Diocese signs up to Gafcon movement: CEN 10.03.08 p 6. October 3, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, GAFCON.trackback
The Fellowship of Confession Anglicans (FCA) has added its first New Zealand diocese to its list of supporters. At its annual synod on Sept 26 the Diocese of Nelson adopted a resolution commending the Jerusalem Declaration of the June Gafcon conference, and affirmed its place within the orthodox wing of the Anglican Communion.
In his presidential address, the Bishop of Nelson, the Rt. Rev. Richard Ellena urged the diocese to use creative strategies for growing God’s kingdom. He cited examples from the “Fresh Expressions” project of the Church of England where one ministry had opened a cafe in a disused church building, while another opened a coffee bar to serve and witness to patrons after the nightclubs had closed.
Projects such as a “cyberchurch” on the internet could also be added to the ministry of the diocese, he said, reaching people where they were in their communities. “The one thing [these ministries] will have in common is the desire to reach out to people unreachable within our current structures of the church,” he said.
During its business session, the synod adopted a resolution noting the holding of the Gafcon conference in Jerusalem and received the final statement of the conference along with the Jerusalem Declaration, commending it to the diocese “for general study and reflection.”
It further confirmed “the Diocese of Nelson upholds the orthodox faith and practice of the Anglican Church as represented in the Jerusalem Declaration and continues to look for ways to be in relationship with those represented at Gafcon.”
Last month FCA—the new name for the Gafcon movement—announced that its administrative offices would be housed at the Diocese of Sydney.
The theological principles of the reform movement within the Anglican Communion received a fine tuning this week, Prof Stephen Noll, Vice Chancellor of the Uganda Christian University reported, with a meeting of approximately “forty Anglican theologians from around the world, more than half of them from Africa” at the university in Mukono.
“We are working on a commentary on the Jerusalem Declaration, the basic theological statement that emerged from Gafcon,” Prof. Noll said in a letter to mission supporters.
Prof. Noll added the future for FCA was bright. “Even as I write these things, I am uplifted with hope. There are dark days ahead for Anglicanism in many ways. Coupled with the economic meltdown, times will be tough for Anglicans everywhere. But we have the resources in the Scriptures and in our God to see beyond the immediate darkness and to know that God has a bright future for us,” he said.
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