“GAFCON is a movement, not just a conference."
When the delegates starting arriving in Jerusalem, the words of the organisers rang true. They came from all over the world, not just because they were invited to a conference but because they felt now was the time to start something.
In the days leading up to the event, news headlines were taken up by a "gay wedding' of two Anglican clergy in Britain. The practicing homosexual bishop Gene Robinson was on his book tour explaining why he'd always wanted to be a "June bride'.
But those two things were only the tip of the iceberg after years and years of the gradual erosion of biblical standards in the Anglican church.
The thousand who came to GAFCON didn't come on a whim " they were committed.
People like the Rev David Short. He pastors the biggest Anglican Church in Canada.
But earlier this year, his congregation pulled out of the Anglican Church of Canada and re-aligned with South America's province of the Southern Cone.
How did he feel about standing in the crowd as GAFCON opened?
"It was very moving to sing hymns that speak about unity in the gospel surrounded by people from so many nations on earth.”
“The conference has a sense that we're moving forward," he told sydneyanglicans.net
“Where else have we to go?...”
Archbishop Peter Akinola underlined the importance of the event in his opening speech when he retraced the history which had led to GAFCON and had strong words about Lambeth 2008.
"Rejecting all entreaties, Lambeth Palace [the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury] chose not to be bothered about that which troubles us; decided to stick to its own plans and to erect the walls of 2008 Lambeth Conference on the shaky and unsafe foundations of our brokenness," he said.
But it was not the talk of a schismatic.
"We have no other place to go nor is it our intention to start another church. Anglicans we are, Anglicans we'll remain until the Lord shall return in glory…" Archbishop Akinola said.
But what will that mean for the future?
Will GAFCON outlive the week and develop into something more lasting?
Can GAFCON answer the concerns that David Short and many others are asking?
The Rev Vaughan Roberts, from St Ebbe's Church in Oxford, believes the commitment of the participants spoke volumes.
"The clarity of convictions has come through whenever you move about and chat with people," he told sydneyanglicans.net
"This isn't just some hobby; it is very important what we're doing here."
What’s happening behind those headlines
Some may wince at the headlines about GAFCON in the secular press.
Reporters with little background in Anglican issues suddenly became the predictors of doom.
So is GAFCON worth it? Why start a new movement when it turns into a lightning rod of criticism?
Archbishop Jensen, in an interview with Christianity Today warned that there was no use ignoring what was going on " no matter which denomination it was happening to.
"....This great struggle is occurring within the denominations because of very powerful secularising tendencies throughout the Western world.
“Even though people may live in largely evangelical denominations or even in independent churches, they will find that there's no place to hide.
“There is simply no place to hide. Your children will feel this more sharply than you will,” he said.
“The movement within GAFCON is a tremendously important effort to defend the gospel and to promote true biblical teaching.
“This is an absolutely essential effort for us, for every evangelical no matter how pure a denomination they may think they occupy."
Moving towards Chapter Two
The next chapter of GAFCON is yet to be written. The movement has been established.
The world has seen that the movement for change is not an isolated one, it is now a significant force.
But it is a force determined to follow God's guidance, because, as Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi noted: "Restoration is divine activity. Even today God sorts out families and cultures.
“Jesus is saying here in Jerusalem that, ‘I am working in the Anglican Communion.’
“So it won't be our genius, nor will it be the communiqué we issue at the end that will sort us out.
“It won't be [Archbishops who head GAFCON's leadership team] Akinola, Orombi, Nzimbi, Jensen, Kolini.
“It will be the Archbishop of archbishops."
