Since being elected the Bishop of Mahajanga, Madagascar, I have had the privilege of attending a meeting of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA) in Cairo, Egypt and a meeting of the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) in Plano, Texas, USA. In both cases, I was honoured and blessed to be present.
The focus of the Global South meeting was working with new bishops or bishops in new positions. We heard and learned from senior, more experienced, Bishops and Archbishops about the role, task, and ministry of the office. Our wives also attended retreat, joining in workshops with their husbands as well as participating in their own programming addressing the specific challenges of being the wife of a Bishop.
The Anglican province of the Indian Ocean, of which I am a Bishop, is a member of the Global South fellowship of Anglicans; I am grateful for our continual stand together for the biblical faith once for all delivered to the Saints. Archbishop Bodi, and those who work with him (most especially Sasha Raven), are to be commended for their efforts in bringing us together and in allowing us to learn from one another.
The GAFCON meeting in Texas was a time of wonderful fellowship and encouragement. We were reminded of the challenges facing the Anglican Communion and of the history of the GAFCON movement. Those who remain faithful are the Anglican Communion; the revisionists have left that communion, not those who have remained faithful to the Bible.
It is my earnest prayer that these two groups, GSFA and GAFCON, work ever more closely together to guard the faith, build up the faithful, and resource the Anglican Communion.
Amen.