QUOTES FROM DELEGATES

The Rev Richard Coekin Dundonald Church, London

“We have got to love same-sex attracted people better than to tell lies... The same word that proclaims life, and proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ, requires repentance and faith from us all. We’re all sexual sinners –we’re all sinners in many ways – but to be saved you must repent, and we must love people enough to tell them that truth, and practise it ourselves, and encourage others to repent of their sin... There are those in my church who have left their partners to follow Jesus, and they have told me that they are relieved by the stance that we are taking. They want our support in following Jesus.”

The Rev Rico Tice Langham Place, London

“I think that the [English] bishops, a lot of them, have thought if we cut the price, more will buy. So, we’ve got to give way on human sexuality. To which our response is no, no! If you do that and say there are blessings just to be more acceptable, then what happens is the Holy Spirit departs. And as we know in evangelism, we are totally previous GAFCON meetings. “There was strong support for the statement, but it was not triumph and it’s actually coming from a place of deep sadness,” he said.

As well as a shift away from Canterbury, the largest biblically orthodox groups – GAFCON dependent on him [the Holy Spirit] for blind eyes to be opened. So, we’ll see the Church of England decline and decline unless we’re faithful.”

Bishop Jay Behan Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand

“Jesus is not a supplement or addition, he is all. Jesus is not just the messenger; he is the message.”

Archbishop Justin Badi Arama Primate of South Sudan

“GAFCON is gifted in mission, in enabling people to renew their faith – that is something that gives us encouragement and gives us hope for the whole Anglican communion, and we thank God for GAFCON… Meeting friends from all around the world [here] is a great encouragement and excitement because it reminds me that I am not alone. There are still thousands of brothers and sisters around the world who are firm in the gospel... GAFCON and Global South are two institutions that overlap and in future it is my hope and prayer that the two may become one. We are planning and the Global South Fellowship of Anglican churches (GSFA) met and signalled they will move closer together. The primates of these groups represent the overwhelming majority (estimated at 85 per cent) of Anglicans worldwide.

“The leadership of both groups affirmed and celebrated their complementary roles in the Anglican Communion,” said the Kigali Commitment. “GAFCON is a movement focused on evangelism and mission, church planting and providing support and a home for faithful Anglicans who are pressured by or alienated from revisionist dioceses and provinces. GSFA... is focused on establishing doctrinally based structures within the Communion.

“We rejoice in the united commitment of both groups on three fundamentals: the lordship for that, we are dreaming that and we are moving towards that. It is all our prayer that we will see something new within the Anglican Communion in the nearest future.”

Archbishop James Wong Primate of the Indian Ocean

“The Anglican Church is being bullied by the people of the world. We are not separating ourselves from the Church of England – the Church of England is separating themselves from us. We are not walking together. Not only are we not walking together, we can’t work together. Here [at GAFCON] we are orthodox Anglicans. We have the same view of the Bible and we can collaborate with one another, working together, walking together hand in hand.”

Hector Tito Zavala Primate of Chile

“The spirit here is one united spirit in Christ and his word... being at GAFCON is a kind of spiritual vitamin!” of Jesus Christ; the authority and clarity of the word of God; and the priority of the church’s mission to the world.”

The conference also welcomed a call by the GSFA in February to reset and reorder the Anglican Communion. “[This]is an urgent matter,” the Commitment said. “It needs an adequate and robust foundation that addresses the legal and constitutional complexities in various provinces.

“The goal is that orthodox Anglicans worldwide will have a clear identity, a global ‘spiritual home’ of which they can be proud, and a strong leadership structure that gives them stability and direction as Global Anglicans. We therefore commit to pray that God will guide this process... and that GAFCON and GSFA will keep in step with the Spirit.”

NEW GAFCON LEADERS, LAMBETH RESPONSE

Several Australians played a role in the conference, including the

Pastoral Affirmation From Kigali

We affirm that every person is loved by God and we are determined to love as God loves. As Resolution I.10 affirms, we oppose the vilification or demeaning of any person, including those who do not follow God’s ways, since all human beings are created in God’s image.

We are thankful to God for all those who seek to live a life of faithfulness to God’s word in the face of all forms of sexual temptation.

We pledge ourselves afresh to support and care for one another in a loving and pastorally sensitive way as members of Christ’s body, building one another up in the word and in the Spirit, and encouraging each other to experience God’s transforming power as we walk by faith in the path of repentance and obedience that leads to fullness of life.

outgoing GAFCON Australia chairman, Bishop Richard Condie of Tasmania, and former Sydney archbishop Dr Glenn Davies, who is now Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross. Archbishop Kanishka Raffel gave a Bible study and an address on the importance of GAFCON (see Archbishop Writes on page 17) It was also announced that Archbishop Raffel and the

Primate of the Anglican Church of Brazil, Archbishop Miguel Uchoa, will be vice chairmen of GAFCON and that Archbishop Mbanda will be its new chairman. The Rev Peter Smith, rector of Dalkeith in the Diocese of Perth, has become the new chairman of GAFCON Australia.

The response from Lambeth Palace to the Kigali Commitment was a statement from the

Archbishop of Canterbury’s spokesman, saying he continues to be in touch with primates about the matters in the statement and that they should “continue to walk together”.

The conference drew together delegates from Western churches facing compromise on the authority of Scripture, and African churches – many under physical persecution and opposition – prompting GAFCON general secretary, Nigerian Archbishop Ben Kwashi, to give a heartfelt address on persecution.

“Whatever we are facing today, there is always hope,” he said. “Persecution has never killed the church. It will never kill the church. In fact, persecution helps the gospel to spread as Christians run from one place to another.

“Brothers and sisters, you have nothing to fear. If only you know who is with you in all the circumstances of life. It is we, God’s people, not God, who need to open our eyes. Wake up!” SC