An update from Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney:
In June I was invited by the Church of England Evangelical Council, along with Archbishop Justin Badi, Primate of South Sudan, to participate in a one day conference repeated in London and Manchester, under the title ‘Compelled to Resist’.
Across the two days more than 800 Church of England clergy, parish councillors, wardens and members of the Church of England General Synod gathered together to discuss how to approach the forthcoming sessions of General Synod (in July and November) which will consider the proposed Prayers of Love and Faith that have been promulgated by the House of Bishops.
The gatherings represented a wide cross section of evangelical Anglicans including the HTB Network, New Wine, Renew and the orthodox anglo-catholic group, The Society. Gafcon GB was also represented.
I gave an address on the biblical call to ‘contend for the faith once delivered’ and Archbishop Justin Badi, who is Chair of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans and a member of the Gafcon Primates Council, described the ministry of GSFA and the proposed Provincial ‘Covenantal Structure’ which will be considered at the next Global South gathering in Cairo in May next year.
By the time you read this, the July session of the English General Synod will have taken place, with a further session in November expected to consider the Prayers of Love and Faith, and accompanying pastoral guidelines. Pray with our English sisters and brothers that the General Synod will remain true to the historic and biblical understanding of marriage, and Anglican pastoral practice and liturgical expression consistent with God’s Word.