Gafcon unconvinced by plans for Primates’ Gathering

NEW PROPOSALS by the Archbishop of Canterbury for a united Anglican Communion have been described as ‘sad’ by the Gafcon leader.

The 37 Primates were last week invited to a special gathering at Canterbury in a statement that called on Primates to move forward in communion with the wider Anglican Church whilst respecting the decisions of Lambeth 1998.

But the Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the Gafcon Primates’ Council, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, described the proposals as ‘very sad.’

The statement asserts that the rift between the Gafcon Primates and the Archbishop is a mark of sacrifice of ‘real discipleship’.

Archbishop Wabukala writes: “If we truly love Jesus Christ, we will love one another and we will work together to love the lost.”

“We seek to unite,” the statement reads, “despite being marginalised and even forced out of their traditional spiritual homes by the rise of false teaching in the Church.”

The Archbishop’s approach has been viewed by critics as downplaying fundamental theo-

logical differences, with one source telling The Church of England Newspaper that any differences are ‘apparently contradictory.’

The Archbishop wrote: “The difference between our societies and cultures, as well as the speed of cultural change in much of the global north, tempts us to divide as Christians: when the command of scripture, the prayer of Jesus, the tradition of the church and

our theological understanding urges unity.”

Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream told The Church of England Newspaper that there are problems with the Archbishop’s approach to reconcile the Primates to the wider Church, because of the assumption that differences are cultural, between Provinces.

He said these differences were theological, adding that the issue of sexuality has high- lighted divisions in the substance and authority of faith between the two.

“They cannot be seen as just equally valid different responses to God according to context,” he said.

Symes said another problem with Archbishop Welby’s communiqué is its focus on institutional restructuring.

In his statement, Archbishop Wabukala asks for the recognition that survival of the Angli- can Communion is understanding that ‘strength and unity does not depend upon institutional structures.’

Andrew Symes added: “If you downgrade understandings of truth to ‘second order’ status and focus on pragmatic institutional relationships, how is this going to bring Christ to the world?

“The message will be sent out

that if you’re an Anglican it doesn’t matter what you believe. Western Anglicans in particular will see no need to resist compromise with secular humanist culture rather than working to transform it with the loving and radical demands of Christ,” he told us.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is said to be considering allowing Provinces to act independently while maintaining links with Canterbury.

Addressing the Primates, Archbishop Wabukala writes that the ‘The Communion is becoming a source of weakness as Churches that have rejected the truth as Anglicans have received it spread false teaching, yet continue to enjoy full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

An official statement from Gafcon said the Primates will ‘prayerfully consider’ their response to the Archbishop’s letter of invitation.

“They recognise that the crisis in the Communion is not primarily a problem of relationships and cultural context, but of false teaching which continues without repentance or discipline,” the statement reads.

Andrew Symes called it a ‘hypocrisy’ that leaders in the Church of England claim that the differences between Anglicans are minor, citing an appearance on the BBC’s Today show in which the Bishop of Manchester “spoke of his desire for unity, then immediately joined in an attack on the Church of Uganda based on a false allegation about their attitude to gay people.”

The Gafcon statement asserts that it is ‘encouraging’ that an invitation has been extended to Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, Archbishop Foley Beach.

However, they add: “In the end, our confidence is not in any structural reorganisation, useful though it may be, but in the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in the abiding truth of the Bible.

“That is what empowers us and this is the assurance we bring to our broken world.”

The meeting, which is expected to take place from 1116 January, has been treated by some including Symes, as an attempt to establish personal relationships between a new generation of leaders.

“Gafcon Primates will accept the invitation - if they do they will be wary of attempts to split them from each other,” he predicted.

The meeting is likely to cover religiously motivated violence, the environment, the protection of children and vulnerable adults and human sexuality.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has already accepted the invitation and Foley Beach, archbishop of the ACNA, says he will go if the Gafcon archbishops decide to attend.

In a statement on the proposed Primates’ Gathering, Archbishop Beach confirmed he had received a call from Archbishop Welby to attend.

“Previous meetings of the Communion, from the 1998 Lambeth Conference to the 2007 Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, gave clear direction for maintaining and restoring order within the Communion.

“Unfortunately, these resolutions were not followed, which further divided the Communion. The resulting situation is one in which the fabric of the Communion continues to be torn.”

He added that it is ‘time to face’ the challenges of the Anglican Communion.

Sources say that Archbishop Welby reached out to the Global South group, Archbishop Mouneer Anis of the Middle East, Ian Ernest of the Indian Ocean, Bolly Lapok of SE Asia, Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi — to help get this off the ground.

They are said to have come on board before the invitation was issued publicly. It is their understanding the first order of business will be a discussion of what to do about the [American] Episcopal Church.

The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Dr John Sentamu, was invited to attend, but is unable to make the meeting.