THE EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION statement on the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury

THE EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION statement on the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury 

Charting a way forward for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11)

The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) joins Anglicans across the world in praying for Bishop Sarah Mullally on the announcement that she is to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Sarah takes up her role as the Archbishop of Canterbury at a difficult time for both the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. The Church of England is deeply divided over issues of human sexuality and proposed “Prayers of Love and Faith”. Within the Anglican Communion there has been a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In both contexts there is a cry for leadership which is consistent with our rich Anglican theological and doctrinal heritage.

As Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Sarah will have a unique opportunity to lead a process to reset the Anglican Communion and its leadership.

In late 2024 the IASCUFO NAIROBI-CAIRO PROPOSALS (“Renewing the Instruments of the Anglican Communion”) was produced for feedback. EFAC welcomed the opportunity to offer an initial response to this important report. It was clear from the document that the proposals had been produced in response to two interconnected problems:

The anachronism of colonial era structures for the Anglican Communion when the vast majority of active members are now found in the Global South.

The broken and impaired relationships of the Anglican Communion which have arisen due to doctrinal differences, especially to do with biblical anthropology and marriage. These have been in contention for several decades and been the subject of previous reports offering different paths of renewal. They have become more acute since the Bishops and General Synod of the Church of England in 2023 opened the way for the blessing of same sex relationships. The election as Archbishop of the Church in Wales of a person openly living in a same-sex civil partnership has further complicated the situation.

The IASCUFO Nairobi-Cairo Proposals include the following proposals:

That the 1930 Lambeth Conference description of the Anglican Communion be amended, including the deletion of the phrase “in communion with the see of Canterbury” and its replacement with words which include “bound together through … historic connection with the See of Canterbury”.

That the existing structures be changed, including a rotating presidency of the Anglican Consultative Council.

EFAC Global believes these changes need urgent implementation. However, these changes alone would not be sufficient. EFAC also believes that the Anglican Communion needs not just structural adjustments, but an agreed coherent theological and doctrinal basis and we strongly urge that consideration be given to the adoption of the Global South Fellowship of Churches Covenantal model. Unless something similar is adopted, many provinces will continue, in conscience, to disengage and there would appear to be no realistic basis for going forward together as a communion. The Lambeth Conference of 1920 put it this way:

“The Churches represented in [the Communion] are indeed independent, but independent with the Christian freedom which recognises the restraints of truth and love. They are not free to deny the truth. They are not free to ignore the fellowship.”

Not all differences can be tolerated. Most people within the Communion do not see how the authorisation of rites of blessing for same sex unions are compatible with the teaching of scripture, tradition and reason. If Anglicans are to walk together, there must be a convergence in our understanding of the truth. If there is no convergence in our understanding of the truth, we will need to begin to learn to walk apart. We earnestly hope and pray that this will not prove necessary. Our prayer is for repentance, healing and restoration.

Like any major change the steps which will be required to enable the Communion to continue to walk together will be challenging and will involve wise and determined leadership and we will pray for Bishop Sarah as she takes up this weighty responsibility.

Bishop Stephen Hale Acting General Secretary

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EFAC Statement in response to "Renewing the Instruments of the Anglican Communion"

Dec 19, 2024

STATEMENT BY THE EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION IN RESPONSE TO THE IASCUFO NAIROBI-CAIRO PROPOSALS

(“Renewing the Instruments of the Anglican Communion”)

EFAC welcomes the opportunity to offer an initial outline response to this important report, thanking its writers for their sincere and prolonged engagement with the broken nature of our Anglican Communion. What follows sets out what we understand to be its central themes, and aspects of it which we welcome and aspects where we have questions and concerns.

It is clear from the document that these proposals have been produced in response to two interconnected problems:

The anachronism of colonial era structures for the Anglican Communion when the vast majority of active members are now found in the Global South.

The broken and impaired relationships of communion which have arisen due to doctrinal differences, especially to do with biblical anthropology and marriage. These have been in contention for several decades and been the subject of previous reports offering different paths of renewal. They have become more acute since the Bishops and General Synod of the Church of England opened the way for the blessing of same sex relationships in 2023.

The proposals can be summarised as follows:

A number of amendments to the classic description of the Anglican Communion adopted by the Lambeth Conference including the deletion of ‘in communion with the See of Canterbury’ to be replaced by, inter alia, ‘historic connection with the See of Canterbury’ (76) .

A number of changes to the existing Instruments, notably a rotating presidency of the ACC.

We welcome a number of elements in the report including:

The removal of ‘in communion with the See of Canterbury’. This description has been used to try and delegitimise the new orthodox Provinces, recognised by both the GSFA and GAFCON, and to imply that any breaking of communion with Canterbury is tantamount to leaving the Communion. The recent decisions of the Church of England have meant that, irrespective of who the next Archbishop of Canterbury is, he or she will not be a person whose leadership can be acknowledged by many members of the Communion as primus inter pares.

The recognition of the sad reality that as currently constituted the churches of the Anglican Communion have fallen even further short of the Church’s call to be “one, holy, catholic and apostolic”: no longer having in common that they “uphold and propagate the Catholic and Apostolic faith and order” but simply seeking to do so; and no longer bound to each other “by mutual loyalty” due to recent actions by various provinces, most recently the Church of England. As a result, it is accepted that the churches of the Communion are no longer in full communion with each other but only seeking “the highest degree of communion possible”.

The statement that “Solemn calls to unity may sometimes function as an abuse of power, as they seek to enforce a closeness of relationship that would suppress or deny important differences” (45) and the call to those “who call themselves progressive or liberal…to grant graciously the degree of seriousness with which their fellow Anglicans take the matters at hand and concede the consequences of some degree of diminished communion” (48).

4. The acknowledgment that “The Covenantal Structure of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches … may be viewed … as a helpful contribution to the discernment of doctrinal and ethical truth within the Communion … in hopeful service of the unity and faithfulness of the Anglican Communion” (56).

1.https://www.anglicancommunion.org/ecumenism/iascufo/the-nairobi-cairoproposals.aspx?fbclid=IwY2xjawHAJeJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWMGRsAKocYvrMrgB8RwmHUGcJDgDsMQCJubQOIzy xOt1CoAnVSOhOfa0g_aem_PX6oHSgsfRp0R3ygcTxDlQ&sfnsn=scwspmo

2 Numbers in parenthesis refer to paragraph numbers in the IASCUFO paper. All this makes clear that earlier attempts to reform the Instruments by seeking moratoria, repentance, and renewed covenantal affirmations and commitments have not succeeded. We continue to hope and pray that those whose actions have led to this tragic failure will repent in order that fellowship may be restored and we welcome the work of GSFA and GAFCON to reset the Communion and create structures which can enable full communion to continue between churches and faithful Anglicans based on Catholic and Apostolic faith and order.

Questions and concerns:

In forthcoming months as the report and its proposals are digested, discussed and developed in preparation for the ACC meeting in 2026 we hope attention will be given to various questions and concerns, including for us:

An explanation for the absence of any engagement with GAFCON. Engagement with GAFCON will be essential if IASCUFO is fully to engage with the deep differences and divisions within the Anglican Communion.

Whether the bold redefinition of the Communion is sufficiently reflected in the practical proposals which are seemingly minimalist and risk being largely symbolic but leaving the underlying power structures of the Communion intact (for example, in the continued parity between all 5 historic regions despite the very different number of worshipping Anglicans in them). We are concerned that more needs to be done, given the unprecedented levels of mistrust and non-participation in the legacy instruments, if the “ecclesial deficit” we face is to be addressed.

It would appear that the underlying assumption implied in the theological methodology of IASCUFO’s approach is that, contrary to the Communion’s clear past statements, the teaching of Scripture on matters of human sexuality is unclear and so the areas of disagreement are to be treated as adiaphora and the subject of unending dialogue until the Lord returns (43, 57). Is this what is being claimed?

Does the revised definition of the Anglican Communion not significantly water down the historic identity of global Anglicanism and (in contrast to the GSFA Cairo Covenant and GAFCON’s Jerusalem Declaration) fail to offer an ecclesiology clearly under the authority of the Word of God?

In particular, in contrast to the Cairo Covenant and earlier attempts to address the Communion’s travails such as The Windsor Report and the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant, there appears to be no place for exercising discipline against teaching judged to be contrary to Scripture. While the recognition of the need for distance or differentiation is welcome, how does a “commitment to making room for each other” not amount to acceptance of “serious doctrinal error and moral jeopardy” (48) within the Anglican Communion?

Conclusion

EFAC Global therefore welcomes the full acknowledgment by IASCUFO of the wounds of division in the Communion and the proposal that the Communion is no longer to be defined by relationship to Canterbury. It is vital, however, that in ongoing reflection on our calling as the Church, the state of the Communion, and the report’s proposals to find a new way forward, that we are not found to come under the Lord’s judgment through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘they have healed the wound of my people lightly’ (8:11).

Bishop Stephen Hale Acting General Secretary EFAC Global

Bishop Keith Sinclair Chair of EFAC Global Trustees