Crisis in Anglican Communion is behind us, says Chair of GAFCON
The chairman of GAFCON2013, the Archbishop of Kenya told reporters on Monday that Anglicans have moved on from the crisis of recent years.
"The crisis in the Anglican Communion is behind us," said the Most Reverend Eliud Wabukala. "We have moved on. Although the factors that produced it are still there, there are wider issues in the world for Christians also to address."
Preaching in All Saints Cathedral on Sunday to the Primates of Sudan, Southern Cone, Congo, Nigeria, Kenya and the Anglican Church of North America, the Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby said that the communion should be marked by worship, witness, evangelism and a passion for the Holy Spirit.
The Primates Council of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans is leading a conference of 1,352 conservative Anglicans from 38 countries and 27 provinces, which opened in Nairobi on Monday. Thirty archbishops and 300 bishops are attending. Keep reading
Will Africa's Anglicans Succeed at Revival This Week?
Archbishop Justin Welby backs 'new way of being in communion' as 1,200 leaders from 40 nations meet in Nairobi.
On the eve of this week's gathering of restive Anglican conservatives in Nairobi, Kenya, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Sunday said "the colonial structures" of the past should give way to reform.
"We need a new way of being in communion," he said during his sermon at the Anglican cathedral in Nairobi, according to media reports. Starting on Monday, the Global Anglican Futures conference (GAFCON) will host about 1,200 leaders from 40 nations.
In 2003, a flashpoint occurred with the consecration of the openly gay Gene Robinson (now retired) as bishop of New Hampshire of The Episcopal Church (TEC). This triggered an exodus of conservatives from TEC, the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. TEC then started extensive litigation against clergy, churches, and dioceses that withdrew from the national church.
The first GAFCON meeting, held in Jerusalem in 2008, among other issues condemned as false the view that proclaimed "God's blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony." Keep reading
Anglican Church meets to discuss divisive homosexual unions issue
The global convention of conservative Anglicans from 40 countries at the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon), currently meeting in Nairobi have maintained their opposition to homosexuality.
This is even as Archbishop Dr Eliud Wabukala, who is the chairman of the convention, mantained that controversy over homosexuality in the Church, which threatened to tear apart the Communion of over 80 million, is behind them.
We have moved on. As a Christian family what we are thinking about now is how we move on as a fellowship of people who believe in Jesus Christ and his teachings, said Archbishop Wabukala.
Wabukala revealed that the Nairobi convention, which is being attended by 1352 leaders, including clergy and lay people, will be charting the way forward on the controversial topic of same sex marriage in the Church. Keep reading
Nairobi conference confirms major realignment in Anglican Communion
Opening news conference, Monday 21st October 2013
The second Global Anglican Future Conference, which opens today in Nairobi, is confirmation that the churches involved in the GAFCON movement are committed to the Anglican Communion and modelling how the communion should operate in the 21st century.
Organisers say the movement has grown since the first conference in Jerusalem in 2008.
"We have exceeded the first GAFCON both in number and reach" said the General Secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Dr Peter Jensen. "We have also surpassed all expectations here in Nairobi." Keep reading
Churches tempted to ‘change Christian faith’ for culture
Leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) refuted characterizations in the western press of the gathering as a breakaway movement, with recently retired Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney responding that "nothing could be further from the truth."
Instead, the FCA General Secretary portrayed the movement as seeking to model how the worldwide Anglican Communion can function "particularly when the Communion insists on strong theological standards" centering on the bible.
"There is a temptation to change Christian faith to comply with surrounding culture," Dr Jensen observed at the press conference on the opening day, October 21st, 2013. "We think this has occurred far too often in the world." Keep reading
Photo: Andrew Gross, ACNA
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