Boxing Day or Christmas Eve, depending on your source, was chosen by the organisers of this event as the day to issue a press release:
GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE CONFERENCE IN HOLY LAND ANNOUNCED BY ORTHODOX PRIMATES
The press release (below the fold) is followed by:
Frequently asked Questions
1. Who is sponsoring the Conference?
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is being called by those who took part in the Nairobi Consultation:Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Archbishop Peter Jensen (Sydney) Archbishop Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria). Bishop Don Harvey (Canada) and Bishop Bill Atwood (Kenya) who also represented Archbishop Greg Venables (Southern Cone). Bishop Bob Duncan (Anglican Communion Network and Common Cause USA.), Bishop Martyn Minns (Convocation of Anglicans in North America), Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India and England), Canon Dr Chris Sugden (England)
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali (Rochester, England) and Bishop Wallace Benn (Lewes, England) were consulted and also form part of the Leadership Team.These bishops and their colleagues represent over 30 million Anglicans out of the 55 million active Anglicans. ( Nigeria 18m , Uganda 8m Kenya 2.5m Rwanda 1 m Tanzania 1.3 m plus Southern Cone, US, Sydney, England). The notional total of the Communion is 77m. The active membership is nearer 55 m, since of the 26m notional members in CofE 3.7m attend at Christmas Services)
2. Whom do you expect to come?
We will be inviting bishops and their wives, senior clergy, church planters, and lay people including the next generation of young leaders. We aim to make it a Global Anglican Conference with its eye on the future and future leadership.3. Is this a Global South Initiative?
Not quite. Many of the Primates at the Nairobi Consultation are in the Global South, but it also included Anglican leaders from parts of the world beyond the geographic Global South.4. Why a pilgrimage?
We are looking to the future of the Global Anglican Communion, which is itself a pilgrimage.Those who want to hold on to the Biblical and Historical faith need to come together to renew their faith and develop a fresh vision for our common mission. The way we have chosen to do this is to undertake a pilgrimage to a land whose heritage we all share, the land where Jesus Christ was born, ministered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven and sent his Holy Spirit, and where the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out. We believe this will strengthen us for the difficult days ahead.
The conference will outline the mission imperatives for the next 25 years for orthodox Anglicans. It is important therefore to reconnect with our roots in the biblical story.
5. Is not Israel/Palestine a controversial venue?
Israel/Palestine has been a place of conflict for decades. That should not keep us from making pilgrimage to a land that is our common heritage. We want to bring fellowship and bear testimony to the Christian communities in Israel/Palestine. Those of us from Africa are no strangers to the pressure that Christian communities are put under from other religious groups and communities.6. Why call it in June?
The pilgrimage is to strengthen bishops at a crucial time in the life of the Anglican Communion. Many bishops will not be able to accept the invitation to the Lambeth Conference as their consciences will not allow it. Some will attend both gatherings. The purpose of the consultation is to strengthen them all spiritually.7. Is it not really an alternative to the Lambeth Conference?
No.It is not at the same time or in the same region as the Lambeth Conference. So there will be some who will attend both conferences and thus be able to consult with the Archbishop of Canterbury and others there.
As Archbishop Gregory Venables has said: “While there are many calls for shared mission, it clearly must rise from common shared faith. Our pastoral responsibility to the people we lead is now to provide the opportunity to come together around the central and unchanging tenets of the central and unchanging historic Anglican faith. Rather than being subject to the continued chaos and compromise that have dramatically impeded Anglican mission, GAFCON will seek to clarify God’s call at this time and build a network of cooperation for Global mission.”
GAFCON is a call to vision and action for mission based firmly on the “faith once delivered to the saints” and revealed in Scripture, to reform the church and transform persons, communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. African Bishops had this focus at their Lagos 2004 conference. The Episcopal church’s agenda has recently overshadowed it. We now need to develop this gospel agenda for all like-minded in the communion.
It is to outline the mission imperatives for the next 25 years and how to begin to respond to them.
It is a pilgrimage to the places of the Biblical story to renew our faith and commitment. It is to envision the Global Anglican Future.
The Lambeth Conference has a different agenda.
8. Is this all over a gay bishop?
No.GAFCON is about churches being grouped by what they have in common. We’re for growth, we’re for being passionate about the truth. We want to look to the future. That’s what the conference is about – Global Anglican Future.
9. Aren’t you splitting the church?
No. Communion depends on having something in common. Churches in the Global South are growing. They’re passionate about the truth and their faith. We are building on this strength.As the Anglican Communion develops, some of the old bonds are loosening, and some new bonds are being formed. That’s a good thing. These bonds involve churches which are growing, and which have something distinctive to say to the world. GAFCON is enthusiastic about mission. Its focus is the future.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), June 15-22, 2008, The Holy Land
Issued by the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), June 15-22, 2008, The Holy Land
Press Release
December 26, 2007
GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE CONFERENCE IN HOLY LAND ANNOUNCED BY ORTHODOX PRIMATES
Orthodox Primates with other leading bishops from across the globe are to invite fellow Bishops, senior clergy and laity from every province of the Anglican Communion to a unique eight-day event, to be known as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) 2008.
The event, which was agreed at a meeting of Primates in Nairobi last week, will be in the form of a pilgrimage back to the roots of the Church’s faith. The Holy Land is the planned venue. From 15-22 June 2008, Anglicans from both the Evangelical and Anglo-catholic wings of the church will make pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where Christ was born, ministered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, sent his Holy Spirit, and where the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out, to strengthen them for what they believe will be difficult days ahead.
At the meeting were Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Peter Jensen (Sydney), Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria); Bishop Don Harvey (Canada), Bishop Bill Atwood (Kenya) representing Archbishop Greg Venables (Southern Cone) , Bishop Bob Duncan (Anglican Communion Network), Bishop Martyn Minns (Convocation of Anglicans in North America ), Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India and England) and Canon Dr Chris Sugden (England). Bishops Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester, England), Bishop Wallace Benn (Lewes, England) were consulted by telephone. These leaders represent over 30 million of the 55 million active Anglicans in the world.
Southern Cone Primate Gregory Venables said: “While there are many calls for shared mission, it clearly must rise from common shared faith. Our pastoral responsibility to the people that we lead is now to provide the opportunity to come together around the central and unchanging tenets of the central and unchanging historic Anglican faith. Rather than being subject to the continued chaos and compromise that have dramatically impeded Anglican mission, GAFCON will seek to clarify God’s call at this time and build a network of cooperation for Global mission.”
The gathering set in motion a Global Anglican Future Conference: A Gospel of Power and Transformation. The vision, according to Archbishop Nzimbi is to inform and inspire invited leaders “to seek transformation in our own lives and help impact communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Bishops and their wives, clergy and laity, including the next generation of young leaders will attend GAFCON. The GAFCON website is http://www.gafcon.org.
Canon Chris Sugden added: “While this conference is not a specific challenge to the Lambeth Conference, it will provide opportunities for fellowship and care for those who have decided not to attend Lambeth. There was no other place to meet at this critical time for the future of the Church than in the Holy Land .”
Chris Sugden and his camp followers really do have a hangup about this “Canon Dr” business, don’t they? NP referred to him in this way. The topic came up on another blog (Preludium) a couple of weeks ago. On the matter of double-dipping titles and honorifics, one poster commented that the use of “any more [than one title] are considered incredibly gauche in both English and American academic circles”, adding “Dr. Williams certainly manages. No one, ever, calls him Archbishop Doctor.” On the main topic of the thread, GAFCON – a new acronym to confuse – what, faced with one… Read more »
I think I’ll call this the SCRUNTSK Conference. It is clearly being held in June to plan ahead of Lambeth 2008 and, placed in Israel/ Palestine it has all the features of a launch. Certain people seem not to be invited, for example the Archbishop of Canterbury. If this is not an alternative to the Lambeth Conference, it will lead to no need for an alternative Conference at the same time. It will declare a future, and some will then see the Lambeth Conference 2008 as entirely other, while others presumably go as some sort of ambassadors for preaching, “This… Read more »
“Gaffe-Con”? Really?
This is all so confusing that I can’t figure out whether it constitutes upping the Anglican schism ante or whether it constitutes backing down.
I really think that the puritans are (eventually) going to follow through on one of their periodic departures from historic Anglicanism because it allows people in who are unworthy (as Garrison Keillor said, “My parents came to this country because the Anglicans wouldn’t allow them to persecute people.”)
BTW — I do appreciate seeing somewhat more realistic membership figures (even if they ignore the demographic reality behind the numbers).
“On the main topic of the thread, GAFCON – a new acronym to confuse – what, faced with one more massive, pious ego-eruption, can one say, beyond marveling at the drama-queen vulgarity of the choice of venue?” Well, one might additionally observe that GAFCON more appropriately seems to signify “Gaffe-prone Conservatives.” In any event, looking over GAFCON’s leadership team, it’s clear that the *global* replacement ecclesial structure (why stop at a mere province, a` la the Chapman Memo?) is now crystallizing into what I personally think of as the “Shadow Communion.” (All entendres intended.) Kyrie eleison; they know all too… Read more »
So, all the Donatists, Lollards and Docetists are going to gather in the Holy land and proclaim their orthodoxy. The irony is almost too rich for words.
So helpful to have the frequently asked questions answered – in advance. These dissenting Primates and bishops anticipate a lot of interest in their destructive activities, but are not answering the questions I’d like to ask, such as: Why are two Church of England bishops deliberately aligning themselves with a body that is claiming (in the CANA lawsuit) to have formed a second Anglican Communion based on Nigeria and whose leader is Archbishop Peter Akinola? Are Bishops Michael Nazir Ali and Wallace Benn on the verge of resigning from the Church of England and taking themselves off to Nigeria? How… Read more »
Given the CANA-nites’ obsessive need to keep Primate Archbishop Dr. Akinola away from the media, perhaps it is more appropriate to call this “not the Lambeth” Conference by another name – GAFFE-Prone.
My take on the Conference, with picture of Archbishop Peter Jensen
http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/12/scruntskie-conference.html
The gaffcon.org domain is, of course, helpfully owned and run by Chris Sugden and Anglican Mainstream, and was registered on Dec 14th. Looks like Canon Sugden went to the Nairobi meeting confident of the outcome!
“Gaffe” is the word.
The main note struck in GAFCON is the sound of moving on, as if. Having claimed that they are the Real Anglican Communion, not including the rest of us, and it sometimes looks as if , NOT including Canterbury – GAFCON believers wish to say they no longer are preoccupied with gay bishops and other hot button issues. As if. In that respect, they want to preach that they alone have claimed the holiness high ground in their holier than thou witness. As if. Quite a few people do not follow Jesus because of the special holiness GAFCON insights that… Read more »
I posted this on Stand Firm but it may be relevant here too. In answer b.b.on Stand Firm: “Yes, where are the women and the lay people? And, equally true, where are the theologians? In the civil realm the organizers of this group would most likely be called lobbyists or politicians. It is important to remember that +Akinola’s earned degree from VTS is a MTS …a master’s in theology and society and a curriculum heavily weighted to social and political concerns, not hermeneutics or exegesis. The group, +Atwood, Anderson +Minns +Guernsey etc. is also co-terminus with the recipients of the… Read more »
DNS info on gafcon.org is visible via, for example, http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=gafcon.org
I think rather that “con” is the word: a con job, that these people are “Anglican”!
Lord have mercy.
Lapin, I am having trouble deciding whether I should address myself as Professor Doctor or Doctor Professor. Also, should my M.A. figure into this somehow? My B.A.? Do you have any suggestions?
Whatever happened to Lambeth 1948–the “provisionality” of the Anglican Communion, its vocation to disappear as it shared the historic episcopate and liturgical order with others…….presumably the end result will be not a Church of England, but an “Anglican denomination ” in England…perhaps more than one. You might even believe Tony Blair got out in time!!
Pluralist, One of the points on which there was some agreement here a few days ago was that there does need to be some definition of boundaries. It is apparent that without that we simply slide into further and deeper chaos. You seem to think that finding little “clever” names amounts to reason or argument! You then go on to say that the Advent Letter is about “one way of reading the Bible only, strictly according to Lambeth 1998 1:10 …” For that actually to be the case the Bible itself would have to be equated with Lambeth 98. Who… Read more »
Malcolm+ writes, “…keep Primate Archbishop Dr. Akinola away from the media…” Did you see the extensive interview by Ruth Gledhill. Really wonderful. A gracious and godly man.
DrDanfee talks about “moving on.” I would call it moving forward. After years of duplicitous delay, they have had enough of the dishonesty. The GS leaders are saying “We are moving forward, we are leading, you may (or may not) follow.” I don’t think that this aspect of their announcement should be criticized. It is simply integrity on their part.
Ben W on Lambeth 1998 1:10: “It is simply the word of the church in council the last time out – true or false? – therefore a reference point.” Um, FALSE. The “word of the church in council”??? For that to be true, there would need to have been an actual church council, not just a meeting/conference — and even +++RW and Akinola have heretofore conceded that Lambeth has no conciliar authority. Nicaea, this was NOT. Even in +++RW’s argument for 1:10 as “the only reference point,” he does not claim conciliar authority for the voice of Lambeth. (Which only… Read more »
Ben W. Permit me to have some fun on Boxing Day with initials to make a name. I’m bored with NURKS, and wanted something reasonably Anglo-Saxon as provided by the vowel limitation. What boundaries did I agree to? I’d have to look. I can’t remember. Perhaps someone else agreed. I read several boundaries here. The Archbishop made it clear that invitations are on the basis of agreement with the Covenant process. He has said indeed that it does not pre-determine the outcome of a Covenant. However, he has stated his argument that there is but one way to read the… Read more »
Viriato,
The term council is difficult is it? central to the meaning of this word: 1) “an ssembly of church repesentatives which meet to decide matters of church dicipline or doctrine;” 2)”a meeting to discuss or decide something.” I thought the dictionary might be of some help here!
There has been no meeting beyond 98.1.10 that represents the church as a whole, so in that sense since this was the last word it ought stand good. Amazing, RW does not think we should simply go back on our word!
Ben W
So, do you suppose anyone would mind if some of us have a conference on how to be a faithful gay Christian? We could have invitation only meetings communion busting agendas all our own. Do we need to get some bishops involved or can we just throw something together?
>>>It is apparent that without that we simply slide into further and deeper chaos.
Or, of course, people could just mind their own damn business.
Whether moving on is moving forward depends, depends on the particular map reference points we use to lay out the directions of the plotted course. Having mustered every vile connatation in the traditional lexicons to paint gay bishops as a sky falling in crisis, we now find that the orthodox wish to move foward. Okay, what about women? Those shoals are sharper, deeper, and bigger than the reefs connected with queer folks plus friends plus family. In many cases, the two hot button domains overlap quite a bit. So we wait with expectant humor to see just what the new… Read more »
“After years of duplicitous delay, they have had enough of the dishonesty. The GS leaders are saying “We are moving forward, we are leading, you may (or may not) follow.”
Leading forward? Going back to a time when women and gays were considered unfit for polite company is going forward?
robroy: The problem seems to be that “forward” to some means backwards to others. I don’t believe the GS men are leading at all. In fact they are blocking. They preach Biblical opinions which only support their prejudices while ignoring what the Bible says Jesus taught. You may think that is “forward”. I don’t.
“A gracious and godly man”
You mean God also lobbies for gay people to remain criminalised, and for their supporters to risk 5 years in jail?
That wasn’t the Christmas message preached in my church.
Don’t worry …Bishops Nazir Ali and Benn will not resign. They have nothing to lose, and a free trip ( including their wives) is not to be turned down. CESA STILL MISSING When Sydney first mooted this idea, the Sydney Synod asked that the Church of England in South Africa (CESA) be included. CESA is a rival denomination ( about 100,000 adherents), Sydney have aided since the nineteen thirties). However CESA practice lay celebration, have grape juice for Communion and have eradicated the word Catholic from the Creeds in their alternative prayer Book. they are very liberal on divorce, but… Read more »
Colin Coward asks: “Don’t they think what they are doing is causing or adding to the chaos?”
lthey think they are Righteous, so it doesn’t matter what they do.
Ben W wrote both: “There has been no meeting beyond 98.1.10 that represents the church as a whole, so in that sense since this was the last word it ought stand good. Amazing, RW does not think we should simply go back on our word!” and “For that actually to be the case the Bible itself would have to be equated with Lambeth 98. Who does that? Certainly not RW or anyone I know. It is simply the word of the church in council the last time out – true or false? – therefore a reference point. Further, this manages… Read more »
The Anglican Centrist has posted the Theological Statement of Common Cause, (http://anglicancentrist.blogspot.com/) which is almost certainly also the basis of GAFCON. You have to wonder how people connected with FiF can sign up to such a 16th century Puritan agenda, which demands a literal understanding of the 39 Articles. (Funny how Newman’s reading still rankles with the neo-puritans after almost 170 years). It also says that “the church has no authority to innovate” and is obliged continually to return to “the faith once delivered to the saints”. I suppose we therefore have to expect that not only ecclesiastical (OT) rules… Read more »
Is there something a little obsessive – monomaniac perhaps – in distilling the 1998 Lambeth Conference in its entirety to the formula “98.1.10”?
And if we’re talking “conciliar”, while we’re about it, let’s remember 98.V.13 for starters. Which, incidentally, reaffirms 88.72 – “it is deemed inappropriate behaviour for any bishop or priest of this Communion to exercise episcopal or pastoral ministry within another diocese without first obtaining the permission and invitation of the ecclesial authority thereof”.
“The term council is difficult is it?” No, not difficult, incorrect. The Lambeth Conference has never had conciliar status. It is not intended to set doctrine. It is often said that we Anglicans have no formal way to set doctrine. Church councils are not simply gatherings in which a bunch of bishops get together and talk about stuff, which is what happens at Lambeth. Equating any lambeth conference with one of the great councils of the Church, and even they “may err” according to the Artilces, seems a bit desparate to me. Do you really mean that? And as to… Read more »
One of the functions of the old broad Church was that it provided some in between the extremities of the Protestants and the revived Catholic. Without that broad Church element, GAFCOM is aiming to have only both dogmatic elements in the Anglican mix. This won’t work, because there will just be two conflicting dogmatic elements who, in the longer run, would go their own way. Anglicanism was all about in built methods of compromises that GAFCOM seems to be rejecting. I wouldn’t be so pessimistic. Let the GAFCOM lot go their own way, because it is one route by which… Read more »
“The event, which was agreed at a meeting of Primates in Nairobi last week…” Yeah, right. A conference that will be for hundreds(?) of bishops, ‘wives’ (guess that means no female bishops will be invited!), clergy, and laity? Decided with just six months prep time? Accomodation, conference facilities, transport, security, etc, etc. all just now to be arranged? Yeah right. Something tells me this has been planned, organised and booked long ago. By the way. Since it’s taking place within his jurisdiction, was +Dawani of Jerusalem informed of this event? Did he agree to it? Do the organisers even care… Read more »
“There has been no meeting beyond 98.1.10 that represents the church as a whole, so in that sense since this was the last word it ought stand good. Amazing, RW does not think we should simply go back on our word!” (sayeth Ben W) Pshaw, Ben. Here again you err, repeating the ungrounded and unfounded assumption Lambeth ’98 in any way was a meeting that represented “the church as a whole.” It was NOT, and merely repeating the lie many times over does not make it any more true. “The term council is difficult is it? central to the meaning… Read more »
“The Internets”
Is this a reference to FARK.com? If so, you rise from your already high place in my estimation!
‘GAFCON’ Sounds like somebody put out rat poison and they’re running off the ship drowning themselves in their own self-righteousness.
Speaking of ex-Anglican entities, I wonder if they are going to invite the Anglican Catholic Church of North America and the Reformed Episcopal Church to their little power pout-fest?
“Is this a reference to FARK.com? If so, you rise from your already high place in my estimation!”
Alas, I fear I must sink, then. Had never heard of FARK.com — but now that you’ve pointed me to it, it’s on my favorites list. (Seems a tad busy/complicated, though. I’ll save it for the weekends.)
No, I used the term in its Bushesque sense. See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internets
Yours truthily,
Viriato
“There has been no meeting beyond 98.1.10 that represents the church as a whole, so in that sense since this was the last word it ought stand good. Amazing, RW does not think we should simply go back on our word!”
Just to be clear on something that seems to have escaped +Cantuar, not only is the Lambeth Conference not a “council,” the Anglican Communion is not _a_ church. It is (as we seem to have to keep insisting) a voluntary association of sovereign national churches.
“‘GAFCON’ Sounds like somebody put out rat poison “
I thought it sounded like the name of a science fiction convention.
More thoughts by me, and a cartoon piccy of Wallace Benn.
http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/12/scruntskies-and-anglican-futures.html
Will ABC invited, do you think?
So the new structure will be Gafcon to compete with the joke that will be left behind – a/k/a Laffcon.
RobRoy: Yes, I’ve read Ruth Gledhill’s interview. Godly wasn’t exactly the word that came to my mind, but no matter.
Of course, back in the day, Primate Archbishop Dr. Akinola used to grant interviews to reliable conservative journalists. That is no longer his practice.
See: http://video1.washingtontimes.com/beliefblog/2007/12/chasing_archbishop_akinola.html
Jonathan Clark — I was just going to note that the ABC has NOT been invited — the Telegraph prediction seems to be on target so far, but the right wing game of “yes it is but no it isn’t” seems to be playing out here (like in San Joaquin) — “No it isn’t a schism, so we’re still Episcopalians & can’t be disciplined for abandoning the Communion of this church but Yes, there is a ‘division’ and we get the property in Virginia!” sounds like “The foreign nationals can be held by executive authority because there is a war… Read more »
Pluralist, Thank you for your considered response. I would like to hear how many here think the AC can go on without dealing seriously with some of these issues. We need some process, and I think covenant is on the table out of a consultative process that holds some possiblities. What is the alternative? The Archbishop stands with the Covenant process. That is a process open to people, in your words, “He has said indeed that it does not pre-determine the outcome of a Covenant.” The church in assembly affirmed Lambeth 1998 1:10. That can be reconsidered further down the… Read more »
Viriato,
Me thinks he protests too much! Of course you will quibble over terms for purposes of diversion if you can. If the intent is not to get the mind of the church on certain matters at Lambeth what was it and what is it? Just a nice party? Because you do not agree is not a grown up reason to throw dust in the air and simply assert and proceed in denial.
Ben W
“I thought it sounded like the name of a science fiction convention.”
Ford Thank you. I was afraid I was the only here who had made that connection. As a life-long comics and SF fan, it’s the first thing I think of with any acronym that ends in “con”.
“Me thinks he protests too much! Of course you will quibble over terms for purposes of diversion if you can …………. Because you do not agree is not a grown up reason to throw dust in the air and simply assert and proceed in denial.”
Couldn’t have stated it better myself, Ben – though “methinks” is not in my vocabulary. Ever. And I repeat, 98.V.13.