of talks in
Jerusalem among 1,148 participants, including 291 bishops, claiming to
represent 35 million Anglicans. "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," it said in a final statement. The
conservatives, a coalition mainly of African Anglican churches and orthodox
United States Episcopalians, has hinted it might break from the
77-million-strong Communion since the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly
gay bishop in 2003. But
GAFCON, called one month ahead of the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference of
bishops from the whole Communion, did not in the end develop into a full
alternative and participants -- despite some strong initial rhetoric -- did
not opt for a schism. Conservative bishops from Nigeria, Uganda
and Kenya have said they will boycott the Lambeth Conference "FALSE
GOSPEL" In its
statement, GAFCON accused churches in the West of proclaiming "a false
gospel (that) undermines the authority of God's Word" and promotes a
"variety of sexual preferences and immoral behavior," including
same-sex marriages. "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," it
said. A
Primate's Council -- a body of the heads of member Anglican churches -- would
be formed to lead the conservative provinces and offer alternative leadership
to conservatives in liberal "churches under false leadership," it
said. "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 recognized by
the Primates' Council," it said in a challenge to Anglicanism's usual
geographical structure. It said
it acknowledged Canterbury as Anglicanism's "historic see" but
would not let Anglican identity be defined by its archbishop. A
"Jerusalem Declaration" of basic doctrines issued in the statement
would be "the basis of our fellowship." Nigerian
Archbishop Peter Akinola, a driving force behind GAFCON, branded Williams an
apostate at the start of the week. The
declaration avoided naming him but complained the Anglican leadership had
done nothing to discipline the Episcopal Church for gay bishop Gene Robinson
or the Anglican Church of Canada for blessing same-sex marriages. "A
major realignment has occurred and will continue to unfold," it said.
"This crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it
cannot simply be patched back together." (Writing
by Jeffrey Heller and Tom Heneghan) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 6.
Jerusalem
declaration thoughts 29/06/2008 10:30:00
GAFCON
in the Church Times 27/06/2008 08:30:00 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 7. http://www.leanderharding.com/blog/2008/06/28/thoughts-on-the-jerusalem-statement-of-gafcon/
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology Head of Chapel BA, New College, 1970 MDiv, cum laude, Andover Newton Theological School, 1978 PhD, Boston College, 1989 ntact The Rev. Dr. Leander Harding. The Rev. Dr. Leander Harding |
|
Thoughts
on the Jerusalem Statement of GAFCON Thoughts on the Jerusalem Statement of GAFCON A Change in Tempo? I
have had a first look at the Jerusalem communiqué of GAFCON. I will be
rereading it in days ahead but here are some initial reactions. GAFCON
establishes itself as a confessing movement within the church based on an
ecumenical definition of Christian orthodoxy and the historic Anglican
formularies. GAFCON does not formally break with the Archbishop of Canterbury
and describes itself as a movement for reformation and renewal. The statement
asserts that Anglicanism is to be defined doctrinally. Canterbury is accorded
respect but declared not to have the power to say who and who is not
Anglican. This is an explicit rejection of the notion that to be an Anglican
church all that is required is an invitation to the Lambeth conference.
Rather Anglicanism is to be defined in terms of the common confession of
creedal orthodoxy and adherence to the doctrinal heritage of the classical
Anglican formularies. The language describing the significance of the 1662
BCP, the ordinal and the 39 articles is confessional and authoritative but is
carefully worded to allow for some very modest interpretation and local
adaptation of worship. Those
dioceses in North and South America that in word or deed have ceased to
confess the uniqueness of Christ or promoted extra-biblical sexual morality
are declared apostate and called to repentance. The existing instruments of
communion are identified as an inadequate “colonial structure” and condemned
for not promoting discipline within the communion. The primates who organized
GAFCON are asked to create a council of primates and to enlarge this council
with other confessing members and to recognize confessing Anglican
jurisdictions whether they are in communion with Canterbury or not. The
establishment of a new province for confessing Anglicans in North America
based on the common cause partnership and to be recognized by the GAFCON
movement is encouraged. I do
not read this as the break up of the Anglican Communion. I expect that many
of the attendees at GAFCON will be attending Lambeth but I do see this
conference and its statement as an important breakthrough in the impasse of
the communion crisis. In the game of chess I believe there is a term called
tempo. It has to do with which player is the one to which the other must
respond. One player has the upper hand and then there is an exchange and the
player who was setting the tempo is now the one who must respond. Until this
meeting in Jerusalem the tempo was in the hands of the North American
churches. They acted and the rest of the communion was in the position of
responding to their actions. The existing instruments of communion including
the Archbishop of Canterbury have in part by inaction and in part by
intention, continually moved the tempo back to TEC and The Anglican Church of
Canada. The emergence of GAFCON as a confessing group within the Anglican
Communion which is willing to take bold action, though at this point action
short of a formal break with Canterbury, changes the tempo. It is now the
rest of the communion including its existing instruments of communion which
must respond. It is the consensus of the emerging confessing majority in the
communion which is now setting the agenda. If the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Lambeth conference do not respond to this initiative in a meaningful
way they are likely to become irrelevant to the future of global Anglicanism.
Irrelevancy for Canterbury, Lambeth and the Anglican Consultative Council
seem a greater risk at the moment than the risk of a formal break or
repudiation of these instruments by members of GAFCON. This entry was
posted on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Windsor Report, General. You can follow any responses to
this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Rev’d Dr. Leander Harding is proudly powered by WordPress
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 8. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59166
'Post-Christian era'? Don't
tell Third World Posted: December 13,
2007 1:00 am Eastern By Tristan Emmanuel There is a general belief today that we are living in a
post-Christian era. The
theory is that because Christianity is in decline in the West, it is also
losing its power to influence culture and shape the course of human history. This
theory is often summarized in the refrain, "As the West goes, so goes
Christianity." There
is no doubt secularism has virtually depleted the West of a Christian
consciousness. It's as though the final great apostasy prophesied in the book
of Revelation is unfolding before our very eyes. Dutifully
we remind ourselves that it is "a post-Christian era" – which in
turn has had the effect of institutionalizing apathy among many Christians,
who have hunkered down in their little ghetto-communes awaiting Christ's
imminent return instead of obediently working to re-disciple the West and its
culture. Whatever
we make of the decline in the West, I think the paradigm "As the West
goes, so goes Christianity" is wrong. It is wrong because it simply
doesn't make sense on a global scale. When I look at the world, I don't see a
bleak future for Christianity. And I certainly don't see evidence of a
post-Christian era outside of "the West." Part of the
problem with the paradigm is that it is rooted in a very narrow understanding
of history. The conventional picture of Christian
origins is commonly illustrated by a graphic of the Mediterranean world and
Europe, with Jerusalem
at an eastern extreme. Christianity grows from its roots in Palestine,
spreads through Asia Minor and Greece, and ultimately arrives in Italy, the
center of the map and presumably of the world. Inherent in this map and this idea is
the notion that God has providentially spread the gospel in a westerly
direction, giving birth, at least indirectly, to the notion that "As the
West goes, so goes Christianity." But John Mbiti, a Christian scholar from
Kenya,
says, "It is utterly scandalous for so many Christian scholars in [the
Western church] to know so much about heretical movements in the second and
third centuries, when so few of them know anything about Christian movements
today in [Africa]." Mbiti made that statement more than 30
years ago. And today, we remain as ignorant as ever
about the historical roots of Christianity in Africa, Asia, China and India.
When we discuss the 20th century growth of Christianity in the Third World,
our tendency is to view it as the illegitimate offspring of Western
imperialism, even though Christianity spread to the east and south into
Africa long before it ever penetrated into the heartland of Western
Europe and America. Thankfully, and despite the best efforts
of secularists, Christianity is thriving in the Third World. In fact, it is
growing exponentially. Even in China, one of the last bastions of communist
heterodoxy, the underground church is now estimated to number in the
millions. But there are some points to ponder as
we assess this situation. As evidenced by the recent debate in Anglicanism,
the Christianity of the Third World is much more orthodox, traditional and
moral than the West. The Third World church actually believes
in the rightness of the historic creeds, which is why it is better equipped
to deal with Islam than the relativist and "multicultural" church
of the West. They also retain a very strong supernatural orientation and
doctrine. They are far more interested in fundamental issues of truth and
falsehood than in radical politics like the "liberation theology"
of the '70s and '80s. And they are morally uncompromising, which explains why
the Southern-cone Church decided to break some traditions to rescue genuine
Christian believers in the now-apostate Canadian Anglican Church. Granted, this faithfulness in the Third
World church isn't helping Christianity in the West – at least not yet. But
it does shed some sobering light on the arrogant disposition of liberals and
secularists who like to trump their so-called victory over Christianity. The
notion that history has reached its climax with the apostasy of the West –
that we are somehow living in a "post-Christian" era – is an
indication not of how things actually are, but of how inflated our own sense
of self-importance and geopolitical arrogance has become. Speaking of that, I can't think of
anything more arrogant than the present cadre of liberal apostates in the
Anglican Church who feel it is their "mission from God" to
modernize their Third World brethren by introducing their so-called "theological
defense" of homosexuality. There is providential irony in all of
this. No doubt the global picture of religious
development today shows a shift away from the West. But there is not a
shrinking away of Christian influence. The rise of the Third World church may
actually give hope and vitality back to the West. While Western governments
are desperately trying to attract Third World immigrants to compensate for
their population deficit, many of our new immigrants are actually Christians
– the very Christians most Westerners have long ignored. We are well reminded in this Christmas
season that the Bethlehem star dawned in the east. Just as that Star rose to
signal the arrival of the new Sovereign King, there is every indication that
history may well repeat itself, and that the next wave of Christendom will
once again arise from the East and the South. ·
16 ·
diggs ·
digg
it ·
"Megashift"
– 8 billion new Christians in next 27 years Tristan
Emmanuel, M.T.S., is the founder and president of ECP Centre –
Equipping Christians for the Public-Square. He is the host
of "No Apologies," a weekly web-radio show dedicated to
illustrating the absurdity of political correctness, and he is the author of "Christophobia: The Real Reason Behind Hate Crime
Legislation" and "Warned: Canada's Revolution Against Faith, Family
and Freedom Threatens America." OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
