Global Anglican Communion

My thoughts of G26

Greetings from Abuja, Nigeria where I have been attending the GAFCON G26. I am both grateful and glad to be here with Archbishop Gilbert, the Primate of the Anglican Province of the Indian Ocean, together with Bishop Samitiana, of the Diocese of Toliara, and Father Berthier, the Provincial Secretary and Principal of St Patrick’s Theological College.

These days have been both sobering and joyful. I am deeply thankful for the godly, biblical leadership evident in the newly formed Global Anglican Communion. At the same time, it grieves me that such developments have become necessary.

It grieves me because those occupying the highest levels of leadership within the Anglican Communion have, in many cases, walked away from the biblical, theological, ecclesiological, and pastoral convictions handed down to us by our patristic and reformation fathers. The current realignment—though absolutely necessary—has come about because of the waywardness of many Anglican leaders. There is no room for triumphalism here.

“Sorrow may last for the night…” and we have endured more than twenty years of sorrow: praying, hoping, and working for repentance within the structures of the Communion. Tragically, that repentance has not come. Instead, there has been a willful rejection—often in the well‑intentioned name of inclusivity—of our historic understanding of what it means to be Christian, and of how we read and submit to the Scriptures.

“And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus was the most inclusive person who ever lived. He calls every living soul into a saving relationship with Himself. Yet this inclusion is grounded in our receiving of the Gospel and our continued obedience to His Word written.

When I converted to Anglicanism from my youth in the Salvation Army, it was not because I believed that William Booth’s great dictum—“soup, soap, and salvation”—was mistaken. Rather, it was because I was convinced that this evangelical zeal should not be divorced from the historic faith of the Bible, the Creeds, the historic orders of the Church, and the Sacraments of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

In the Global Anglican Communion I see, at long last, this evangelical spirit once again united with the Catholic and Apstolic faith of our fathers….and I rejoice!

Is it perfect? Of course not. Is there any place for pride? Certainly not. Is there still much theological work to be done? Yes, without question. While the Global Anglican Communion has deep historic roots, it is an infant and must grow into full maturity in Christ. Yet I believe this can, and will happen, because the foundation is solid. Grounded in the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ and in His God‑breathed Word, we are able to address faithfully the issues over which we continue to disagree.

Perhaps I am expecting too much, but I hope and pray that one day we will have a unified Communion Prayer Book common across the Global Anglican Communion. Historically, before the advent of provincial and diocesan rites, Anglicans were united by a common liturgy. I do not believe this is too much for which to pray.

I also hope and pray that we will address—together and faithfully—the issues of remarriage and divorce, proper sexual ethics, the ordination of women, euthanasia, and the prosperity gospel, and that we will do so with one clear and united voice.

As I have written before, I continue to pray that GFSA and the Global Anglican Communion will merge into a single orthodox body, enabling us to speak with one united and faithful Anglican voice.

To make a donation in support of my ministry please use either of these links:

SAMS Donation

Into All The World (Canada) Donate

Would you pray with me—for repentance, for deeper unity among the orthodox Anglican movements, and for our leaders to be granted a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, marked by humility and holy boldness, so that the purposes of God may be advanced?