Wannabe Anglican: GAFCON Primates call for Chair of AC Primates Meeting to be elected

Monday, April 23, 2012

GAFCON Primates call for Chair of AC Primates Meeting to be elected

I’ve mentioned in times past that the current Archbishop of Canterbury has repeatedly and willfully undermined the Primates Meeting of the Anglican Communion and that several Primates are so fed up with that, they have stopped going.

Well, the GAFCON Primates in a press release at the beginning of the London FCA Leaders Conference have let it be known they would rather the Archbishop of Canterbury not be henceforth the automatic chair of the Primates Meeting. They have called for the chair to be elected by the Primates themselves.

The money paragraph:

We pray for those responsible for the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury that they will look for a godly leader of God’s people. We believe that in the future development of the Anglican Communion the chair of the Primates Meeting should be elected by the Primates themselves. We believe that the future of our Communion relies on adherence to Scriptural authority, faithful and Christ-centred preaching of this word, the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit, godly leadership and the spiritual commitment of God’s people. These spiritual realities and the reality of worldwide Anglicanism should be reflected in the structures of the Anglican Communion.

And that is a sensible proposal given how the Primates Meeting has been virtually nullified by ++Canterbury. Whoever is Archbishop of Canterbury in the future, that should not be allowed to happen again.

2 comments:

RECCHIP said...: This is just one thing too far. I am just about as "right wing" and "orthodox/traditional" as just about anybody but this is just too much.

When we (in the REC)were being "sold" the benefits of affiliating with other Anglicans (first Nigeria, then Communion Partners, then ACNA) the "hook" was always that this would get us back into the Anglican Communion and that our Bishops would be invited to Lambeth (obviously not the last one but 2018 hopefully.)

If the GAFCON/FCA people rip us away from Canterbury, then we become just another sect. One of the major things which distinguishes Anglicans from other "Protestant groups" (e.g. those who are away from Rome/Orthodoxy) was that we were connected to the see of Canterbury. (This is commonly known as the Branch theory). Now, we had to leave ECUSA/TEC obviously and thus we gave up our connection to Canterbury. We were supposed to "get it back" when we joined ACNA. If ACNA (part of GAFCON/FCA) cannot give us back our connections, then we might as well have remained our own denomination (REC).; 11:45 PM
Mark said...: Chip, at the FCA London meeting it has been said repeatedly that they are not interested in splitting from Canterbury.

Being in communion with Canterbury and letting Canterbury continue to nullify the decisions of the Primates Meetings are two different things.

wannabe; 6:06 AM