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GAFCON Chairman says 2,000 delegates will meet in Jerusalem next month to proclaim the Gospel

GAFCON Chairman says 2,000 delegates will meet in Jerusalem next month to proclaim the Gospel
Ecclesiastical institutions must serve the gospel, says Nigerian Primate
We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed, said Nigerian Primate Nicholas Okoh

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
May 4, 2018

Some 2,000 delegates will gather in Jerusalem for the third Global Anglican Future Conference -- GAFCON -- under the ticking realization that 'the time is short', keeping delegates focused on what really matters.

GAFCON chairman and Nigerian Primate Nicholas Okoh said that the gospel is at the heart of all that we do, reinforced by the conference theme of 'Proclaiming Christ Faithfully to the Nations'.

"Ecclesiastical institutions must serve the gospel. The gospel is not a brand to be adapted to serve institutions. We will therefore continue to endorse new missionary initiatives and jurisdictions where necessary to take forward the work of the gospel."

The Primate of the largest province in the Anglican Communion said the GAFCON archbishops will recognize the Anglican Church in Brazil, currently the Anglican Diocese of Recife, as a Province in the Anglican Communion, and will welcome Archbishop-elect Miguel Uchoa as its first Primate. The province will be inaugurated on May 21st in Recife.

"This new Province will provide for orthodox Anglicans in Brazil just as the Anglican Church in North America provided for orthodox Anglicans in the United States and Canada ten years ago."

The evangelical primate excoriated the notion that there could be a "middle way" (as some Western provinces proclaim) and said "we cannot compromise the gospel."

"To have integrity, this conviction must be expressed in action as well as words which is why Clause 13 of the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration of 2008 (to which we ask all participants in next month's conference to subscribe as a condition of attendance) affirms that 'We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord'."

Archbishop Okoh said the Anglican Communion has been mightily used by God as a means of spreading the gospel around the globe "and in Jerusalem we shall continue the great purpose we set out in 2008 to work for 'a clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ'. The time is short, but we thank God that he has raised up the Gafcon movement and this gives us hope that the best years of our beloved Anglican Communion are yet to come."

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