Pulling the GAFCON Statement apart Part 1

Introduction
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008, is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are Anglican: 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20).


GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby:

• launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans

• publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship

• encourage GAFCON Primates to form a Council.

This opening Introduction is actually encouraging. It makes some clear statements that I hope the GAFCON movement holds to, that they value their Anglican heritage and have no intention of departing from the Anglican Communion. If only then all the Bishop's involved in GAFCON demonstrated their acceptance of this by going to Lambeth. I pray that these Anglicans are indeed being lead by the Spirit as they lay claim to. As I work through the rest of the statement over the next few days I will be asking some questions about if what they are saying is the leading of the Spirit or of humans. This introduction though is encouraging.