The Anglican Church globally is re-ordering, leaving behind colonial structures for fellowships which honour biblical truth, GAFCON 26 in Nigeria has been told.
"Look around this room, so many countries are represented here, from the east to the west, from the south to the north. This is the church. This is a church that is global in scope." one speaker told the gathering on the first day.
The G26 Mini-Conference is being hosted by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) in the capital Abuja. Hundreds of bishops and global Anglican leaders are attending in a mid-term meeting between larger GAFCON gatherings.
Travel arrangements for many delegates have been disrupted by the war in the middle east, with several, including some from Sydney, unable to board flights.
"Ambiguity cannot be the basis of unity. Unity without truth is not Christian unity, it is institutional coexistence. When the Bible becomes one voice among many, the church loses its prophetic voice," Bishop Alfred Olwa, Bishop of the Diocese of Lango in the Church of Uganda, told the conference.
Referring to the drift away from core Christian truths in some sections of Western Anglicanism, Dr Olwa said "Institutions exist to serve the word of God. They do not stand above it. When instruments drift from the Bible, they lose the authority they were meant to exercise. Structures exist for the sake of truth, not truth for the sake of structures."
Speakers from various parts of the world have told of the colonial hangover of church structures based around Canterbury in England, when the Church in England had failed to uphold the Biblical truth it once sent out to the world through missions.
This was reinforced by the Primate of All Nigeria in his address at a communion service opening the conference. "The church of God will continue to march on. Not built on institutions of Canterbury or on the personality of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rather we are returning back, bringing back the word of God, the Holy Scriptures to be the center of our life, our teaching and our practices.” Archbishop Henry Ndukuba said.
The Gafcon governing council is also due to elect a new leader at the end of the meeting.
The Global Anglican Future Conference, Gafcon Dr Olwa said, was "not a rejection of Anglican identity. In fact It is a recovery of Anglican obedience."
"We do not need a church unsure of its message. We need a church confident in the saving power of the gospel. Communion can exist where confession exists. Structures may recognize it later, but God already recognizes it now."
Photos: Courtesy Advent Cable Network Nigeria
