GAFCON has issued an “Abuja Affirmation” signed by the Archbishop of Rwanda, Dr Laurent Mbanda, which calls for complete separation from the Anglican Communion’s Instruments of Communion.
Dr Mbanda was announced last week as chairing Gafcon’s new Global Anglican Council, which replaces its Primates Council. This has been set up, somewhat like the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), to include elected representatives, with voting rights, of the bishops, clergy, and laity of member Provinces of what Gafcon calls the Global Anglican Communion.
The document says that the Anglican Communion must be reordered, because its senior leaders “have denied the orthodox faith in word and deed”.
The statement was issued at the weekend after the group’s G26 Mini-Conference in Abuja, Nigeria, held from Wednesday to Friday.
Dr Mbanda writes that some Anglican Provinces have “abandoned the authority of Scripture and failed to follow Christ faithfully”. While “matters of human sexuality are one expression of this, this is merely symptomatic of doctrinal and moral departures from the teaching of Scripture”, the Affirmation continues.
“The leadership of the Canterbury Instruments of Communion have failed to exercise discipline and maintain the biblical witness and uphold fundamental Anglican doctrine as expressed in its Reformation Formularies (the Thirty-nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer including the Ordinal).
“Instead, these Instruments seek to hold together a confused communion of institutional co-existence, based on the fiction of ‘walking together’ with those who are walking away from the truth of the gospel and the teaching of Jesus.”
The Instruments of Communion are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the ACC, and the Primates’ Meeting.
Dr Mbanda’s statement followed on the heels of a communiqué from the newly elected General Secretary of the Global Anglican Council, the Rt Revd Paul Donison, who is Assistant Bishop of Gasabo and Dean of Christ Church, Plano, in the Anglican Church of North America (which exists separately from the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada).
This described the setting up of the new council as making a “historic day for the Global Anglican Communion” and reflecting “the willingness of the Primates to share their authority with a wider group of global Anglican leaders, both lay and clergy”.
The Abuja Affirmation develops the argument expressed in that communiqué that “the current Instruments of Communion no longer meet the needs of the majority of Anglicans around the world” (News, 6 March).
The Affirmation says: “The Canterbury Instruments have compromised the authority of the Scriptures by normalising hermeneutical pluralism, elevating cultural capitulation, and reframing the rejection of Scripture’s authority and clarity as ‘good disagreement’, and not what it really is — false teaching.”
It continues: “Recent Archbishops of Canterbury have failed to guard the faith by inviting bishops to Lambeth who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to Scripture. The former Archbishop of Canterbury welcomed the provision of liturgical resources for the Church of England to bless people who had entered same-sex civil marriages. The current Archbishop of Canterbury led the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ project that produced these liturgical resources for the Church of England.
“The moral and spiritual authority of the Seat of Augustine has been severely compromised by this.”
It goes on: “There is, and will continue to be, an institution that calls itself the Anglican Communion, which defines communion on an institutional basis. . . The Global Anglican Communion is neither a breakaway Communion nor an alternative Communion. . .
“Christian unity is not based on shared human values, inherited institutional structures or a common commitment to mission. These are merely the fruit of Christian unity, not its essence.
“According to John 17, Christian unity is union with Christ, a gift from God that comes from trusting the words of Jesus which the Father gave him. The English Reformers understood that the gospel revealed in Scripture is the source of life for the Church now and for our eternal life together in the age to come. Consequently, they reformed their Church accordingly.”
Leaders who hold office in the Global Anglican Communion, Dr Mbanda writes, “must not attend future Primates’ Meetings called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, nor attend the Lambeth Conference, nor attend ACC meetings or participate in Commissions of the ACC, nor personally approve financial contributions to the ACC”.
Instead, “A full and public disengagement from these structures is necessary. The clear and consistent teaching of the New Testament is that those who seek to lead the church astray must not be tolerated and Christians must refuse to have fellowship with those who promote false teaching (Romans 16.17; 2 John 10-11; Revelation 2.20).
“Continued participation in these Canterbury-led meetings gives credence to the lie that it is possible to ‘walk together despite deep disagreement’ with those who have abandoned biblical teaching.
“A separation from the Canterbury Instruments is necessary to demonstrate that such teaching is not of secondary importance. The warning of the prophet Amos rings true: ‘Can two walk together unless they are agreed?’ (Amos 3:3). Office holders in the Global Anglican Communion who continue to participate in any Canterbury Instruments will not be able to continue in this role.”
The Affirmation seeks to counter the portrayal of Gafcon’s leadership as schismatic.
“Those who disengage from the Canterbury Instruments are not schismatic. The Church of England was reformed by Thomas Cranmer, leaving the errors of the Church of Rome behind. Like Cranmer, we are reforming the Communion from within and leaving the Canterbury Instruments behind.
“The Global Anglican Communion is committed to Anglican orthodoxy. The Jerusalem Declaration is the contemporary expression of authentic Anglican Communion: apostolic in its foundation, global in its spread, and catholic in its beliefs.”
The Affirmation concludes: “Gafcon’s initiative to reorder the Communion is a continuing expression of its leadership. . . Our Abuja Affirmation is that we and our global household of faithful Anglicans will also serve the Lord.”
