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…pulls out of Canterbury activities
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Anglican Bishops, Lay and Clerical Anglican leaders from Nigeria and other countries of the world have demanded the immediate reordering of the Anglican Communion following recent developments particularly at the Canterbury.
The decision was taken at the end of the Global Anglican Council meeting otherwise known as GAFCON in Abuja, on Friday, where 347 Anglican bishops and 121 Lay and Clerical Anglican leaders from 27 provinces participated.
The Most Revd Laurent Mbanda, Chairman, Global Anglican Council, in a statement, registered the concerns of the Anglican Bishops and other stakeholders to the recent development in the global leadership of the church which has violated the Scriptural beliefs and doctrine of church.
He said: “For more than two decades, we have in prayerful humility called for the repentance of those senior leaders of the Anglican Communion who have denied the orthodox faith in word and deed. Hence immediate reordering of the Anglican Communion is now necessary, because a significant number of provinces who claimed to be Anglicans have abandoned the authority of Scripture and failed to follow Christ faithfully.
“While matters of human sexuality are one expression, this is merely symptomatic of doctrinal and moral departures from the teaching of Scripture with is foundation of the Anglican Communion. Sadly, 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 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.
“We reject the so-called Instruments of Communion, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates’ Meeting, which have failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.” (MDS)
“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.
“Notwithstanding the unequivocal rejection of homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture as expressed in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, contrary teaching has continued to gain a foothold in some Anglican provinces.
“At Lambeth 2022 it was treated as a matter over which Christians could disagree but remain in fellowship. Archbishop Justin Welby affirmed both a traditional teaching and a different teaching, the latter held by those who are not careless about Scripture. They do not reject Christ. But they have come to a different view on sexuality after long prayer, deep study and reflection on understandings of human nature. This is unambiguously contrary to Anglican doctrine as it has been received.
“The ACC and the Primates’ Meetings have likewise failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion, notwithstanding the repeated recommendations of various reports including the 2004 Windsor Report. They have neither restrained nor challenged false teaching and instead have called for the acceptance of false teachers as fellow members of the Communion.
“True communion is confessional, rather than defined by a shared history or institutional structures. The Jerusalem Declaration which includes the Reformation Formularies expresses our common confession of the Biblical truth, shared faith, and communal conviction. We are in fellowship with all who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration. However, there is, and will continue to be, an institution that calls itself the Anglican Communion, which defines communion on an institutional basis. This body has recognised that its current institutional rules have failed to maintain genuine communion and is currently exploring the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals to change its institutional rules.
“But these proposals are based on a commitment to walk together to the maximum possible degree despite fundamental disagreement on the Bible’s teaching. This cannot lead to true communion. There are not two Communions, but two incompatible definitions of communion – one confessional, the other institutional.”
He maintained that GAFCON has always been committed to supporting faithful Anglicans whether they stay in revisionist or mixed provinces or decide to leave and establish separate provinces or dioceses. “This commitment will continue for Global Anglicans, as we seek to proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations, and to see the Lord’s blessing upon His church, in the knowledge that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
He also stated that GAFCON has always acknowledged that it is a matter of conscience, when rejecting the authority of revisionist leaders, as to whether one remains or not in a compromised ecclesial structure.
“We stand with those who remain within the Church of England who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration, who seek to remain as a faithful witness within the Church of England structures. And we stand with those who have joined Gafcon-authenticated, such as The Anglican Network in Europe, who are a faithful witness in the UK and Europe,” he said.
