Gafcon sees a future away from Canterbury

George Conger
July 3, 3008

Excerpt:
Bishop John Guernsey, a former Episcopal priest who serves as a Bishop of the Ugandan Church but ministers in Northern Virginia called the statement historic, saying he was “very pleased” by the outcome. Anglo-Catholic leader Jack Iker, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth hailed the meeting as a success and a “positive contribution to the future direction of the Anglican Communion, as well as a very encouraging affirmation and validation of the realignment that has been taking place” over the past few years.

The Jerusalem Declaration restates traditional Anglican teaching on the Bible, ethics and church order-but also “rejects the authority” of church leaders and institutions that have “denied the orthodox faith in word.”

The failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, to discipline the US Church had made the situation worse, they argued. While recognizing his historic role, the Gafcon statement said it did “not accept that Anglican identity” was “determined necessarily through recognition” by the office of Archbishop of Canterbury—the hitherto customary determination of Anglican status.

However, the Jerusalem Declaration was not the start of a schism or formal split within the Anglican Communion. We are “not saying we are the only faithful Anglicans,” Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen explained, nor were we forming a “church within a church.”

The Jerusalem Declaration would provide a bulwark against “Western revisionist” theology by preparing a “fellowship” of Christians to “support each other in truth,” while “charting the way forward for a Gospel-centered future,” Dr. Jensen told The Church of England Newspaper.
It also “creates order out of chaos,” he said. The church splits and lawsuits that had arisen since the Episcopal Church consecrated a gay priest as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 were spiraling out of control, Dr. Jensen said. The Jerusalem Declaration and Gafcon Statement would provide a method for managing the crisis, he said. the rest