I was part of a small contingent of a dozen delegates from the Gafcon Europe region who had the privilege of attending the Gafcon G26 conference in Abuja, Nigeria earlier this year.
Gafcon is a global movement of orthodox, Bible-based Anglicans. As with past gatherings, it was a wonderful experience of Christ-centred worship and Bible-based teaching, warm fellowship and a feeling of belonging in a diverse but united communion from across the world. We met old friends and made new ones, celebrated stories of church growth and prayed with tears with those ministering in contexts of terrible suffering.
To help us in our main task of consulting together about the future of Anglicanism, speakers from different perspectives outlined a common theme with a relentless logic: the need to unite around a vision for authentic Anglicanism, and move forward with reordering the communion apart from Canterbury. Now that some time has elapsed since the conference, it’s worth summarising and reflecting on some of the content, especially how this next stage of “Anglican realignment” affects those who remain in the Canterbury structures as well as those like myself who are outside but still very much Anglican. Here are some key takeaways:
Two complementary models of planting
As I look back on five years since the official launch of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), it has …