Over 300 Clergy at Anglican Conference in Jerusalem
Ron Ross
Bridges for Peace News
Email: ronrossbfp@hotmail.com
June 26th, 2008
Anglican bishops and clergy converged on Jerusalem June 22 in what they describe as ”a pilgrimage back to the roots of the Church’s faith.” The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is an eight-day event. More than three hundred conservative clergymen gathered to consider issues which threaten to split the 55 million-member church.
Ordination of homosexuals, same-sex marriages, and what is perceived to be threats to the Gospel of Jesus Christ energized the conference.
GAFCON precedes the Lambeth Conference (Canterbury, England) by a month. Lambeth is held every ten years and the majority of the GAFCON attendees are expected to boycott Lambeth because of “the secularization of the Anglican Church.”
GAFCON and the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade coincided on Thursday, June 26, a ”coincidence” not missed by Israeli media. At the conclusion of the conference a definitive statement for the future of the Anglican Communion will be released.
Leaders in attendance include: Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Orombo (Uganda), Nicholos Okoh (Nigeria), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Peter Jensen (Australia), and bishops Martyn Minns (North America) and North America’s Moderator Bishop of Common Cause, Bob Duncan. The contingent represents 75% of Anglican churchgoers.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester, United Kingdom) told the conference, “No church can have any other basis of authority than scripture. The Bible is the norm by which we appreciate what is authentically apostolic. That is the reason for the Bible being the ultimate and final authority for us in our faith and our lives and this is the reason why Anglicans have taken our study of the Bible so seriously.”
When asked about his attendance at Lambeth, Bishop Nazir-Ali said that his not going to Lambeth this year is a matter of conscience for him. “My difficulty in attending has to do with being in Eucharistic fellowship with and teaching the common faith alongside those who have ordained a person or a bishop whose style is contrary to the unanimous teaching of the Bible and the Church down the ages.” He added, if the impediment were removed, he would gladly attend.
One thousand two hundred Anglican ”pilgrims” visited the Mount of Olives, Monday and walked down the valley slope to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Rev Martin Foord (Perth, Australia) said, “It (this visit) has revolutionized my reading of scripture. I can’t read the Bible the same way again. I can now visualize Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.”
His compatriot, the Rev. Gary Nelson agreed, “I got this sense of history, being in the very place where real events happened. I got the feel of distances. It has helped me visualize portions of scripture. You can understand how news (2000 years ago), spread so quickly.”
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Three years ago he joined Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem to establish international radio news and an audio service webcast at www.bridgesforpeace.com Ron was Sports Editor of WINTV for 20 years before joining the full-time missions. You can contact Ron at : ronrossbfp@hotmail.com |
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