Our General Secretary, Dr Peter Jensen, has written a series of reflections following the January 2016 Primates Gathering on the fundamentals underpinning the basis of our faith. This is the first in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers.

Since the Primates gathering in January I have been trying to assess its significance for the Anglican Communion.

I am not alone in thinking that the GAFCON movement and its Primates played an important role in the outcome. But it is possible to lose clarity in the midst of all the talk and interpretations. We need to go right back to basics to be sure of our identity, our purpose and our policies as a Communion. We need to go back to basics to make sure that our witness is heard.

What does the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration say?

The Bible is the word of God written

'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.'

This is a thoroughly Anglican statement, reflecting also the Articles of Religion and our liturgies. The Bible is the trustworthy, sufficient, clear, authoritative word of God. Here is the way in which the Lord rules his Church; the business of the Church is to believe, obey and preach the word of God.

Notice that it describes the Bible as 'the Word of God written' (authoritative and trustworthy), containing 'all things necessary for salvation' (sufficient), 'to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense' (clear).

The clarity of Scripture is very important. It does not mean that everything is crystal clear nor that we do not need help in interpretation. But the fact that we are encouraged to read it for ourselves shows that the main teaching of scripture is clear and able to be understood by ordinary people. 'Respectful of the church's historic and consensual reading', reminds us that we have the privilege of reading the Bible in the light of what others have seen over 2000 years.

Today, however, Christians are constantly assailed by non-Biblical thought. Today there is a very powerful temptation simply to capitulate and change our doctrine on key matters. Now you have to decide consciously, individually and as a church, that you will trust the written word of God and follow its teachings no matter what the world says. About this there can be no compromise. In public utterances church leaders must teach the Bible.

The tragedy is, that in some places the church has listened more closely to the culture around us than to the Bible. Instead of being different and holding out a better hope and a better way, sections of the church have become advocates for patterns of life which God rejects.

Sometimes the claim is even made that this represents the Spirit's contemporary voice, as though the Spirit could contradict himself, or the Bible is not sufficient. We are listening to the human spirit rather than the Holy Spirit.

Or, we are told, the Bible is unclear in its teaching. We must therefore allow several interpretations to flourish even though they are absolutely contradictory to each other, and one has been the established interpretation for 2000 years.

Is the same true of the doctrine of the Trinity?

Unfortunately, those who have compromised with the world have become missionaries for their ideas among their fellow believers, bringing confusion and disunity.

The GAFCON movement stands for the renewal of the Anglican Communion through the word of God blessed by the Spirit of God. We cannot afford to compromise about the authority of God's word. That has to be our starting point.

Good Reading of the Good Book

This is the second in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers.

To assess the implications of the Primates' gathering in January and what we have seen subsequently, I am suggesting that we go back to basics. The first point was the authority of the Bible over our consciences and over the churches. It is God's word written.

But there is a hot contest over the interpretation of the Bible, especially when it comes to God's expectations about sexual behaviour. What can we say about how we read the Bible?

Good Reading of the Good Book

One of the most wonderful features of our Anglican church is its clear belief that the word of God, the sacred Scriptures belong to us all. They are not the preserve of academics or clergy. Listening to the Bible, reading the Bible and knowing the Bible is a privilege which all share. God trusts us with his word.

Now I always think that there are two basic rules in all reading.

First, read with love. That is, our love for an author should mean that we take them at their word. We should presume that they are trying to communicate. Thus, our aim is not read what we want to into the word, but, as far as we can, what the word actually says. We need to observe such things as genre and language -- as we do all the time when we are reading. What we read may fill us with disgust or dismay, but it has to be read for what it says, not for what we want to see in it.

The reader is not the author.

Second, read in context. This, of course flows from reading with love. But it is particularly important to read the Bible this way. The Bible is a unity, inspired by God. It has many facets to it, but it is united in its source (the Spirit), its theme (the kingdom of God), its central character (the Lord Jesus) and its framework (the Covenants of God). There are many rules to good reading, but the basic one is this: the Bible interprets the Bible.

And that is what the Anglican Church says. In the 39 Articles of religion we read: 'The Old Testament is not contrary to the New...Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral' (Article 7; see also Article 20).

How do we know that we are now free from the ceremonial law? Because the New Testament releases us. How do we know that we are not free from the Moral law? Because the New Testament binds us to it through Christ. In other words, the Bible interprets the Bible.

Does this matter?

Well it does. One of the really surprising things about current debates is the ignorance displayed about these basic principles, even by Anglican Christians. I can understand media people saying to me, 'but you eat pork and that is forbidden in the Bible, why don't you accept sexual permissiveness?' But I am amazed that those who profess faith should be so unwitting.

Does the Bible itself repeal the practice of the food laws? Yes it does.

Does the Bible itself repeal the laws against sexual intercourse outside of the marriage of a man and woman? No it does not.

And this is not a recent insight. It is exactly what Bible readers down through the ages have observed with no real difficulty. And again, when we read the Bible, we are always advised to ask ourselves what other readers report. Not that they are infallible, but that neither are we, and we can learn from others as they too ask themselves, 'how does the Bible interpret the Bible on this point?'

As the Jerusalem Declaration says, we read the Bible 'in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church's historic and consensual reading.'

Why?

Why does it matter?

There are some things over which Christians disagree which are either not decided by the Bible, or not directly decided by the Bible, or of a relatively trivial matter.

But the present debates over human sexuality do not fall into that category. Thus when Jesus himself condemned immorality (e.g. Mark 7:21) he was using a word which protects our sexual lives by confining relations with another person to marriage.

The rights and wrongs of sexuality are a major issue in the Bible from start to finish. And the consistent, unrepented misuse of our sexuality, like greed and idolatry, places us outside the kingdom of God. That is why this matter is so important.

Thus, when we are told that this is a disputed matter in the Bible, two bad things follow:

First we are tampering with the clarity of the Bible. If the Bible is not clear on this point, what is it clear on?

Second, we are placing souls at risk, because we will not call for repentance.

The stakes are that high and that is why I am going back to basics.

Fellowship

This is the third in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers.

Fellowship, or Communion, is a very precious gift of the gospel. The Lord Jesus laid down his life for his Church, his Bride. Christians are united to Christ for their salvation. Inevitably, then, we are united with one another. We are all one in Christ Jesus.

I have been trying to think through the implications of the January meeting of Primates for the Anglican Communion and for GAFCON.

The Communique and the story of the meeting certainly put a lot of store on fellowship and unity. The Primates, we are assured, were unanimous in their desire to walk together, difficult though it is.

A love for Christian unity has to be right. Just think of how the Bible concludes, with the great gathering of God's people singing his praises, exalting in his presence, all of them washed in the blood of the Lamb. We are reborn to be united. Unity is a gift which we are obliged to maintain.

The idea of fellowship is of sharing in something together -- sharing in an experience, a language, in financial support, in the Holy Spirit. One of the great moments of fellowship is sharing in a meal together.

Separation

Think of this in reverse. When we are cut off from someone we love, it is very painful. The separation of death is terrible, of course, but it is agonising to be cut off because of a quarrel or some fault we have committed. This is true in ordinary human life -- how much more so for the Christian family.

But sometimes separation is inevitable, even mandatory. Where an offence has been committed, where a position taken which misleads or even disgraces, to stay in fellowship is to endorse dangerous error. We are giving an assurance on behalf of the Lord himself that all is well and people can hold the error with safety. That is a big responsibility.

Now in the Anglican family there are many disagreements and different ways of doing things. Likewise, there is no part of the family free from sin and error. It is always possible to point the finger at someone else and judge them. But sometimes a doctrinal issue arises of momentous importance, and action is called for. Sometimes we have to withdraw fellowship, not even eating together.

What happened?

Briefly, in 1998, by an overwhelming majority the Bishops meeting in the Lambeth Conference endorsed the Biblical and traditional view of marriage as between a man and a woman, and re-iterated that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture, while calling for a pastoral approach to those who are same sex attracted. It also warned against the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of those who practise homosexuality.

In 2003, in clear and conscious defiance of the majority will and of the teaching of Scripture, the Episcopal Church of the USA (TEC) consecrated as a bishop a man living in a homosexual relationship. Already elsewhere, notably in Canada, the blessing of same-sex unions was occurring.

These were powerfully divisive acts. When we hear today that all the Anglican Communion wishes to walk in fellowship, it is worth remembering that there was a moment when that opportunity was scorned and the fellowship that then existed, squandered. Communion did not seem to matter at that point.

Given the variety in the Anglican Communion on all sorts of matters, why did this create such a profound and long-lasting division?

The answer is simple:

First, since the teaching of Scripture is that the practice of homosexuality is a sin, the novel activity is an assault on the authority of Scripture. Who is in charge of God's church?

Second, given that the teaching of Scripture on this subject is clear, it is a further assault on the authority of Scripture. There are those who wish to take this liberty, and do so by unilateral action. Unfortunately, they are now joined by those who simply wish to keep unity at all costs and so suggest that there are two ways to read the Bible on this subject. Unfortunately, by saying that the Bible is not clear, they are leaving the church without a Guide.

Third, since the teaching of the Bible on this subject is that the sin involved endangers the souls of those who practise it, placing them outside the kingdom of God, this is not a subject where we can afford to be indifferent. It divides the church because salvation is bound up in it. People are teaching that sinful behaviour is not sinful. Their teaching endangers not only their own people, but ours as well.

Renewing fellowship

Fellowship is renewed through forgiveness. But where matters of such principle, matters which are crucial for salvation are involved, reconciliation can only occur through repentance.

Since 2003, many of the churches in the Anglican Communion, as well as many from North America, have been calling on TEC and the Canadian Anglicans to turn back to the teaching of the Bible and submit to it once more. The separation need not be permanent -- a way back into fellowship is open. Indeed this is a way back into spiritual renewal and revival.

Has the meeting in Canterbury endorsed and strengthened that summons to repentance?

That is a matter for next time.

This is the fourth in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers by Dr. Peter Jensen..

As we think through the significance of the meeting of Primates in Canterbury, we come to the key subject of repentance.

The issues before us have doctrinal and political aspects. But, finally, they are spiritual and that is why repentance matters.

The original tragic division in the Anglican Communion was the responsibility of certain North American Anglicans. They have been invited back into communion with those who severed relationships.

But this is not simply a matter of apology without change.

The need is repentance, with the hope of reconciliation and restoration.

Gentle but firm

In Canterbury, an overwhelming number of Primates agreed that the endorsement of same sex marriage by The Episcopal Church (TEC) should be challenged and the consequences for continued fellowship be set out.

The Primates deliberately chose the greatest offence (redefining marriage), the greatest offenders (TEC) and the mildest rebuke (three years suspension from some activities).

The Primates were virtually united in this gentle approach -- gentle but firm. The most outrageous offence against biblical truth was singled out, and a mild set of consequences outlined. It left The Episcopal Church with nowhere to hide. No one can say that this is vindictive or punitive.

It is a symbolic, gentle invitation to return home.

What is repentance?

Coming home is what repentance looks like.

Repentance is at the heart of spiritual renewal. It is the Prodigal's return. It is coming home.

We have all strayed from God's will expressed in his word; we hear the hammer blows of the word of God; our conscience convicts us of our sin; we know that we have offended; we return to the One whom we have offended, giving up our sin, not pleading our supposed virtues, but seeking only his mercy and making no claims upon him; we speak only in the name of the Lord Jesus; we place ourselves once more under his authority; we hear his blessed word of forgiveness, peace and assurance.

We all need to repent of much. It is a normal spiritual discipline of the Christian life. In this case it is a challenge to a whole Province to think again, to turn, to return, to come home.

Reconciliation

It is tragic that so many of their fellow Anglican Christians have declared themselves to be in broken communion with TEC. Desperately poor Anglicans have declined to receive money from TEC because of what they have done; thousands of North Americans have left TEC and the Canadian Church and formed the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) at great personal cost, in order to stand for the truth of the word of God.

The GAFCON movement speaks in love to their friends and asks for repentance, not just for their teaching on same-sex marriage, but for their endorsement of sexual lifestyles which are condemned by the word of God.

They stand with arms out seeking reconciliation through repentance.

Risks

There are risks in the gentle but firm course chosen by the Primates.

First, it may be that those in Canada and Scotland, not to mention England who agree with such things as the blessing of same sex unions may think that they have now escaped censure and are free to proceed.

But Lambeth 1.10 still stands, as does the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration and of course the Holy Scriptures. Let not those who have breached the word in other ways now take comfort, as though they have been somehow endorsed. Rather let them, too, consider turning again to the Lord.

Second, the gentleness of the rebuke may suggest that no great matters are at stake and that the passage of time will allow people to become used to this new doctrine.

But surely we should see this in the reverse way. If TEC fails to heed so gentle a voice calling her home it indicates how far she has strayed.

We may well fear that, for some, the Canterbury meeting has been just another episode in the long history of acceptance. After all, TEC has been chastised before; those who would exercise discipline have exercised infinite patience; nothing has happened and matters have got worse. There is a moment when enough is enough.

That is why it is essential to understand the story of which we are part. In God's providence, GAFCON stands, guarding and proclaiming the gospel we love. For this reason, we continue to support ACNA while calling for a spiritual renewal through repentance for those whose actions have created the division.

Consequences

Repentance is a blessed discipline and we should be grateful to those who call us back to the standard of the word of God.

But -- alas! It has been made immediately clear that there is no intention of repentance in TEC. Bishop after Bishop as well as other leaders repudiated the summons and even suggested that this was an institutional rather than a spiritual matter, saying that the Primates have no right to make these decisions -- an observation which even if true, is still irrelevant.

It is too early yet to be absolutely sure, but the signs are not good. We must all constantly heed the summons to repentance, watching our own lives and teaching. But we cannot afford to allow our dear brothers and sisters embrace the deadly errors of the sexual revolution without the challenge to repentance and the pain of separation.

Not all agree. Some think that we should live with 'good disagreement'. But that raises the issue of the nature of the Christian gospel itself. To that we turn in the next letter.

Back to Basics Part 5: The Power of The Gospel

This is the fifth in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is what the Bible tells us. We are commanded to enter the kingdom of God by entrusting ourselves to Christ as our Lord and Saviour. That is, we enter and continue through repentance and faith.

The Canterbury meeting of the Primates made space for the summons to repentance to be heard once more.

Why is this so vital?

A lost world

The issues before us are matters of life and death, of heaven and hell, of judgement and forgiveness. God's gospel is designed to be preached to all people. The love of God seeks the lost sheep at great cost.

When Jesus came and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, his chief mission was to save. It is no accident that the cross is the central symbol of Christianity, since it is through his death that salvation comes into the world. Through his resurrection and ascension he now rules over all things. He is the God-man who is the head of our race and the Lord of the universe.

The power of the gospel

The gospel reconciles us to God and prepares us for the age to come. But the same Lord who is the Lord of that age is the Lord of this one too. As men and women are united to Christ by the Spirit of God, so they live for God in this world.

Down through human history, the power of the gospel has been shown not only in the way it saves sinners but also for the way it transforms us and impacts the human societies in which we live. The social power of the gospel has been enormous.

The 'death' of God

From the 1960s onwards, a new philosophy has captured the culture, a secularist philosophy based on the idea that there is no God. In a godless world, the individual is god -- and we make our own rules. In particular, the sexual revolution -- abortion on demand, pornography, permissiveness, easy divorce, cohabitation instead of marriage and the rise of the homosexual life-style, have all flourished.

Alongside atheism has emerged a quest for spirituality. Individuals cultivate the spiritual self, trying to discover the meaning and purpose they lost when they abandoned the God of the Bible.

At the same time, the revolution in communications has created a single world, in which information and opinion and ideology flow easily from one place to another. The secularist gospel is now heard more easily than the Christian gospel.

Mission and culture

Christian evangelists and missionaries are always in the 'translation' business. This is part of the genius of Christianity. To preach the gospel we must explain it in ways that the hearer can understand. But the gospel must be true to the Bible. Otherwise, we concede too much to the surrounding culture and distort the truth. Western Christians are grappling with this issue as never before.

The result has been many changes. What we do in church has frequently altered dramatically. Some have experienced revival and fresh enthusiasm. Many are talking about planting new churches while acting with love in communities which are without God and without hope.

On the other hand, some teach that the Spirit of God is leading us to new truths which contradict the Bible. Some no longer talk about judgement and sin. Some see the chief message of the church to be social justice or inclusiveness.

Spreading error

The divisions in North America, which have impacted the rest of the Anglican world, arise from mission. That is, in attempting to communicate the Christian message, some have so compromised that they no longer call for repentance from what the Bible calls sin. This is an incomplete gospel, and one that has lost its saving power. That is why the Anglican crisis is so profound.

If we continue in fellowship, we endorse this flawed gospel. We endanger the rest of the churches as they see no discipline being exercised by the leadership. In the age of the internet, no church is safe from these errors.

Just preach the gospel?

Some would say that those who break fellowship because of the distorted gospel are the ones at fault. They would say that we have succeeded in making so much fuss that all we talk about is sex, rather than Jesus. Furthermore, society no longer has the faintest idea of what the Bible is saying on this subject and cannot be sympathetic to our views. Instead the world labels us bigots and homophobes and we do not get a hearing for Jesus.

They would say that it is better to agree to disagree about the subject, enter a 'good disagreement' with each other, maintain unity so that our quarrels do not become the story, and talk about Jesus.

But there are four problems with this argument.

First, it narrows Jesus down so that we are in danger of not teaching the real Jesus who called for repentance from sin.

Second, it forbids us to analyse and expose human sin and idolatry at precisely one of its most obvious points.

Third, it forbids us to do good in our community by offering a far better vision of what it is to be human.

Fourth, it insists that those who refuse to compromise over these matters are the ones at fault and grants a mark of approval to those who distort the gospel.

Fellowship in a false gospel, is not fellowship.

At a time when so much is at stake, what is the Lord summoning us to do? I will address that in the next letter.

Back to Basics Part 6: Will You Stand With Us?

Our General Secretary, Dr Peter Jensen, has written a series of reflections following the January 2016 Primates Gathering on the fundamentals underpinning the basis of our faith. This is the last in that series of six thought leadership and teaching papers.

I invite you to support GAFCON. If you are already a supporter, please ask others to join also. Here are my reasons.

The need for the prophetic voice

No one wants to see an end to the Anglican Communion. That is why the Primates went to Canterbury.

Certainly the leaders of GAFCON are clear on this point. They are not proposing to replace the Communion. They are dealing with schism, not provoking it.

Their insight has always been clear: since the institutional structures have failed to hold the fellowship together around the truth, the answer must be a spiritual one.

A prophetic voice is needed.

We need to join together to proclaim the gospel, teach the word, pray without ceasing, administer the sacraments and seek for repentance and renewal. Through this we need to love and bless each other. You can be part of this by being a Supporter.

The GAFCON Assemblies

Twice I have had the privilege of being present at the large GAFCON meetings, first in Jerusalem in 2008 and second in Nairobi in 2013.

They were manifestly the works of the living God. The experience of both was the same: it was the joy of the Anglican Communion having communion. This was the reality which the institutional structures are meant to serve. As gatherings, they were clearly based on the word of God, they were marked by hope, faith and love, and they spoke with a clear voice about the Lordship of Christ.

The Jerusalem Statement and Declaration

They are noble documents. Noble because they re-state the great Christian truths which cannot be tampered with and commit those who endorse these documents to the Anglican way. Noble because they recognise that those who stand for the truth of God's word will pay a price and that we need to take our stand with them. Noble because they put first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Here is the prophetic voice.

The East African Revival

In Nairobi, one of the chief themes was the East African Revival. This was an extraordinary movement of the Spirit of God, staring in the 1930s, which continues to impact Christians in East Africa to this day.

Its particular call is that if we 'walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin' (1 John 1:7). The emphasis on repentance, forgiveness and fellowship would alone have made it very relevant to the concerns of the conference. But there was more.

I had not understood the significance of the Revival in two respects:

First that it was a call for the individual and the Church to submit fully to the authority of God's word.

Second, that it was a summons, therefore, for Christians to turn their back decisively on the elements of the culture which had nurtured them, but which were against God's word. For too long, too many had been half Christians, compromised, living both in the darkness and the light. Now was the time for them to cease 'limping between two different opinions' as Elijah said, and serve the living God with all the heart.

I think all of us present could see the significance of this for our own situation.

How long?

Think again of the question of Elijah: 'How long will you go limping between two different opinions?' and think of his challenge: 'If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.' (1 Kings18:23). This was no easy choice -- the wealth, numbers, prestige, magic, spirituality and fashion of the day were all with Baal. What would you have done? This is where we walk in the light or in the darkness.

Let me speak very personally. One of the most painful elements of the present crisis for me has been the lack of leadership in places from which one could have expected it. I can understand TEC; her leadership make no secret of their theology or the reasons why they take the stand they do.

But what I find most painful is the silence or prevarication of those who don't agree with the new sexual ethic, who understand that our ministry is the ministry of the word of God, but who say nothing except to distance themselves from a movement like GAFCON.

Where is Elijah?

I have sat in the room with Primates who have spoken with evident deep pain about the way in which the ones they have looked to for clear teaching and leadership, have failed to say publicly what God's word says.

More, when I mix with 'the ordinary person in the pew', people who have always understood that we are meant to obey the word of God, when these people seek to live and speak for Christ in a culture which has abandoned God, they too are bewildered and dismayed by a leadership which has not given them voice and hope.

A Moment and movement

The long slow slide into changing the doctrine of the church suits those who want to see a rapprochement with the culture. That is why it was so important for there to be a decisive moment in Jerusalem with its prophetic summons to repent and repair.

But a moment has to give birth to a movement, if people are to gather and stand for the truth, supporting each other. Hence GAFCON the moment has become GAFCON the movement.

And it is a movement for all. We are aiming to preach the gospel, gather God's people, and renew our Communion at the deepest level. We are joining hands with others across the world in other denominations who are engaged in the same struggles. The plans we made in Nairobi to extend and strengthen the movement are happening.

This is a movement which you can be part of. I believe that when you become a Supporter you are signalling your determination to stand with Elijah and those who refuse to bow the knee to the fashions of our time.

My dream is for there to be thousands of Supporters world-wide, men and women who wish to guard the truth, preach the truth and have fellowship with God's people.

Will you help?

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