Tag Archives: GAFCON

CEEC Executive Affirms the Jerusalem Declaration


  • “CEEC affirms and rejoices that the Church of England professes the faith
    uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic
    creeds and its historic formularies (the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons) and set out in Canon A5 and the Declaration of Assent.
  • Further we affirm (1) the CEEC’s own Basis of Belief, (2) Resolution 3.5 of Lambeth 1998 (concerning the authority of Holy Scriptures), (3) Resolution 1.10 of Lambeth 1998 (concerning human sexuality), and (4) the Jerusalem Declaration, and as members of the Anglican Communion, we acknowledge our obligation to stand in prayerful solidarity with faithful Anglicans across the globe.
  • We recognize that evangelical Anglicans will pursue a variety of strategies for dealing with the current crisis in the Communion, and we support those who are seeking to work through the existing Anglican Communion structures, those who are working within the framework set out in the GAFCON Statement, and those supporting both.
  • We call on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates to recognize the urgency of the situation as it affects parishes and clergy, particularly in the USA, Canada and Brazil, and to give immediate and serious consideration to granting recognition to the new Province in the USA.”

See CEEC Statement

Bethlehem

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

The first occasion in which Bethlehem is mentioned in history has been found in the Amarna letters written from tribal kings of Palestine to the Egyptian pharaohs probably sometime between 1400-1360 B.C. The ruler in Jerusalem complains that Bit-Lahmi has deserted to the ‘Apiru people, a word probably referring to the Hebrews. Bethlehem is about 9 kilometres south of Jerusalem just off the main road to Hebron and Egypt. A strategic position perched 750 metres above sea level, the town sprawls out along several limestone ridges like the tentacles of an octopus. To the east lies Beit Sahour which means the Shepherd’s Fields and the barren hills of the Judean desert. To the west are more fertile slopes around Beit Jala where corn and figs, olive fields and vineyards abound.

The town of Bethlehem is mentioned frequently in the Bible. Its location became sacred when Jacob buried his beloved wife Rachel by the road side near the entrance to Bethlehem. (Genesis 35:19; 48:7). It is possible that Salma, the son of Caleb, built the first Jewish settlement there (1 Chronicles 2:51). The town and surrounding fields also feature prominently in the romantic love story of Ruth and Boaz who became the great-grandparents of David (Ruth 1; 2:4; 4:11). The town grew in prominence when Samuel anointed the shepherd boy David, to be king of Israel there (1 Samuel 16:4-13). By New Testament times Bethlehem had come to be known as ‘The town of David’ (Luke 2:4,11).

Around 700 B.C. the prophet Micah predicted that someone greater than David would be born in Bethlehem whose origins, incredibly, would be earlier than his human birth (Micah 5:2). When the Magi came from the East searching for the one to be born king of the Jews, Herod consulted with the chief priests and biblical scholars, who it seems knew full well the significance of Micah’s prophecy (Luke 2:1-8; John 7:42).

Bethlehem is therefore unique. It is the place where Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, entered our world and became a human being. It is hard to comprehend the wonder and enormity of this fact. Words cannot improve on the declaration of the angels to the shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11).

Under the Church of the Nativity, probably the oldest church in the world and best authenticated site in the Holy Land, is a simple cave. In the silence of this ancient site, best visited in the early morning, it is possible to pause and worship near the place where the Lord Jesus Christ was born. To enter the church one must first stoop low below the lintel. The tallest must stoop the furthest, only children can enter without bending down. What a lesson in humility.

For many, Bethlehem and the Christmas story is the place where they first begin to experience the meaning of that enigmatic phrase “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), for here in this place time, eternity and destiny meet in Jesus.

Incidentally, in Hebrew, Bethlehem means ‘The house of bread’. How appropriate that the One who said “I am the Bread of Life” should be born in the house of bread. On another occasion Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” (John 6:54-55). Let us indeed feed on Him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

This chapter is taken from my book, In the Footsteps of Jesus and the Apostles

A foot in many camps – a reply to Stephen Kuhrt

by Chris Sugden in the Church of England Newspaper November 21 2008

In his CEN article last week, Stephen Kuhrt argued that the 57 member CEEC is not representative because 28 members belong to what he defines as one, conservative, stream.  Stephen argues, as does Graham Kings in a parallel article in the Church Times last week, that there are three streams in the Evangelical Constituency and any organization claiming to represent that constituency needs to reflect them in proportion.

PROPORTIONALITY

Arguments about proportionality encourage a particularly narrow view of ‘representation’. Like MPs and Bishops, CEEC members – drawn as Stephen’s piece shows from different types of ‘constituency’ – are there to represent the whole constituency.  That should be common ground about how we understand the ‘Evangelical Constituency’ to be made up.

Stephen speaks of ‘three streams’:  but why (only) three?  How do we know their relative strengths?  The usual way is by elections – to see which groups win support. Even accepting the argument for proportionality, applying it in the evangelical constituency is problematic. The categories overlap. Many, but not all, conservatives are charismatics. There are different kinds of charismatics and conservatives, just as there are different kinds of points of view in Fulcrum.  Fuclrum itself illustrates the difficulty. Its strap-line refers to ‘The Evangelical Centre’.  But what is the ‘centre’? Identifying the centre requires an agreed definition of the limits of the range – the meaning of ‘Evangelical’.

DEFINING IDENTITY

A representative organization like CEEC needs some means of establishing what makes it distinctive so that it can be seen who and what it represents.  When an organization consists, as many do, of a number of viewpoints, defining its identity is difficult. This is particularly so when some who agree on some points but disagree on others find allies with those on the outside who are in fundamental disagreement with the view of other members of the first organization.

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Audio Recordings of the All Souls GAFCON Consultation

GAFCON Jerusalem Report Consultation, 1st July 2008

Orthodoxy & Effective Mission : Archbishop Henry Orombi
Orthodoxy & Global Connections : Archbishop Greg Venables
Orthodoxy & Personal Experience : Dr Jim Packer
Questions to the Panel – Henry Orombi, Peter Jensen, Greg Venables & Jim Packer

More photos of All Souls

Audio Recordings of GAFCON Jerusalem

Audio recordings of the presentations made at the Global Anglican Futures Conference in Jerusalem. (the videos are accessible here)

1. Welcome Address: Archbishop Akinola

2. Opening Sermon: Archbishop Orombi

3. The Gospel and Secularism: Dr Os Guiness

4. The Nature and Future of the Anglican Communion: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali

5. The Gospel and Religion: Professor Lamin Sanneh

6. Genesis 12: The Promise of God: Archbishop Akrofi

7. Exodus 24: The Presence of God: Revd David Short

8. 2 Samuel 1:1-17: The King of God: Revd Vaughan Roberts

9. The Jerusalem Declaration

10. Closing Sermon: Jesus Christ is Lord: Archbishop Venables

Photos taken at GAFCON may be viewed here

NEAC 2008 Shaping the Future

Anglican evangelicalism post Lambeth and Gafcon

Saturday 15th November 2008
10am to 4.30pm
at All Souls Langham Place

A National Evangelical Anglican Consultation sponsored by the Church of England Evangelical Council.

NEAC 2008 is being held at All Souls, Langham Place, London, on Saturday November 15th from 10am to 4.30pm. Booking is essential here
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AGENDA for the day
10.00am
Registration and coffee.
11.00am
Welcome, prayer and Bible reading given by the Revd Paul Perkin, Vicar of St Mark’s, Battersea Rise.
11.45am
“I was there” – the Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd Keith Sinclair reflects on the two conferences.
12.15am
Keynote address: The Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali,
Bishop of Rochester.
1.00pm
Lunch.

2.00pm

“How do we move on from here?” –
Canon Dr Christina Baxter, Principal of St John’s;
the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesdon;
the Revd Mike Ovey, Principal of Oak Hill College, and
the Revd Canon Chris Sugden, Anglican Mainstream set out their perspectives on ‘Shaping The Future.’
4.00pm
Final Address by the Revd Dr Richard Turnbull.
4.30pm
Consultation ends.

The History of GAFCON

Life After Lambeth

Christ Church, Virginia Water Pass Resolutions on the Jerusalem Declaration

Hollow Men, Lambeth 2008. What Happened and Why

Former Pittsburgh bishop warns Church of England

Fellowship Broken: Statement made at City of London DEF

In Solidarity with Orthodox Vancouver Anglicans

Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) and TEC

The Jerusalem Declaration: Why Anglican Churches should endorse it

GAFCON and the Future of the Church of England

Q&A with Dr Jim Packer

Anglican leaders offer support for Bishop Bob Duncan

10 Reasons Why Now Is the Time to Realign

Statement by the Primates’ Council of GAFCON

Comment From Bishop of Birkenhead on TEC Decisio

Screwtape Proposes an Episcopal Toast

The Future of the Church of England

Anglican Archbishops and Bishops in Solidarity

GAFCON and the Future of the Church of England

GAFCON, the future and the Jerusalem Statement

“The Church cannot heal this crisis of betrayal”

Anglican Pastoral Forum: Lets play Happy Families

GAFCON, Boundary Crossing and the Councils of Nicea

GAFCON’s 40 million vs. Lambeth’s 5 million

Homosexual bishops face Anglican Church ban

150 Lambeth Bishops agree Robinson should resign

Chris Sugden explains: Why many bishops did not attend Lambeth

A New Traditional Anglican Province of North Ameria

The Great Commission or New Millennium Goals?

Conscience and logic: ‘I can do no other’

Gene Robinson should resign: Statement of the Sudan

Dr. James Packer Speaks Out on Homosexuality

Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion

GAFCON Archbishops Respond to the Archbishop of Canterbury

Prayer for Lambeth Conference

Evangelical Alliance Statement on GAFCON

Homosexual Practice? The Biblical Answer

Why has the Archbishop of Canterbury compromised

Life After Lambeth: A response to Andrew Goddard



By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
11/3/2008

Progressive evangelicals in the Church of England simply don’t get it. They believe, falsely, that when they talk of the rich diversity of the Anglican Communion that they are dealing with men and women of basic good will. Herein lies the first fallacy.

The second fallacy is that all theologies and opinions, based on a misguided understanding of via media, can be reconciled within the communion and that the instruments of unity are capable of holding it together under the present Archbishop of Canterbury.

The third fallacy is that a Covenant will be written that will hold the communion together.

The fourth fallacy is that the present trajectory can somehow be reversed if the more (allegedly) strident right (now called Fundamentalists) can be made to see reason and agree to return and come under the diverse umbrella of Anglicanism.

Consider then the essay by the Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard, Tutor in Christian Ethics at Trinity College, Bristol, England, and a member of the Leadership Team of Fulcrum – a liberal evangelical blog.

In a well articulated, even brilliant essay on the current crisis in the Anglican Communion Goddard offers four challenges and poses four questions, post Lambeth.

1. Are the developments in North America acceptable within the life of the Communion?
2. If not, has the Communion, through its Instruments, done sufficient to respond to these developments?
3. If not, are there signs that the Communion is now capable of responding?
4. If not, what form of realignment is necessary and what is the role of GAFCON in this?

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The Jerusalem Declaration: The Global Anglican Future

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STATEMENT ON THE GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE

Praise the LORD!
It is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. (Psalm 147:1-2)

Brothers and Sisters in Christ: We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, send you greetings from Jerusalem!

Introduction

The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008, is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are Anglican: 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20).
GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby:

  • launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans
  • publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship
  • encourage GAFCON Primates to form a Council.

The Global Anglican Context

The future of the Anglican Communion is but a piece of the wider scenario of opportunities and challenges for the gospel in 21st century global culture. We rejoice in the way God has opened doors for gospel mission among many peoples, but we grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations, where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness. The vacuum left by them is readily filled by other faiths and deceptive cults. To meet these challenges will require Christians to work together to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway. It will entail the planting of new churches among unreached peoples and also committed action to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.

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Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) cites the Jerusalem Declaration to repudiate The Episcopal Church (TEC)

October 14th, 2008

The Church of England Evangelical Council issued this statement to express support for Bishop Bob Duncan and the Diocese of Pittsburgh after their meeting on October 10th.

CEEC deplores the recent deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan and expresses full support for him and sends warm greetings and prayers to him, the Diocese of Pittsburgh and their new home in the province of the Southern Cone.

We endorse the following two statements from six diocesan bishops of the Church of England and Anglican Mainstream.

“We declare that we continue to believe that Bishop Bob is a bishop in the Church of God and a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion.”

and

“It is with great sadness that we have learned of the recent vote of TEC House of Bishops to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh for abandonment of communion. To take such action is hardly in the spirit of the reflections at this year’s Lambeth Conference or the Archbishop of Canterbury’s final presidential address.

“We see this vote as further evidence that The Episcopal Church in the USA in its formal decisions and structures ‘have denied the orthodox faith.’ As the Jerusalem Declaration on behalf of 1100 Anglican church leaders around the world said: ‘We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.’

“Anglicans who adhere to the orthodox faith will continue to welcome and receive the ministry of Bishop Bob Duncan as a faithful Bishop and wish him and the people of the Diocese of Pittsburgh the Lord’s blessing in their faithful witness to the gospel.”

The CEEC is holding a NEAC Consultation at All Soul’s Church on Saturday 15th November to consider GAFCON and the Jerusalem Declaration. See www.ceec.info

The Jerusalem Declaration: Why Anglican Churches should endorse it


The Jerusalem Declaration was endorsed by the 1200 Archbishops, Bishops, clergy and laity attending the GAFCON pilgrimage to Jerusalem in June. While it is simply a restatement of Anglican orthodoxy, it is nevertheless probably the most important document to be formulated by Anglicans since the Reformation. In a couple of weeks our own Church Council, like many others, will be considering whether it can endorse the following resolution:

“Recognising that the Jerusalem Declaration is consistent with the doctrine of the Church of England as stated in Canon A5, we stand in solidarity with the Jerusalem Declaration and Statement on the Global Anglican Future.”

Here are five reasons why I believe every indivdual Anglican and every Anglican Church Council should do so:

1. This act of solidarity will encourage those especially of the Anglican Communion in the USA and Canada who are being deposed and persecuted for their gospel stand and commitment to the Scriptures. It is lamentable that so few evangelical Anglican Bishops, for example, have shown solidarity with Bishop Duncan of Pittsburgh recently deposed.

2. This act of solidarity will strengthen Anglicans in the Global South in countries such as Nigeria and Sudan who are being persecuted by Muslims because they are wrongly identified with the schismatic and immoral stance of The Episcopal Church in the USA and Canada.

3. Endorsing the Declaration in no way prejudices relationships with our Bishop, Diocese and the Church of England. Just the reverse – it is a restatement of the official teaching of the Church of England and demonstrates our fidelity.

4. Endorsing the Declaration demonstrates that we remain fully committed to the Church of England. We are not leaving, being schismatic or divisive. We are going to reform the Church of England from within. Endorsing the Declaration is a way of declaring our intent.

5. Expressing our solidarity with the Jerusalem Declaration does not commit us to any other decision or course of action. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans is precisely that – a fellowship of like-minded believers. We invite you to be a part of this growing fellowship.

“We stand in solidarity with the Jerusalem Declaration and Statement on the Global Anglican Future.”

Visit Anglican Mainstream to endorse the declaration as individuals and as Parochial Church Councils There is a separate petition for non-Anglicans

The full text of the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration