Pictured: The Global Anglican Communion recently met in Abuja, Nigeria for the G26 conference.
Blog 6/6 by Bishop Glenn Davies
Dear brothers and sisters of our shared faith,
We are delighted to share with you the final blog in a series of blogs from one talk given by Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross, Glenn Davies at the recent G26 conference.
To recap, what has this series of blogs covered?
- Introduction and first point, ‘Good order in the Church: Why constitutions matter.’
- Second point, ‘The growing independence of the colonial churches (including in Australia).’
- Third point, ‘When institutions fail.’
- Fourth, ‘Why you can reject the Instruments of Communion and still be authentically Anglican.’
- Fifth, ‘Why separating from Canterbury matters.’
- (This blog) Conclusion, ‘The Way Ahead: Guarding authentic Anglicanism.’
We encourage you to review these at your own pace.
Over to you Glenn!
“What have learned in this session?
Our Constitutions matter and our Canon Law matters.
Our Constitution explains our identity: we are Global Anglican, holding to the supreme authority of Scripture in all matters of faith and conduct.
Our heritage matters. As Anglicans we affirm the Reformation Formularies as theological and liturgical expressions of our Faith. We thank God for those from the Church of England who long ago brought us the gospel. Faithful disciples of Jesus are still found in the Church of England and they are valiantly seeking to prevent the spread of the revisionist agenda. Yet, for those outside of the UK, we are not tied to the Church of England today, since it has compromised the gospel in purporting to bless what God’s word says is sin.
We are not schismatic by rejecting those churches who advocate the revisionist agenda and have abandoned the inerrant word of God as the final authority’ (§3), any more than Thomas Cranmer was schismatic when he rejected the Church of Rome. The reformed Church of England involved rejection of umbilical faith and practice as well as affirmation of biblical faith and practice.
Where possible, we need to amend our constitutions to delete any references to being in communion with the Church of England or the See of Canterbury. For ‘we cannot continue to have communion with those who … overturned Resolution I.10, of the 1998 Lambeth Conference’ (§3),
Our fellowship is with those who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration, whether they continue to stay in mixed dioceses or decide to leave. We happily share in holy communion with all Global Anglicans, whose identity is shaped by the Jerusalem Declaration, the contemporary standard of Anglican identity.”
You can read the Jerusalem Declaration in full here.
Thank you for taking the time to read this series.
Please join us in thanks and prayer as we move forward in fellowship as the Global Anglican Communion.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you God for the gospel clarity of the Abuja Affirmation.
We ask for wisdom and clarity for the Gafcon Australia board, for us as supporters and churches as we consider the implications for our life and ministry in the Anglican Church of Australia.
In Jesus name,
Amen.