Sydney backs Jerusalem
The Synod of the Diocese of Sydney has overwhelmingly endorsed the Jerusalem Declaration, the key document to emerge from GAFCON earlier this year.
Debate on the motion was begun by the Bishop of North Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, who was on the GAFCON committee which drafted the Jerusalem Declaration.
The Bishop described it as an honour to serve on the commitee, saying the statement itself was not pre-written but was developed word-for-word during the week.
“The delegates, through Bible study groups, seminars as well as provincial meetings, all had the opportunity to contribute.”
Bishop Davies pointed to the verbs in the Jerusalem statement: “We are glad, we celebrate, we gladly proclaim, we are mindful, we reject, we rejoice. It speaks in rejoicing and in praiseworthy terms about the gospel but it’s important not just to affirm but to correct.”
Saying the statement stands in classic Christian orthodoxy, the Bishop said “We have one gospel, one Bible " the word of God written. It is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed. What had brought GAFCON people together was that the word of God had been disobeyed within the Anglican communion.”
The Synod then saw a video presentation, filmed in Jerusalem, featuring interviews with delegates and showing the Primate of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, reading the declaration.
In seconding the motion, Dr Karin Sowada, a Sydney laywoman who also attended GAFCON, described the conference as “thoroughly engaging in its ideas, embracing of all participants, lay and clergy, and deeply historic in its outcomes.” 
She referred to it as “A little taste of the kingdom of heaven, in the multiplicity of languages, skin colour and cultural differences.”
“Many, many women were also present and had an opportunity to participate in this process. A remarkable work of the Holy Spirit in unifying the body of believers. I urge you to join our brothers and sisters of the global church by wholeheartedly endorsing the Jerusalem Declaration.”
An expression of orthodoxy
The Jerusalem Declaration was the product of a week of workshops and sessions attended by the 1148 delegates at GAFCON in June, 2008.
As an expression of Anglican orthodox theology, the statement preamble declared “We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus' birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all.”
It affirms the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God and the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus.
It includes a clause addressing the crisis caused by revisionist leadership in the Anglican Communion which reads “We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.”
GAFCON applauded
The motion officially passed said “Synod endorses the Jerusalem Declaration as exemplifying the tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity and invites all Anglicans in Australia to endorse the Declaration.”
There were no speakers against the motion and it passed overwhelmingly.
Synod later passed a motion to “congratulate our Archbishop and Assistant Bishops on their attendance at Gafcon and their move to continue our development as a truly Bible-based Anglican Church”.
