Damian Thompson on GAFCOn as an opportunity

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Gafcon did not create an alternative Church of fundamentalist bigots. Instead, the moderate evangelical Nazir-Ali and the ultra-Protestant Jensen shepherded the bishops in Jerusalem towards a mainstream conservative position, focussing on fidelity to Scripture, that will resonate with Anglicans all over the world.

As a result, it will now be much harder to cordon off a "tolerant" C of E from the fearsome rows taking place elsewhere in the Anglican world. English conservatives are reinvigorated by Gafcon, and ready to do battle with the liberal establishment of the Church over a range of issues, including Islam and homosexuality.

And, talking of which, I gather that Dr Rowan Williams is pretty cross with Dr Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, for allowing a "gay wedding" to take place in his diocese and then reacting with unconvincing indignation when the news was made public. So that should make Lambeth an even more strained affair that was it already going to be. Connoisseurs of episcopal discord should book their train tickets to Canterbury now.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Global South Churches & Primates • GAFCON 2008

2 Comments
Posted June 27, 2008 at 4:44 pm [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. AnglicanFirst wrote:

GAFCon may become a strategic success, but patience is required.

Of the four instruments of Anglican unity (1) the ABC, (2) the Primates meeting in synod, (3) the once every ten years Lambeth event and (4) the ACC, only the Primates meeting in synod may continue to have significant influence/effect on the Anglican Communion.

The office of the ABC has lost the confidence of a significant part of the Communion.

The Lambeth event has been diminished by the ABC himself.

The ACC is seen by much of the Communion as being overly under the influence of the progressive-revisionists in North America, Britain and Ireland and is therefore not trusted by many within the Communion.

However, the Primates meeting in synod have demonstrated very tangible episcopal leadership in the midst of almost revolutionary disruption by the progressive-revisionists within the Communion.

And now we have GAFCon, a creation of the orthodox numerical majority within the Communion.  GAFCon is doing what the current Lambeth meeting has been designed not to do, it is addressing the issues of concern to the orthodox Anglicans head-on.

This first GAFCon doesn’t have to come up with some sort of immediately enacted radical solution to the disruptions caused by the progressive-revisionists.  It just needs to meet regularly, say every two years.  If it does this, I foresee further diminishment of the importance of the Lambeth events and the ACC, possibly even a diminishment of the role of the ABC.  After all, the ABC is a British Government appointed entity.  He is not selected from among his Communion-wide peers by his Communion-wide peers.

June 27, 8:59 pm | [comment link]
2. Brien wrote:

Though there is much good information and almost certainly much informed speculation in D. Thompson’s article, there is a quality to the writing (and also the same in Ruth Gledhill’s blog about JI Packer and the ABC) that would be best accompanied by stage directions like, say, “nudge, nudge…wink, wink…know what I mean?”  Take a look at Thompson’s blog article titled “C of E Bishop will defect to Rome” for an even better example.  Imagine Eric Idle reading it aloud in a news broadcast!

Though many of the reporters have been writing for some time, the tone of british religious affairs reporting just isn’t what it used to be.  Say no more. Know what I mean?

June 27, 10:41 pm | [comment link]
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