GAFCon in review
Well, the Global
Anglican Future Conference (GAFCon) is both history – and historic.
Thank you so much for praying. God answered in a powerful way.
GAFCon is now a movement, not just a moment in history. The final
statement of the conference delivered in a big way.
We have a theological statement (Jerusalem
Declaration) that forms the basis of fellowship among orthodox Anglicans;
we have an orthodox Primates Council forming, and we have the Primates and
conference calling for the formation of an orthodox Anglican province in North
America. In a news conference, the Primates referred to this as bringing
order out of the chaos created in the Communion by the actions and theological
deviation of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the
United States.
Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25
Here are GAFCon-related resources:
·
GAFCon website, which has articles on various
sessions of the conference, audio of some news conferences, pre-conference
documents, and much more
·
The Way, the Truth and
the Life, an excellent reference and discussion book prepared for GAFCon
delegates prior to the conference
·
AnglicanTV has video of many of the
sessions and news conferences (Scroll down to see archived sessions)
·
Sydney Anglicans had a
professional videographer at the conference doing interviews and ‘stories’ from
some of the pilgrimages
·
Photos from the conference and
pilgrimage – most taken by a professional photographer
·
Many
independent journalists and bloggers reported from Jerusalem, including:
David Virtue - VirtueOnline
Matt Kennedy – StandFirmInFaith
Steve Waring – The Living
Church
Tim Morgan – Christianity
Today
It is not surprising that an event of this magnitude has
elicited a tsunami of reaction. Here is some of it:
·
Bishop
Don recently wrote ANiC
members a personal account of his experiences at GAFCon, saying, “Above all, I
felt time after time that we, in ANiC, are not in this alone. By standing
apart from the Anglican Church of Canada, we have endeared ourselves a “great
cloud of witnesses” who are with us step by step along the way. It is
wonderful to be part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and know that we are
doing our part to keep it faithful to the Rock from which it was hewn.”
·
Bishop
John Guernsey, in his “Reflections
on GAFCON “, says that, from the beginning GAFCON was designed to NOT
presuppose an outcome. He says, “…from the very first conversation at the
preliminary meeting planned for Jordan, the leadership has reminded us again
and again that there would be no advance decisions made, only prayer and
discussion of what we believe the Lord Jesus Christ wants of us in GAFCON.”
·
Episcopal
Church (TEC) Bishop Mark
Lawrence (
·
The
Archbishop of Canterbury responds
to GAFCON saying, “GAFCON’s proposals for the way ahead are problematic in
all sorts of ways, and I urge those who have outlined these to think very
carefully about the risks entailed.” Bishop David Anderson responds
to Dr Williams key points, saying in part, “What will it take for Dr.
Williams to acknowledge what is staring him in the face?”
·
Archbishop
Fred Hiltz responded
by denying that the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (US) are
abandoning the Biblical gospel and by calling for more dialogue.
·
Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jeffers Schori’s response…
“. This statement does not represent the end of Anglicanism, merely
another chapter in a centuries-old struggle for dominance by those who consider
themselves the only true believers.”
·
The
Fulcrum Anglican website has mixed reviews. It has posted two responses
from Bishop Tom Wright (
·
Bishop
Wright’s first response
(June 30 08) (Interesting to note the pervasive use of the word “I” –
at least 32 times.)
·
Bishop
Wright’s second
response (July 6 08) (A commenter on one of the blogs counted
75 uses of personal pronouns.)
·
Dr
Andrew Goddard’s The
GAFCON movement and the Anglican Communion
·
Fulcrum’s
news release
responding to GAFCON in which they express concerns about the formation of a
North American orthodox province.
·
A
briefing paper
on GAFCON for Parochial Church Councils in which Fulcrum expresses concern that
the GAFCON strategy may be very divisive.
GAFCon petition
A petition
has just been set up
online for those outside the
GAFCON coverage in the blogs
A couple useful
blogs list GAFCON resources and references:
TitusOneNine
(Kendall Harmon)
In
addition, a number of blogs covered GAFCon closely. These included:
·
Anglican Essentials Canada
blog – numerous entries over the past month
·
VirtueOnLine
– numerous articles, including:
Bishop
of Durham reveals ignorance of GAFCON
Williams
Post-Colonial Paternalism is Underlying Cause of Anglican Angst
Historic
Moment As Orthodox Anglicans Ratify New Direction for Church
Anglican
Communion faces split
"I
will continue to rescue Episcopal Dioceses" - Archbishop Venables
No
Split from Communion but New Permanent Structures in Place
"Why
I will not be attending the Lambeth Conference" - Wallace Benn
GAFCON
Leaders Take Tentative Steps Forward to a New Future
Evangelical
Sociologist Says Christianity Must Engage with Secular Age
Secular
Media Response to GAFCON Ranges from Ridiculous to Shameful
Double
Speak Diplomacy in "Unity" Remarks by Jerusalem Bishop
·
StandFirmInFaith
(blog) – numerous articles and features, including:
Changing the
Structures? What +Wright and +Williams seem to be avoiding
A Brief
Analysis of Rowan Williams’ Response to the Jerusalem Declaration
The
Anglican Communion must change or die
Finally,
into the breach? The global Anglican Future begins
What I
would like to see from GAFCON
Last men
standing: What now from GAFCON?
Spinning
GAFCON: the smell of fear
·
TitusOneNine
– again numerous articles, including:
The meaning
of the Jerusalem Declaration (Brian Turley)
Some post-GAFCon media coverage (incomplete list)
International
Herald Tribune – June 29 08 – Anglican
conservatives… form power bloc
The
Guardian – June 29 08 – My
other Gafcon
The
Telegraph – June 29 08 – Anglican
Church offshoot founded … in Jerusalem
The Sunday
Times – June 29 08 – Anglicans
form ‘new church’ in gay clergy row
Cybercast
News Service (CNSNews) – June 30 08 – Anglican…
reclaiming Biblical position
The
SydneyAnglicans.net
– June 30 08 – Journey
to the Promised Land
National
Post – June 30 08 – Anglicans seek
alternative to ‘false gospel’
Al Jazeera
– June 30 08 – Anglican
body condemns ‘immortality’
The
Telegraph – July 1 08 – Archbishop
of Canterbury … warns rebels over … split
The
Telegraph – July 1 08 – Anglican
Church ‘in chaos’ say rebel leaders
Sydney
Morning Herald – July 1 08 – Breakaway
move puts Jensen in a bind
Informify
news - July 1 08 – Conservative
Anglicans challenge mainline church…
New Tines (
The Press
Association (
The
Guardian – July 1 08 – The
Evangelicals are moving in for the kill
The
Guardian – July 1 08 – Church
of England: Archbishop confronts Anglican rebels
TimesOnLine
– July 2 08 – Senior
Anglican warns Church over its ‘dark-side’
TimesOnLine
– July 3 08 – Crossroads
for Anglicans
CanadianChristianity.com
– July 3 08 – Worldwide
Anglican split will impact Canada
Guardian –
July 2 08 – Gafcon
can save Anglicanism (by Chris Sugden)
VirtueOnLine
– July 2 08 – Jerusalem:
Gay-baiting … media misses GAFCON message
BBC – July
3 08 – Bishop attacks
anti-gay movement
Church
Times – July 4 08 – GAFCON
draws a mixed reception
Church
Times – July 4 08 – New
fellowship to unite ‘confessing Anglicans’ is born
Church
Times – July 4 08 – Leader:
Treat GAFCON with respect
Sydney
Morning Herald – July 4 08 – It’s
not just about gays… (By Archbishop Jensen)
Sydney
Morning Herald – July 5 08 – The
battle for hearts and souls
Religious
Intelligence – July 5 08 – US presiding
bishop dismisses GAFCON conference
CBNnews.com
– July 5 08 – Anglican call
for a new leadership body
BBC – July
5 08 – Sentamu rebukes
Williams critics
Guardian –
July 6 08 – Rebel
bishops threaten the very heart of our liberal traditions
Guardian –
July 6 08 – Archbishop
hits back at the evangelical rebels
CBNnews.com
– July 7 08 – A new day for
Anglicanism
The
Telegraph – July 7 08 – Will
Anglican debate end in fudge or schism?
First
Things – July 8 08 – The
Anglicans at GAFCON: What happened in Jerusalem
News shorts –
Anglican
Church of
Several essays have been
posted to the ACoC website in response of the Primates’ Theological Commission
mandate to consider “the theological question of whether the blessing of
same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine”.
These are authored by George Sumner, Catherine Hamilton, Roseanne Kydd and
Christopher Seitz and are part of a forth-coming book.
News shorts –
The
Episcopal Church (TEC) gets downright ugly
TEC’s
mean-spirited attacks on the Southern Cone Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin (in
News shorts – International
Archbishops
and Dr Packer address clergy in London
As a
follow-on from GAFCON, an important meeting was held in London on July 1 at All
Souls Langham Place where about 800 Anglican clergy and laity gathered to
hear Archbishops Orombi, Venables and Jensen and Dr J I Packer speak about
GAFCon and the implications for the Church of England. Anglican
Mainstream has posted notes taken from all addresses:
And the
media covered the event as well:
Telegraph – July 1 08 – Gay
rights protestors thrown out of Anglican summit
TimesOnLine – July 2 08 – Evangelical
Christians sign up to a ‘Church within a Church’
Church Times – July 4 08 – Jensen: ‘sleeping
giant is roused’
NationMedia.com (
Dr Packer makes more news
Answering a
question following his address at Holy Trinity Eastbourne (
Church of England synod votes in favour of female bishops
On July 7, the Church of England (CoE) general synod voted
in favour of allowing women to serve as bishops and against putting in
place special provisions for clergy and parishes opposed to serving under
female bishops. (See Telegraph
article.) Before this change can come into effect, a future synod will have
to pass the motion by a two-thirds majority in each of the houses of bishops,
clergy and laity. Based on the votes received this time, those two-thirds
majorities will be achieved easily.
Prior to the synod, more than 1000 clergy reportedly wrote
to the Archbishop of Canterbury suggesting they might leave the CoE if they were
not given legal safeguards in the event synod pushed ahead with allowing women
bishops. Also, The
Telegraph and The
Independent report hat senior CoE bishops held secret talks with the