Getting Ready for GAFCON

The Rev. Cn. Daryl Fenton

On May 21, two Common Cause “prayer-bloggers,” the Rev. Timothy Fountain and Mr. William Schontz, quietly began to post guidance at www.prayer.united-anglicans.org for those participating in 40 days of prayer and fasting for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). Every Day, our internal statistics show that scores are logging on and praying with them.

Those of us from the Network attending this historic event are grateful for their prayers. Out of a total of more than 1,000 bishops, priests, deacons and laity who have registered for GAFCON, just over 130 will be from North America. Of the more than 280 bishops registered to attend, 19 are affiliated with Common Cause.

We are a small contingent going to what is likely the most important Anglican event in decades. We are not running the show or driving the agenda. This meeting is not about North America or our problems. It is about expanding a faithful, orthodox Anglican witness worldwide. It is also about working together to sail through the storms assailing the western colonial model that has characterized the Anglican Communion for the past century.

The storms are here and, frankly, the traditional structures of the Anglican Communion don’t appear ready to deal with them. Archbishop Williams is clearly steering the Lambeth Conference away from any sort of accounting for The Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada’s increasingly brazen flouting of orthodox faith and the decisions of the last Lambeth Conference. The Anglican Covenant becomes weaker with every revision. We hear reports that the earliest we could expect to see any covenant in place would be sometime around the 2018 Lambeth Conference.

GAFCON, of course, won’t be able to make those storms disappear. It certainly can’t heal the structures of the Anglican Communion. It will, however, chart the course for world wide ministry together across the globe. It will help us get to know our fellow sailors; to prepare for the voyage ahead. And, it will remind us of where we are sailing. The mission God has given us is not simply to survive, but to live the great commandment to love our neighbor and to fulfill the great commission to share the Gospel.

We are honored to be going to GAFCON. We look forward to representing orthodox Anglicans in North America as we spend time in Jerusalem with our worldwide Anglican family. We will, of course, do our best to keep all in the Network informed about what happens at GAFCON. Expect to see regular email and website updates from us between June 22–29, as well as more in-depth reporting in the August addition of Network News, our printed newsletter.

Keep us in your prayers.

Faithfully yours,

Daryl's signature

The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton
Chief Operating Officer
Anglican Communion Network