GAFCON: ‘The Way, the Truth and the Life’ Publication

All journeys must end some day

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)

How remarkably appropriate!

It’s almost as if these guys do this scripture stuff for a living.

We want unity, but not at the cost of relegating Christ
to the position of another ‘wise teacher’ who can be
obeyed or disobeyed.

Amen.

We earnestly desire the healing of our beloved
Communion, but not at the cost of re-writing the Bible
to accommodate the latest cultural trend.

Amen.

These are not onerous burdens or tiresome restrictions, but rather they are God’s gift, designed to set us free from the bondage of sin and give us the assurance of life eternal.

Wow… what a blessing to be reminded that while there may be a shortage of godly men… there is by no means a total lack of them.

Amen, Positive Phototaxis!  Amen, authors of The Way, the Truth and the Life!!!

I haven’t read it yet, but I’d be willing to be that there aren’t that many uses of vauge but fashionable “African” words and plenty of scriptual quote, inspite (or perhaps because of) of the large number of Africans involved.

I downloaded it last night on PDF and I am going to be reading it later on but have glanced and what I ahve glanced is very exciting and refreshing! IMHO, Lambeth will not come close to this event. And I know already, before you all jump, that this is not a competition, but it will be compared by the masses so in that light, Lambeth will pale in comparison!

I regard the statement as magisterial.

Bill+
St. Andrew’s, Fort Worth
http://www.st-andrew.com/

It seems to me that the most controversial part is right at the end: (This is, of course, my way of complimenting the rest of the report)

Websites Websites run by the American Anglican Council,
    the Anglican Church League, the Anglican
    Communion Network, CANA, AMiA, Anglican
    Mainstream and the Global South (see Orthodox
    Anglican Networks for web-addresses), the Church of
    Nigeria (http://www.anglican-nig.org), the Diocese of Sydney
    (http://www.sydneyanglicans.net)    and   Anglican
    Mainstream New Zealand (http://www.anglican-
    mainstream.org.nz/amnz), and the blogs of Babyblue,
    (http://www.babybluecafe.blogspot.com), Titusonenine
    (http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19), An Exercise in the
    Fundamentals of Orthodoxy (http://www.peter-ould.net),
    Stand   Firm   (http://www.standfirminfaith.com),    and
    Virtueonline   (http://www.virtueonline.org),    enable
    concerned orthodox Anglicans to keep informed and
    prayerful.

So the question is, what did Babyblue and the superior Ould brother achieve to merit a mention that Chistopher Johnson, Brad Drell, John Richardson, Anglican TV, Lent and Beyond etc. didn’t? Or, like all the best things in life, was it just an act of grace? It’s also very good to see that the important work being done here and elsewhere is appreciated by this sample of the best theologians in the communion. Quite a contrast to the various items I’ve seen from our worthy opponents criticising the blogs.

But anyway, well done to Stephen Noll, Chris Sudgen and the rest of the team for an excellent report. Now, the question is how we persuade the average pew-sitter or PCC member to read it and understand and appreciate what is going on.

Boring Bloke,

Very tempting to answer “act of grace” but here’s my offering of an answer to your question:

CJ: Posts mainly commentary, not breaking news. Also, he’ll sometimes go a couple of days without posting. There’s only one CJ, and you need to read him, but I think he’d agree that MCJ is not where you go for up-to-the-minute news.

Drell: Doesn’t post very frequently. Not a criticism… that’s just the way Drell runs things.

AnglicanTV: Not a current-events site; doesn’t post frequently. Kevin has told me more than once that’s by design.

L&B;: Primarily a prayer blog, not a news site.

I have tried twice to download the .pdf file from the link above and Adobe says the file is damaged and cannot be repaired.  Could you check it out please?

Have no concerns on my account, BB.  The site you’re reading right now is the finest Anglican site on the Web, bar none, and as far as I’m concerned, one of the best Web sites out there on any subject.  It’s been my go-to site more times than I can count.  G² has trained his staff well.

The .pdf at the link on Episcopal Cafe opens without a problem.  Too bad I had to read such a bile-dripping slant to get to it!  But the EC writers and Ms. Griswold will be perhaps be able to commiserate forever with Tobias and Sanballat!

I quite agree, CJ. In any list of orthodox Anglican news Blogs (now that CANN is largely down) SF, T19, Anglican Mainstream and Virtue’s place have to be in the first four in the list. And the first three of those are almost invariably the first sites I check when opening up my RSS reader at the start of the day.  I was just pondering about BabyBlue who largely delivers (universally excellent) commentary (although also admittedly is usually the first place to go to concerning the matters in Virginia), and Peter Ould who gives some news but mostly comments (again very well) on Homosexual research, the popular writings of UK liberals, and doctor who. I was just wondering why those two in particular had specifically got a mention. We are blessed with a number of excellent `commentry’ blogs, including yours.

Not that it matters. We are, after all, all fighting for the same team: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all that is in all and over all and through all.

I have no difficulties opining this link either in acrobat reader 8 or evince 2.22.2.

I had no problems with the link either, using Acrobat Reader and Firefox on a Mac.

I had trouble opening it here, but had no trouble on the GAFCon site, http://www.gafcon.org.
Blessings,  M

Unlike the post above, I cannot read The Way, the Truth and the Life in 15 minutes because I have had to stop and weep over the events and trials of the last loooonnnnngggg 10 years, stop to pray and praise God for the privilege of reading it, for the people who wrote it and for the gathering in Jerusalem, for their guidance and protection, for the hope of a fresh, free, full, faithful expression of Anglican Christianity this paper describes. 

This is one splendid and refreshing Godly document.  One I am thankful beyond mere words to hold and to read at last. 

The Lord be with you!

I just finished reading the document, and it’s pretty much what I expected it would be.  There is really nothing new here that hasn’t been said before by those affiliated with or sympathetic with GAFCon.  It’s a good overview of the situation and some of the key issues that are involved. 

However, the document raises some important questions without adequately answering them (it really couldn’t in the space alotted).  For example, the quesion is raised, “Who defines Anglicanism?” (page 27), but there’s not much discussion here.  This is one of THE key questions and what is being contested. 

Tha assertion is made that “Globalisation has made geographical boundaries irrelevant in most areas of life,” a sentiment that is assumed but not adequately supported. 

Another area that is addressed, but inadequately, is the way in which the Church and the Scriptures relate.  For example, on pp. 66-67 the following assertion is made: “The Scriptures are not the product of the churches.”  But isn’t this true - weren’t they written, formed, and canonized only within the context of the Church?

As much as I admire the document, it is largely preaching to the choir.  It is unrealistic to expect it to have dealt with everything in detail, but at some point, a more in depth theological justification for GAFCon and its way forward (with which I sympathize) must be given.

I had no problem downloading the file with Acrobat Reader 8 on a PC and saving it to my desktop.  That said - I have just completed reading the document and experienced the presence and blessing of God in the process.  It has summarized in clear and unvarnished terms the experience of the past several decades in the context of both history and culture - and called us to the truths in scripture and in our Anglican expression of faith.  It is so clear, that I cannot help but believe that even the secular world will be impressed, and clarify in their minds the true issues involved.  At least I can pray that it does.  Praise God for Archbishop Akinola and all who participated in this project.  PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW, PRAISE HIM ALL CREATURES HERE BELOW.

Bishop Duncan’s GAFCon address (at T19) is VERY encouraging!

Probably just a glitch when I downloaded it that corrupted the file in transmission. Thanks for checking.

Peter Jensen told us that he wasn’t going to waste his time at Lambeth because… “In 1998, the Lambeth Conference made it clear that the leaders of the overwhelming majority of Anglicans world-wide maintained the biblical view of sexual ethics – that sexual relationships are reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. Five years later, however, actions were taken in Anglican Churches both in Canada and the United States of America which officially transgressed these boundaries in defiance of the Bible’s authority.

The American actions impacted churches all around the world. In particular the churches of the Global South had to own the name ‘Anglican’ while living in societies where the actions of the Americans was condemned by all, especially Muslims. The action of some North Americans severely hurt the witness of these churches.”

This was why he isn’t going to Lambeth. “The Way, The Truth and The Life” reveals the wisdom of Jensen’s decision to attend GAFCON instead!

I have finished a careful first reading of *The Way, the Truth, the Life* and I found it to be superb.  I intend to make sure everyone with any
connection to St. Andrew’s reads it.  I love its constant emphasis upon the epistemologically foundational place of the Scriptures.  I love its
emphasis upon the Articles as our confessional center.  I think the work is quite magnificent.

As I’m praying for GAFCON, I am praying in a particular direction.  And that prayer pertains to the debates/discussions which will no doubt occur about Anglicanism’s fundamental theological identity.

At this particular place in history, is it legitimate Anglicanism to self-identify exclusively in credal terms of our great three creeds with their great focus upon things Trinitarian, Incarnational and
Christological?  Or must we at this point in history, also include within our theological self-identity the anthropological and soteriological
insights of the Reformation as received by our great English Reformers?  The latter, I say.  Definitely, the latter.

The failure to put the anthropological and soteriological insights of the Reformation at the center of our self-identity *at this point in history* I think would strip us of our distinctively Evangelical character and sap
us of any true evangelistic potency.  And there is good reason for this concern.  The first paragraph of p. 127 of Berhkof’s *The History of
Christian Doctrines* says it well:

I.  The Importance of Anthropological Problems

While the Christological controversies were agitating the East, other problems, such as those of sin and grace, of the freedom of the will and divine predestination, were coming to the fore-ground in the West.  Their importance can scarcely be over-rated from the point of view of practical Christianity.  Their bearing on the work of redemption is even more directly apparent than that of the Christological questions.  It is in this field that the chief lines of demarcation between the great divisions of Christianity are found.  Says Dr. Cunningham:

‘There never, indeed, has been much appearance of true personal religion where the divinity of the Son of God has been denied; but there has often been a profession of sound doctrine upon this subject, long maintained, where there has been little real religion.  Whereas, not only has there never been much real religion where there was not a profession of substantially sound doctrine in regard to the points involved in the Pelagian controversy, but also—and this is the point of contrast—the decay of true religion has always been accompanied by a large measure of error in doctrine upon these subjects; the action and reaction of the two upon each other being speedy and manifest.’ (Historical Theology, I, p. 321)

If we want to reach the world with the gospel and train up sold out, fired up, radically committed Anglican disciples, we will NEVER do that if we decide to back away from our reformational theological commitments in the areas of anthropology and soteriology.  The Articles are key here.  They say enough.  They don’t say too much.  But I believe the cost of relegating them to some sort of mere historic memory would be to consign Anglicanism to a sort of nominal, credal Christianity which hasn’t the potency to save a fly, much less a radically lost sinner such as I was/am.

I am praying for GAFCON’s clarity in this area.  I am very heartened by my first read of *The Way, the Truth, the Life.*  But I did notice, not with alarm but simply with awareness, that there is no reference whatsoever to justification by grace through faith.  Silence does not a negation necessarily imply, and I know that.  But I will be reading the rest of GAFCON’s documents with great interest in this question.  For it is at the heart of all Evangelical Christianity.

blessings,

Bill+
(St. Andrew’s, Fort Worth)

In the words of one of my old, favorite hymns (from the 1940) “Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide…”
The moment to decide is NOW.

TEC and ACoC being given invitations to Lambeth and KJS being glad-handed ‘in’ by the ABC, and given a spot in the AC org., betrays both the mind and the legitimate processes of the Communion and invalidates both Lambeth and Canterbury and separates them further from Biblical Christianity and the collegiality of the wider Anglican Communion.  Their continued rebellion, opposition to doctrinal Christianity and apparent unbelief and last past week’s faux-wedding in London underlines and furthers this separation. 

It is more likely that these people are aggressive revolutionaries, larcenous opportunists who have seen an opportunity to grasp the wealth, both the wealth of the spiritual heritage and the financial endowments of TEC (and the UMC as well) for their own uses.  The fact that the infiltration and infection has been permitted for decades is an indictment of apathy and neglect to the faithful and authentic spiritually regenerate Christians. 

The only reason to go to Lambeth is to speak out in obedience to God’s leading, however GAFCON papers, TWL and Duncan’s address, have so far, spoken clearly and comprehensively to the issues [I HOPE THEY MEAN THEM AND INTEND TO STAND BEHIND THEM.  SO FAR, IT LOOKS AS IF THEY DO INDEED MEAN THEM! I REJOICE IN THIS!!] and it might be appropriate for a copy to be made available at Lambeth.  There has been enough talk and enough listening.  Anglican words, documents and bishops signatures have become useless and worthless.

In the future, I intend to refer anyone, Anglican, Methodist, Charismatic, etc., whose thinking departs from Scriptural Christianity into pluralism, political, sexual or social agenda religion, etc. to these papers.  I’ve grown tired of listening and speaking to them and to THEIR issues.

I feel a decade is enough to listen, to plead, argue, pray for them and to wait for a change.  It is time to stop speaking, to commend and release them to God and to move on as the Holy Spirit unites us to others joined in union with the Way, Truth, Life.

There is an interesting interview with Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen regarding GAFCON at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/juneweb-only/125-52.0.html

SPOOF ALERT

Read side-by-side with this.
—-
Liberals, Apostates, and former Anglicans arrive in London for LAMBETH
Organizers release document inviting participants to ‘conversations’ and some of them to tea with the Queen.
By Davis Matthews, July 15, 2008
. [Unepiscopal News Service] Apostates, heretics, and liberal Anglicans started to arrive in London July 10 in anticipation of the 2008 LAMBETH conference, an innocuous and irrelevant summit regarded by some critics as a pointless and useless gathering in the wake of the clear and forceful GAFCON meeting last month.
. The LAMBETH event, set for July 16 - Aug 3, is expected to draw 800+ bishops and thousands of additional participants, including the wives, mistresses, and secret homosexual lovers of many of the clergy; as well as apostates, persecutors of Christians, at least one unbaptized “bishopess”—and several self-proclaimed “traditional” Episcopal bishops who have had to have over 3000 pounds of organic sand shipped in so they have somewhere to stick their mitred heads during much of the conference.
. A closed-door, pre-meeting private party in an undisclosed oceanside resort between ++Williams, Dr. Schori, Vickie Gene Robinson and his new bride (or groom. Or whatever) toasting the happy couple concluded last night. In a meaningless gesture to “traditionalists”, bishop Robinson has not been formally invited to the pointless official activities of Lambeth, and so will be meeting with reporters and delegates informally throughout the 2 week conference. Asked how the parishes and business of his home diocese of New Hampshire will be doing during his extended absence, Robinson responded “where?”
. LAMBETH has come under fire from more conservative Anglican leaders, including the most Rev. Akinola, primate of Nigeria (the largest jurisdiction in the Anglican world), who expressed his concern that the conference would “be yet one more meeting ignoring the cataclysmic disintegration of the Anglican Communion and attempting to paper-over apostasy and persecution with impotent, politically-correct ‘conversations’ and transparently dishonest reassurances that there is no great crisis.” Akinola previously called on all faithful Anglicans to consider boycotting the conference, since (given the current conflicts), this is neither the time nor the place for a do-nothing mamsy-pamsy limp-wristed tea-sipping heretic-enabling series of pointless dialogues with apostates… but, in many cases, his prophetic call has not been honored.
. Akinola has declined an invitation to attend the conference.
. Bishop Jack Iker of the Diocese of Fort Worth has traveled to London in order to be a traditionalist Anglican witness to and of the event. His deacon reports that the bishop has packed over two dozen air-sick bags, as well as 3 bottles of single malt scotch, to help him get through the event. “Bishop Iker is usually a genial and sober fellow” said his deacon “yet not even he will be able to stomach the useless and dishonest mush we expect from Lambeth without a few stiff ones. We also have, in case of emergency, a signed prescription for a strong sedative, to help him resist the temptation to fire-hose down many of the participants with holy water. Having shrieking Anglican bishops dissolve on live television into puddles of amorphous sulphurous goo might not be the best witness to a world which has trouble distinguishing the Angloapostates from the genuine Anglican Christians.”
. On May 12, Archbishop Williams released a letter which set out to define the novel format and agenda of this decade’s Lambeth conference. The conference will not attempt to pass resolutions or draft objective formulae against which jurisdictions can be measured or to which they can be held accountable, but will be simply a series of indaba groups, which Williams defined as meaning a “purposeful discussion among equals”... though, of course, discussions which will be guided by “careful facilitation”.
. His letter refused to speak plainly about the real divisions or issues which have fractured the Anglican Communion over the past decade. Indeed, at a conference in Hereford last month, Williams seemed to deny that there was any significant fracturing at all: he told listeners that there was not any actual rift in the Anglican Communion. This despite Archbishop Akinola’s diagnosis that, after ten years of expensive, futile efforts to heal the rift - efforts ignored and indeed flouted by the American, Canadian, and even English churches—that “there is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion”.
. In his May letter about Lambeth, Williams attempted to frame the disagreements as nothing but mere “cultural differences”. He suggested that the Anglican Communion, as a whole, does not actually recognize what its “true challenges” are (despite statements such as the Windsor Report and several other communiques from the Anglican primates) and that the purpose of Lambeth, therefor, won’t be to address an actual problem—but, instead, simply to discover by cross-cultural focus groups what these actual (and apparently remarkably elusive) disagreements and challenges really are.
. Dr. Schori, head of the Episcopal church, has praised this proposed format for the meeting. “I don’t expect legislation at Lambeth. That’s not why we’re going… It’s a global conversation… It’s not going to make a final decision about anything.” As the American and Canadian churches have, in the past, simply ignored Lambeth and other international Anglican resoulutions and statements (even those they have signed), it seems that Lambeth’s designers have decided to cease any resolutions whatsoever, and Schori is said to be pleased that her organization won’t have to take time off from suing traditionalists to explain away her non-compliance with any more such resolutions.
. LAMBETH is being held one month after the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), when more than 1000 Anglicans from around the world met in Jerusalem to discuss seriously what is actually going on in the Anglican Communion and discuss what meaningful and substantive steps could still be taken to prevent its all-out slide into a meaningless fraternity tolerant of polysexual Christ-denying hell-bound damnation.
. “We really felt it was far past time to take a stand” said one attendee after the conference “since we expect that by next decade’s Lambeth (if there is one), the American church will probably be ordaining transsexual Wiccan goats (divorced from their second multiple-partner herd ‘marriages’)... and Lambeth will still be hosting ‘discussions’ over tea and biscuits to try to discern whether there actually is a ‘rift’ and what the ‘true challenges’ which are ‘straining’ the ‘Communion’ actually are.”
. [continued in next post]

[ENS “GAFCON” spoof, continued from previous post]
. Describing itself as a “the one occasion when all bishops can meet for worship, study and conversation”, the LAMBETH event is exclusive to “Anglicans” recognized and invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thus while it includes bishops who have denied the faith, contemned Scripture, rejected parts or all of the Creeds and Councils, oppressed traditional Anglican belief and practice, flouted fellow primates, ordained and consecrated practicing homosexuals, and possibly even connived at covering up the sexual abuse of children and other parishoners, its invitations do not extend to the missionary bishops sent by faithful Global South jurisdictions (such as Nigeria) into America to succor its persecuted traditionalists, nor does it include some of the world’s staunchest and most theologically orthodox Anglican bishops, those of the “Continuing church” movement.
. Professor Ian Douglas, an instructor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts who helped design the format for this decade’s Lambeth, said “this is a bold, new, exciting thing that we are walking into together.” GAFCON’s “The Way, the Truth and the Life” paper has also commented on this “new thing” that Lambeth is walking into, describing it as the “road, that of compromising Biblical truth, [which will] lead to distruction and disunity.”
. Observers have remarked that, in the hagiographical tradition, “Oh look—this is a bold, new exciting thing” is often how souls describe and justify themselves as they walk through the gates of Hell. And, in fact, rumors from the Other Side report that, inspired by Lambeth, the forces of darkness will soon be adding to its torments by organizing indaba groups for damned souls to discuss topics such as “Do we actually have a spiritual problem here?”; “Circles of Hell: Celebrating our ‘Cultural Differences’”; and “Flame-retardant liturgical garb for summer weather.”
. It is understood that not all of the bishops who participated in GAFCON will also be attending the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Akinola has observed “if even a single province chooses not to attend, the Lambeth Conference effectively ceases to be an Instrument of Unity”... and this despite the fact of the “caring and sharing” Lambeth will be encouraging. Asked about Akinola’s comment, one Episcopal bishop said “this is exactly the sort of unproductive, needlessly divisive comment that flies in the face of what it means to be Anglican. If these GAFCON bishops would just sit down with us, exchange a few stories and have a few drinks, they’d see that there really isn’t that much which separates us and that we can just agree to disagree on minor matters such as sexual morality or the divinity of Christ. There’s nothing wrong with the Anglican Communion that several gin and tonics and a few hugs won’t solve.”
. Williams identifies the goal of the LAMBETH conference as “build[ing] a level of trust that will help us break down the walls we have so often built against each other in the Communion” and “strengthening our Communion and equipping all bishops to engage more effectively in mission.” Conservative commentators have observed that the “walls” which divide the Communion are those between Biblical faith and Christ-denying apostasy, and that the “mission” of the Episcopal church is not to bring the saving Word of God to unbelievers, but to promote a radical homosexualist agenda and an anti-Creedal un-Scriptural post-Christian secular philosophy… and, thus, that these walls may be appropriate and that not all “missions” may be laudable.
. But perhaps those at LAMBETH will discover that—despite the statements from recent GAFCON meeting—archbishop Williams is correct: that there really is no “rift” in the Anglican Communion after all… and that there is no wall between members that can’t be broken down (or at least overlooked) by a few happy, indaba-group hugs.
.—Davies Matthew is the fictitious editor of the non-existant Unepiscopal Life Online and the Episcopal Death Media correspondant for spoofs on Anglican news reports. Not every quote in this satire is genuine. Only most of them.

LP,  Your satire/parody is far too close to truth and that makes it a tragedy.

I am not able to laugh, but either get angry or weep thinking of the waste and the blindness that so dominates a church and of the time and resources and opportunities have been and are still being diverted, not for the kingdom of God and His glory, but in allegiance to the god of this world and the agendas of the evil one.

Bill+ (21) I too have read “The Way, The Truth, and The Life” Publication and I couldn’t agree more with your interpretation.  Powerful words - I loved it.  Now if some of these great words can just lead into some positive action.  I pray God they do.  Give everyone at St. Andrews my best wishes, I’m praying for you.
Don

I think your satire LP is great and normally I do not agree with you on a few things. It was great. I hope Bishop Iker sees it. I will try to save it. He has a good sense of humor and you would probably get an AMEN on it. Good satire is 99.99% true and that what makes it satire. Thanks for the work.