"We came to ask a blessing and we got a blessing" is the way Bishop Bob Duncan describes the visit by a delegation from the new North American province to the GAFCON Primates Council in London.
Bishop Duncan, the Archbishop designate of the new province, led a group consisting of Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth, Bishop Chuck Murphy of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, Bishops Martyn Minns and David Anderson of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, Bishop John Guernsey, Church of Uganda Bishop for congregations in America, Bishop Bill Atwood from the Anglican Church of Kenya and Bishop Don Harvey, who leads the Anglican Network in Canada.
They presented a report on the formation of the new Anglican Church of North America, including its structure and canons and attendance figures for congregations " numbers which already are greater than the church in Wales.
Within hours, Bishop Duncan had his answer.
"The FCA Primates' Council recognises the Anglican Church in North America as genuinely Anglican and recommends that Anglican Provinces affirm full communion with the ACNA" said the final communiqué.
"What impressed the GAFCON primates" said Bishop Duncan "is that we're united and we're focused".
He is pictured being welcomed by Primates Council chairman Peter Akinola, while the Primates and American delegation look on.
The meeting also reviewed progress on the establishment of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, which now has more than one million members.
Archbishop Peter Jensen is honorary secretary of the council.
The primates paid tribute to the Global South movement, saying they were grateful for the three meetings of the group and "the clarion sound of the "Trumpets".
“We look forward to sharing in gatherings in the future," they said in the communiqué.
The council, consisting of seven primates and chaired by the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, repeated their commitment to the Anglican Communion and "to being a faithful and creative voice for renewal within it to recapture a focus on Biblical teaching and mission."
"Though conscious of our inadequacies, in the light of Christ's resurrection power, we speak with confidence and seek only to serve the Lord, the people of the Anglican Communion and those who have yet to hear the life-changing message of the Gospel."
