The archbishop’s words were met with a cool reception here, much like the reception he got at GAFCON II in Nairobi where he failed to connect with the vibrant evangelical movement that is the vanguard of revival on that continent.

Speaking to the delegates here, the Bishop of Chester, The Rt. Rev. Peter Forster, who brought greetings from the Archbishop, spoke warmly of outgoing ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan and talked of a pub-crawl the two men had undertaken during a free evening at the 1998 Lambeth conference.

Forster gave no indication that newly elected ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach would get a warm reception from Welby any time soon.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has made it clear that “reconciliation” is on his agenda and seems unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the deep wounds caused by the Episcopal Church towards orthodox Episcopalians and the millions of dollars spent on lawsuits over property ownership for over a decade.

More than 100,000 Episcopalians have left The Episcopal Church with dozens of priests and a score of bishops deposed.

Forster acknowledged the “difficult period” the North American Anglican churches have gone through since Lambeth ’98, but said that the “truth will emerge” and in time would strengthen the witness of the church to America and Canada.

The 900 delegates included some 50 U.S and Canadian bishops and 20 more from overseas jurisdictions including Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukala. He told VOL that he saw GAFCON and the ACNA tied at the hip; his presence here only strengthens ties between the two bodies. He said he was saddened that Archbishop Welby did not acknowledge the ACNA as a legitimate Anglican body.

Archbishop Welby has met Archbishop Duncan in London, Nairobi and Canterbury Cathedral on separate occasions, even at one point-taking communion from the hand of Archbishop Duncan in the cathedral in Nairobi. It would therefore be expected that Welby would meet with Archbishop Beach, but that no formal ties could be expected as the ACNA would need to be recognized by the Anglican Communion Office aka the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). That is most unlikely.

Forster added that Welby believes that the way forward for the Anglican world is to “listen prayerfully” and to “listen patiently” to each other to heal the divisions within the body of Christ. That is extremely unlikely to happen unless the ABC recognizes the deep unbridgeable fissures within the communion caused by revisionists and progressives and their need for repentance.

Other Anglican archbishops present are: The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, (Uganda); The Most Rev. Tito Zavala, (Southern Cone); the Most Rev. Henri Isingoma, (DRCongo); The Most Rev. Mouneer Anis, (Egypt and the Middle East); The Most Rev. Glenn Davies, Sydney Australia; The Most Rev. Dr. Benjamin Argak Kwashi is Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jos and Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Jos in the Church of Nigeria; The Most Rev. Stephen Than Myint Oo, Province of Myanmar; the Most Rev. Datuk Bolly Lapok, Church of the Province of South East Asia.

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