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GAFCON – threat, option, or only future?

GAFCON – threat, option, or only future?
Apr 21, 2015
By Andrew Symes
Anglican Mainstream
http://anglicanmainstream.org/gafcon-threat-option-or-only-future/

Two Archbishops walk into a bar for a relaxing drink after a hard day’s work in committee. One of them, in placing his order, starts a conversation with the man serving the drinks. He beckons to his purple shirted companion and over the next few minutes, the two of them share the Gospel with the bartender, and lead him to faith in Christ. Later both prelates testify that for them, this was the highlight of the conference. Thankfully its not impossible to imagine that this story involved Most Reverends Welby and Sentamu, but in fact it was related by one of the GAFCON Primates who had been told the story by his two fellow Archbishop-evangelists at their meeting last week.

If we have Archbishops in the C of E who believe and preach the same Gospel as that which grips and motivates the GAFCON leaders, why do we need GAFCON at all? Isn’t it a threat and a challenge to the Anglican Communion which already exists under the leadership of a Gospel hearted man? And doesn’t this story of foreign GAFCON leaders engaging in informal mission in our sovereign territory undermine the Church of England’s work? Ruth Gledhill in her report chooses to lead with this idea that GAFCON is seen by the C of E establishment as a “schismatic rival” to Canterbury. Is this a correct understanding of the GAFCON/GFCA phenomenon?

The truth is that GAFCON is not splitting away from the Anglican Communion, with new ideas to form an independent church. The clue is in the “A” of GAFCON and GFCA. The movement is an expression of authentic Christian faith in a valid form of Anglican ecclesiology. The men who lead it are recognized Anglican Archbishops. And the ‘split’ or division has not been caused by GAFCON. It is a response to the irreconcileable divisions that already exist in worldwide Anglicanism and many other churches. These divisions exist because the societies of the economically developed West, much of whose success has been based on Christian worldview, are in the process of abandoning those foundations, and embracing a radical secular humanism. There has been rejection of Christianity as public truth and increasing hostility to authentic Christian faith. Part of the church has tried to remain ‘chaplain’ to the culture and accommodate to it, hoping to retain influence by speaking the culture’s language and accepting many of its values. Another part remains committed to sacrificial service of Christ in the world, calling people to repentance and faith and building communities of hope and alternative vision. This has resulted in mutually incompatible understandings of God, ethics and ecclesiology within the same church.

GAFCON came about because faithful men and women, clergy and lay, wanted to be part of a Christ-focussed mission church, but saw their leaders (particularly in the US and Canada) bowing down to the world’s idols of power, money and sexual ‘freedom’. Anglican leaders from the thriving churches across the Communion stood together with the faithful confessors of the historic faith, and still do today. Unlike the situation in 2003, we in England today have leaders who speak the language of Gospel and mission, and are not overtly and aggressively driving a revisionist agenda as they did in the USA and Canada in the years leading up to 2003. But in practice we see a policy of “anything goes”. Bishops who are completely revisionist in their theology sit on committees with evangelical ones; clergy in adjacent parishes preach mutually contradictory messages. Our leaders appear personally Gospel-hearted, but institutionally compromised – they are reluctant to say “this is the way, walk in it”, but teach that all approaches are valid, and that living together in peace is the way the church can witness to a divided world. Not surprisingly this causes confusion in the pews (“what does the Church of England believe – its historic formularies or the liberal views of its vicars?”), but also confirms the view of secularists, that religion is simply a matter of opinion and tribal affiliation rather than truth, and that as (they say) God does not really exist, church groups play games of power, negotiation and compromise just like everyone else.

GAFCON is not a threat to the C of E in the sense of coming in and taking over. Peter Jensen pointed out the absurdity of this accusation when he said that any Anglican church in England which finds itself outside the official structures operates by selecting and supporting its own clergy rather than being funded and controlled from outside. But in GAFCON we are seeing the emergence and continued development of a united movement of orthodox Anglicans from across the world, committed to evangelism based on the biblical Gospel, as evidenced by the wonderfully un-English actions of foreign Archbishops in a London bar. The leadership are making plans for further expansion through church planting and theological education, and being prepared to stand against anti-Christian philosophies which undermine human flourishing. This is thrilling to the many thousands of clergy and laity in England and further afield, in the British Isles and Europe, who want to remain Anglican and true to its doctrinal roots and its commitment to the local community and the nation, but who feel increasingly alienated by the direction of the official structures.

While the Church of England allows authentic Christian ministry to flourish and in its official statements and practice does not deny the clear testimony of Scripture, GAFCON stands as an encouragement to the faithful and a prophetic witness, keeping us accountable to Christ in company with the worldwide church. It also will continue to develop options for oversight, through AMiE, in cases where Anglicans are unable to accept the ministry of a Bishop with heterodox beliefs, or for example where official protocols stand in the way of evangelistic initiatives. But if the Church of England makes a major change in its doctrine and practice that is contrary to Scripture, then GAFCON will, in the minds of many, be the only future for confessing Anglicans in these islands.

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