The two could not be further apart. Hiltz wants to focus on his triumvirate of temporal issues which he can do little about except to offer up resolutions. However, Wabukala and Beach argue that the issue of pansexuality is a salvific issue (I Cor. 6:9) involving eternal life or eternal damnation, something that seems to be lost on the revisionist North American archbishop.

And it is why the GAFCON chairman says the Anglican Communion is at a crossroads and it will be up to Archbishop Justin Welby and the mostly liberal West to decide which way they will travel.

Describing the initiative of the ABC as "courageous," the GAFCON Primates have made it clear that they will stand firm "to guard the gospel we love, knowing that we cannot rewrite the Bible to suit the spirit of a secular age."

Tough uncompromising words. Wabukala then said this: "The Anglican Communion is in danger of losing the gospel of God's costly grace to us sinners for the poor substitute of cheap grace which makes us comfortable but can neither save nor transform. The choice before the Primates as they gather in Canterbury is whether they will recognize this reality and take the difficult but necessary action to restore the Bible to its central place in the life of the Communion, or whether they will accept a merely cosmetic solution which will see it increasingly taken captive by the dominant secular culture of the West."

Welby has been served notice. The GAFCON Primates will not yield to his faux reconciliation efforts, however many attempts are made by Canon David Porter, the Palace's Director for Reconciliation, or Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, whose job will be made irrelevant if the communion falls apart.

Wabukala made it clear that their continued presence will depend on whether Welby will robustly commit himself and the communion to biblical teaching and morality.

The Kenyan archbishop also ruled out any notion of a "federation" or "commonwealth" with the provinces finding their unity in a common relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
That dog won't hunt.

"This is not historic Anglicanism; the See of Canterbury is honored and respected as the Mother Church of the Communion, but the unity of the Communion does not depend upon the Archbishop of Canterbury," said the gentle Kenyan Anglican leader.

More fighting words.

Wabukala said that the only ground for unity is the faith as it has been received and that affection for Canterbury is no substitute. This is code for, "We will not stay in the Communion if the faith continues to be compromised and loyalty for the Mother Church will end." The truth of the gospel is infinitely more important than anything else because the souls of millions are at stake. At the end of the day, the GAFCON primates know that they are answerable to their Lord and not to Welby. To put it in starker terms, this is about the Last Judgment, when we will all have to give an account of ourselves. Ultimately, it is about heaven and hell.

The GAFCON primates want action to restore the spiritual and doctrinal integrity of the Communion they care for so deeply. They will not be fobbed off by talk of climate change, poverty (which they have more of than Western nations), and refugees (which both the West and East are working to accommodate).

Hiltz hates the thought of ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach even being present at this gabfest. He would like him to attend the first part of the meeting and then be shuffled off back home so the mostly liberal primates can concentrate on "deeper" social issues.

However, it is clear that Wabukala and his fellow primates will not let that happen.

By their statement, they have cut off all avenues for the ABC to "reconcile" differences. They want full repentance from TEC and the ACoC or nothing.

Hiltz said that when he saw Welby recently, he was quite clear that the meeting would not exclude any of the primates of churches that are members of the Anglican Communion. Hiltz acknowledged that same-sex marriages will be an important topic of conversation, but it will not be central.

But that and the authority of Scripture and the call of the gospel to repent will be central, and the ABC is totally deluding himself to think otherwise.

Based on the most recent declaration of the GAFCON chairman, it is impossible to see how the Communion can stay together. There is not a hint that the pansexual, post-modern Western provinces have any intention of repenting. They earnestly believe God is doing a new thing, even if it means the certain death of their own provinces, out of which they believe a new resurrection will take place.

It will be Welby's Kairos moment. Unless he can persuade the mostly western Anglican provinces to have a change of heart (repent), his role as the titular head of the Anglican Communion is over, Lambeth will be bypassed and ignored by the mostly Evangelical Global South, the Anglican Communion Office will be rendered irrelevant, and the communion will dissolve into two "communions" -- one faithful to the Lord, the other faithful to Lambeth and Canterbury.

END