GAFCon 3
1a.
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GAFCON Leadership Meets Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem |
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More than 100 leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) joined Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem Suheil Salman Dawani in a prayer service at St. George’s Cathedral on June 22.
Bishop Dawani, who attended the service with Episcopal Church Bishop Robert O’Neil at his side, has been critical of GAFCON since the event was announced in December, 2007. Bishop O’Neil is present in Jerusalem as the representative of the US Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Despite Bishop Dawani’s public disagreement with the conference, GAFCON organizers believed that it was important for them to pray with him and hear from him as the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem. “We care deeply about the welfare of Christians in the Holy Land and take our relationships within the Anglican Communion very seriously. The least we could do was come to Saint George’s Cathedral to pray together as we begin our pilgrimage,” said Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney.
Bishop Dawani used his welcome message to challenge GAFCON leaders to listen to Holy Spirit’s leading in the decisions they make this week. “All Christians must come here first and foremost as pilgrims – and I note that you say your coming here to Jerusalem is a ‘pilgrimage.’ Pilgrims here do not bring decisions with them. They come here to seek prayerfully the decisions God wants them to make,” said Dawani.
“I pray that as you meet in this holy place, you will all be open, in real humility, to the Spirit’s guidance and that you will continue here in a spirit of peace, reconciliation and goodwill,” he continued.
Archbishop Peter Akinola, primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), responded to the welcome of Bishop Dalwani. “GAFCON is in no way a threat to you. We want to be your allies. We want to be a blessing to you… to join with you in carrying out God’s working in this part of the world,” he said.
Papal Nuncio of Jerusalem also welcomed GAFCON pilgrims. “I wish you dearly a beautiful experience. I wish you a spiritual renewal. May the Lord guide you,” he said. |
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1b.
JERUSALEM: Double Speak Diplomacy in "Unity" Remarks by Jerusalem Bishop
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/22 16:50:00 (523 reads)
JERUSALEM:
Double Speak Diplomacy in "Unity" Remarks by Jerusalem Bishop to
GAFCON Leaders
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/22/2008
In a strained, invitation-only service that saw much diplomatic feinting and
ecclesiastical double-talk, the Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Saheil
Dawani, delivered a rebuke to leaders and pilgrims of the Global Anglican
Fellowship Conference (GAFCON) saying that the unity of the Anglican Communion
lay with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In stern language, that reflected censure rather than welcome, Dawani told
pilgrims gathered at St. George's cathedral that "in this diocese, we
regard relationships across the Anglican Communion as a crucial network of
bridges on the international scene that bring together Anglicans of 164
countries and 38 provinces worldwide, all of which support and strengthen our
witness and mission."
The Jerusalem bishop recently replaced the corrupt former Bishop of Jerusalem,
Riah Abu El-Assal. Not once did he mention the issues that currently divide the
Anglican Communion, nor did he mention GAFCON by name. Also present at the
service was the Bishop of Colorado, the Rt. Rev. Rob O'Neill, who is not a
GAFCON pilgrim, but who sat next to the Apostolic Nuncio at the
service.O'Neill's presence with Dawani sends a loud signal that the Episcopal
Church is watching through its proxy bishop who is not permitted to participate
at GAFCON.
In a clear slap at GAFCON bishops, Dawani said, "pilgrims do not bring
decisions with them. "They come here to seek prayerfully the decisions God
wants them to make. God has not finished with us or with our Church."
He urged his listeners to work for peace in Jerusalem and the world. "I
pray God's blessing on you, on the Archbishop of Canterbury and on our Anglican
Communion."
In unprepared remarks, the Roman Catholic Papal Nuncio Archbishop Antonio
Franco, told the orthodox Anglican pilgrims that he hoped for unity. Jesus
prayed for and urged his hearers "to be careful not to break unity."
It is our commitment to keep unity in all the churches, he said. He wished the
GAFCON conference "spiritual renewal" as "you return to your
roots."
One woman theologian noted that the Apostolic Delegate's speech was very
different from that delivered by former Roman Catholic Cardinal Ratzinger, now
Pope Benedict, XVI, to the Dallas Plano gathering of some 4,000 orthodox
Episcopal priests October 2003.
Has the Vatican gone cold on Anglican orthodoxy, mused one observer?
In his remarks, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola said conference pilgrims are
engaged in the work of God in the fulfillment of prophecy.
Addressing The Anglican Communion, Akinola said, "As a family there are
problems and they are ours to solve. This week we seek to know the mind of God
and the power to go about solving our family problems. God has given us the
Holy Spirit to solve these problems.
"GAFCON is not a threat to you; we want to be your friend in the work of
the Lord in Jerusalem. We want to be a blessing to you and the Christian
community in Jerusalem." A stony faced Dawani did not respond.
There were no photo ops. Dawani did not greet the whole conference because, as
one primate noted, "he doesn't understand it."
END
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2a.
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"We Have No Other Place to Go" - Akinola confims there is no break away |
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The Global Anglican Future Conference opened on Sunday with a reflection on the history of the turmoil that has necessitated the meeting, and a call to rescue the church.Addressing 1,200 delegates from 29 countries in Jerusalem, GAFCON movement chairman, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, recalled the failure by the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the Anglican church in Canada to adhere to agreed positions on Biblical teaching on human sexuality as being central to the discord. Between the Lambeth Conference in 1998 and 2003, several dioceses in the US Episcopal Church continued with impunity to legitimise open same-sex unions. The election and proposed consecration of a man in an active homosexual relationship, Gene Robinson, in defiance of the Lambeth Resolution 1:10 inflicted a most devastating wound. |
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“Some people interpreted our response (to break communion with the Episcopal Church) as judgmental, but we had to stand up for our convictions based on the word of God (the Bible) and the faithful witness of a long succession of Anglicans, rather than fall for anything in the name of enlightened logic and the dictates of modern cultural trappings,” Akinola told the representatives of 35 million church-going Anglicans. The delegates include 300 bishops, 250 clergy and 200 non-ordained leaders. Urging the preservation of an undiluted faith, he underscored the symbolic significance of holding the conference in Jerusalem, and the Holy Land, where Jesus Christ was born, lived, exercised ministry, died, and rose again. Later at a news conference, Akinola expanded on his address, in particular the seven questions he had posed to delegates to answer by the end of the week. He said, “I don’t want the failures of the last five years, and the endless meetings to continue. Akinola also emphasised that GAFCON is not going to break away from the Anglican Communion. “We have no other place to go, nor is it our intention to start another church.” |
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2b.
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=29
(OR http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8472)
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"A Rescue Mission" - Archbishop Akinola's Opening Address |
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This is the text of the opening address given by Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria People of the living God, welcome to Jerusalem. Welcome to GAFCON. One of the marks of apostolic ministry is signs, wonders and miracle. There are many in today’s Church, who would lay claim to apostolic authority without holding on to apostolic faith nor do they manifest any of the marks of the apostles. In GAFCON, I have seen signs and wonders. That we are able to gather here this week is a miracle for which we must give thanks to God. |
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3a.
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=12
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Anglicanism Come of Age - Bishop Bob Duncan |
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Bishop Robert Duncan today released the text of his opening plenary address to the leadership of the Global Anglican Future Conference. The group has been meeting in Jordan in advance of the June 22-29 Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem. The address, titled "Anglicanism Come of Age: A Post-Colonial and Global Communion for the 21st Century," offers Bishop Duncan's view on the positive purpose of the Global Anglican Future Conference, the current state of affairs within the Anglican Communion, and the obstacles facing the communion in the years ahead. "We who are gathered here recognize that we are at a turning point in Anglican history, a place where two roads diverge. One road is faithful to Jesus' story. The other road is about some other story...The choice before us is a choice before all Anglicans. It is just as certainly a choice before the upcoming Lambeth Conference. Which road will the Anglican Communion take?" asks Bishop Duncan. Bishop Duncan goes on to ask if the current structures, forged in the age of British imperialism, remain effective and appropriate for telling the Christian story and defending the content of the faith. Recent history suggests otherwise. "The Anglican Way of the mid-seventeenth to mid-twentieth centuries is collapsing. The present crisis in the Anglican Communion, like the positive and hopeful purpose of this GAFCON pilgrimage, points to the need for some new "settlement of "Anglicanism," states Bishop Duncan. What new instrument of unity will emerge to hold the Anglican Communion together in the face of Western secularism and colonial collapse? GAFCON is an early sign of what the future holds for Anglicanism. It "will be neither British nor Western. What emerges, we may be just as sure, will represent the conciliarism that has characterized Anglicanism at its best," states Bishop Duncan.
The full text of Bishop Duncan's address is here.
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3b. |
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/
“Anglicanism Come of Age: A Post-Colonial and Global Communion for the 21st century
June 19th, 2008 Posted in Global Anglican Future Conference, News |
Opening Plenary Address in Jordan - The Global Anglican Future Conference
The whole world is watching. This gathering is about the future.
In my travels around North America this spring it has become increasingly clear
just how much faithful Anglicans are looking to what we will do here. In
contrast, there is almost no popular expectation surrounding Lambeth. We are
here on pilgrimage. With the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, we know
ourselves to be strangers and exiles, aliens here. We are headed to a lasting
city. We know that everything we do has to do with the story: the old, old
story. Finally, it is not about England, or Canterbury, though these
relationships matter to us. Our life, our witness, our leadership, our
pilgrimage here is all about Jesus. What comes out of this gathering we cannot
predict. But we are confident that God is not done with Anglicanism. We are
confident that GAFCON is one piece of what God already has in mind as part of a
Global Settlement of Anglicanism. This Global Settlement of Anglicanism we also
understand to be but one aspect of a 21st century Reformation of the whole
Christian Church.
For the full text of Bishop Duncan's address Read HERE. (pdf)
http://www.acn-us.org/etc/2008/anglicanism-come-of-age.pdf
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4.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8468
Confessional or Conciliar: the GAFCON dilemma
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/22 7:50:00 (334 reads)
Confessional
or Conciliar: the GAFCON dilemma
by Robert S. Munday
June 20, 2008
If you read GAFCON's "The Way, the Truth, the Life" (484kb PDF) and
Bishop Duncan's opening address, "Anglicanism Come of Age: A Post-Colonial
and Global Communion for the 21st Century" (100kb PDF), you will encounter
what can be regarded as one very significant contradiction: The writers of
"The Way, the Truth, the Life" state, "The Anglican Church has
always been a confessional institution..." whereas Bp. Duncan says,
"Anglicanism is neither papal, nor confessional, it is rather apostolic
and conciliar."
GAFCON's detractors may well see this contradiction as an opportunity to allege
that those who are busily involved in crafting a new global Anglican future
cannot even agree on the nature of Anglicanism's past and present identity.
And, of course, there are those, from both the liberal and Anglo-Catholic
camps, who have never liked the idea of Anglicans being a confessional people.
It was considered a virtual article of faith in the Confirmation class I
attended that the Articles of Religion (the 39 Articles) were in no way to be
viewed as a confession of faith, such as the Augsburg Confession is for
Lutherans or the Westminster Confession is for Presbyterians.
Such a view denies the obvious role that the Articles of Religion have played
in both defining and describing the nature of a Reformed Catholicism that was
no longer Roman. The fact that assent to the Articles is still required of
those being ordained in the Church of England, and that, until 1824, assent was
even a requirement for holding civil office in England, makes the Articles the
nearest thing to a confession of faith possessed by the Anglican tradition.
But what about the future? Is the future of orthodox Anglicanism to be seen as
confessional (as suggested by the authors of "The Way, the Truth, and the
Life") or should it be viewed as conciliar, as articulated by Bishop
Duncan in his plenary address?
I would argue that this apparent contradiction need not be an actual one. There
is a strong case to be made that the two views can be reconciled, and the
future identity of orthodox Anglicanism will be stronger and more complete if
this happens.
Anglicanism should be seen as confessional in this sense: Can anyone imagine an
orthodox Anglican future that is not grounded in the 39 Articles? If a movement
is to be recognizably Anglican, it must stand in the theological tradition of
historic Anglican norms. Those norms should then be expected to form the
boundaries that determine who may participate in the councils of Anglicanism
and what subjects may be considered.
To draw an analogy from history: Can anyone imagine that someone who did not
subscribe to the doctrinal outcomes of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils
(Nicea [325] and Constantinople [381]) would have been invited to the Third
Ecumenical Council (Ephesus [431])? Would those who failed to assent to the
previously established consubstantiality of the Son with the Father have been
permitted to engage in further discussions of the nature of Christ, the Holy
Spirit and the Trinity? Neither were later councils free to reopen these
decisions or go beyond the boundaries (in the sense of straying from the
confessional declarations) set by the earlier councils.
Thus, the two models of being both confessional and conciliar worked together
in a complementary fashion as godly leaders, united in the confession of one
Faith, led the Church in its Gospel mission.
---Robert S. Munday is President and Dean of Nashotah House Theological
Seminary in Wisconsin
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B. LAMBETH
5.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8467
UK: Leading Anglican bishops to boycott Lambeth Conference over gay clergy
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/22 7:40:00 (552 reads)
UK:
Leading Anglican bishops to boycott Lambeth Conference over gay clergy
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
The TELEGRAPH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2170886/Leading-Anglican-bishops-to-boycott-Lambeth-Conference-over-gay-clergy.html
6/22/6/2008
The Church of England will be thrown into turmoil this summer following the
decision of leading bishops to boycott a landmark Anglican summit in protest at
the presence of pro-gay bishops.
In a move that marks a significant split in the established Church, at least
three bishops, including the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester,
will decline an invitation from Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, to attend the Lambeth Conference.
Up to six more bishops are understood to be considering similar action because
of Dr Williams's decision to allow controversial figures to be at the gathering
of worldwide Anglican bishops, which meets only once in 10 years.
The boycott will intensify the row over gay clergy, which was reignited when
The Sunday Telegraph disclosed last week that two gay priests had exchanged
vows in a version of the marriage service.
It threatens to undermine the authority of the Archbishop, who is battling to
maintain unity in the Church in the face of bitter rows over homosexuality and
women bishops.
He has already been snubbed by 250 Anglican bishops, mainly from Africa, who
are meeting this week at a rival conference in Jerusalem, but the absence of
English bishops would be a highly significant development for the future of the
Church of England.
Six bishops and about 60 clergy from the Church of England will be at this
week's meeting of conservatives, the Global Anglican Future Conference, at
which Bishop Nazir-Ali will deliver a key-note address on the way ahead for the
Anglican communion.
He will not go to the Lambeth Conference, however, as he believes that it has
been compromised by the inclusion of American leaders who consecrated the
Anglican communion's first gay bishop.
Friends of Bishop Nazir-Ali, who is one of the most prominent and influential
figures in the Church, said that he has made the decision on a matter of
principle. He considers the Americans' action to have been
"unscriptural" and "disobedient", and feels unable to meet
those he holds responsible for causing the schism in the worldwide Church.
"The Lambeth Conference is a Eucharistic gathering where the bishops
gather around the Lord's table to teach the common faith, and he doesn't see
how he can do this," said a friend of the bishop.
Bishop Nazir-Ali was said to be surprised that the American bishops were
invited to the meeting despite a recommendation in an official report, the
Windsor report, that they should be excluded. The bishop does not intend his
absence to be seen as an act of disloyalty to the Archbishop, but rather as an
attempt to stand for the traditional teaching of the Church.
The Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden, and the Rt Rev Wallace
Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, will also be absent.
Bishop Benn said: "I'm not going because those who've torn the fabric of
the Communion have been invited, and bishops from the missionary groups in
America haven't. A group of English bishops has been unhappy at the invitation
list and that the Archbishop of Canterbury has not called a Primates Meeting to
consult about invitations and respond to the American Church statement on gay
clergy."
Dr Williams has tried to maintain unity, but the "wedding" of two
clerics, has exacerbated deep divisions.
It prompted Reform, an evangelical group representing about 1,000 parishes, to
warn that there would be a split in the Church unless swift action was taken to
discipline the Rev Martin Dudley, the rector who conducted the service.
Rod Thomas, the chairman of Reform, said: "The Church of England now faces
the same sort of division as the Episcopal Church of the USA."
Failure to take action would "open the floodgates to indiscipline"
and lead to a split.
The Very Rev Colin Slee, the Dean of Southwark, said, however, that the
conservatives were fomenting division.
He said: "Those of us who watch from the 'outside' because we are not
bishops are bound to wonder if they do not have some self-serving agenda about
power and the creation of a new, third, parallel church within the, Province of
the Church of England."
END
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6.
NETHERLANDS: 'Don't allow them to play the victim'
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/22 15:40:00 (442 reads)
NETHERLANDS:
'Don't allow them to play the victim'
Bishop Tom Wright on the crisis in the Anglican Communion
By Wim Houtman, Religion Editor
Nederlands Dagblad
June 22, 2008
The Bishop of Durham has expressed his concern that pro-gay liberals in the
Anglican Communion should not be allowed to play the victim at next month's
Lambeth Conference.
Tom Wright says he has no "secret blueprint" for the outcome of the
Conference. But he does not want a "parliamentary-style debate"
ending in a "put up or shut up"-resolution. "The Windsor Report
has made it very clear that if the Americans and Canadians abide by their
action, it is they who decide to walk apart. They cannot then any longer claim
the moral right to a place at the table. But if they could say "We are
being kicked out, they're being mean to us", they could assume the victim
role. And we must not allow that to happen."
The Lambeth Conference is the ten-year gathering of Anglican Bishops from around
the world. This year some 300 out of a total 880 will be absent, because they
have no confidence that Lambeth will solve the crisis that the Anglican
Communion was plunged into five years ago with the ordination of the practising
gay Bishop Gene Robinson in the United States.
Within hours in Jerusalem, GAFCON will kick off, a one-off meeting of
evangelical leaders - mainly from Africa, but also from Australia, the Americas
and England - wishing to make a fresh start as an orthodox, Bible-believing,
missionary Church. Bishop Tom Wright is not attending, although he shares their
concerns.
Speaking to the Dutch evangelical newspaper, Nederlands Dagblad, the Bishop of
Durham says his hopes for the Lambeth Conference are that "the solid
Christian orthodoxy that Anglicanism has always stood for, will be explored and
reaffirmed".
"God can do unexpected things. Maybe some Americans will be brought to
scratch their heads and wonder if they are going the right way. Not all of them
will. But the mood might change, like the political winds change
sometimes."
He shares the Archbishop of Canterbury's desire to show the world that
Christians deal with difficult issues in a different way, not in a
"parliamentary-style debate with two sides shouting at each other",
but in "a spirit of prayer and communion".
Bishop Tom Wright compares the Anglican crisis to the movie "A Perfect
Storm". He was asked why the crisis in the Anglican Communion has broken
out now around homosexuality, and not twenty or thirty years when there were
Bishops around who denied the resurrection or the uniqueness of Christ.
"It is like four or five storms coming from different directions, that
merge into the ultimate storm, with full moon and high tide. Sexual ethics is a
vehicle for how we read the Bible, and how we deal with postmodern culture.
Because postmodernity means the breakdown of the great narrative, including the
male-female narrative. And our difficulties with sexual ethics also point to a
crisis of Biblical scholarship. You can't just casually say "it's time the
Church gives equal rights to gays, just like it has had to do with slaves,
blacks and women. They are three or four totally different issues in the New
Testament."
END
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