The Lambeth Conference of bishops from across the Anglican world is over for yet another ten years. The large number of red chimeres present may have made an impressive group photograph, but the sea of smiling faces could not hide the fact that the bishops of three African provinces were missing, including those from Nigeria, the largest by far of the world’s Anglican provinces. They chose to stay away because of the failure of the Anglican Communion to implement resolution 10:1 of the previous conference, which declared unequivocally that marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman. The many bishops of the Global South who did attend the conference hold similar views on marriage and Christian morality to the Nigerians, Rwandans and Ugandans, but were willing to come to Lambeth because they expected the Archbishop of Canterbury to allow them a proper say and be able to vote upon this vital issue.
Needless to say, the conference did not go the way the Global South wanted. Welby, like dear old Humpty Dumpty, kept his archiepiscopal posterior firmly glued to the fence and business was so rigged that Lambeth resolution 1:10 was not publicly discussed, let alone reaffirmed. Western liberal bishops, predominantly those from the tiny Episcopal Church in the USA, were not slow to grab the initiative and capture the stage with a statement of their own, grossly misquoting texts of Scripture to bolster their arguments.
It should by now be abundantly clear to the Global South that Canterbury and its cronies cannot be trusted and that the strident voices of liberal Anglicanism will not agree with the Global South upon the truth of God’s holy Word nor therefore ever to live with them in unity and godly love. The African, Asian and Latin American provinces continue to suffer from terrorism, famine and poverty and they are therefore at risk of being “bought” by the rich dioceses of the liberal West, who will go to any lengths to neuter the solidly Scriptural witness of the Global South.
The whole GAFCON prospectus of a worldwide network of faithful and orthodox Anglicans working together evangelistically, Biblicly and financially has now been proved amply correct. Any other arrangements will merely prolong the doctrinal confusion of the Communion and blunt the effectiveness of our Christian witness and proclamation, just at the very time when the looming world economic crisis needs it the most. Now is the time for all orthodox Anglicans, Catholic as well as Evangelical, to come together in prayer, co-operation and mutual support to ensure that the richer parishes of the West focus their entire overseas giving on helping their poor and suffering brothers and sisters in the Global South, not just because the Lord has called us to do so (Hebrews 13:3), but also because we should not leave their doors open to the subterfuge and false bonhomie of the liberal West.
The recent establishment of the Diocese of the Southern Cross to unite orthodox Anglicans in Australia is welcome news, especially as it is being overseen by a highly regarded former Archbishop of Sydney. There is further good news from the Anglican Network in Europe, where four new assistant bishops are to be consecrated in October to help Andy Lines serve growing parishes and missions in Scotland, Wales, England and Continental Europe. Many will also be awaiting with interest to see who is to be appointed to lead the English suffragan see of Ebbsfleet in succession to the esteemed Rod Thomas. However, it may now be high time for the English orthodox to open their eyes and at last exercise a bit of healthy realism. Although they feel called by the Lord to stay in their parishes, preach the Gospel, convert souls to Christ and work towards reclaiming the Church of England to its original Scriptural orthodoxy, they must realise that the omens are not good. They have been saying this for the past sixty years, but the numbers of orthodox parishes continue to decline, while it is almost impossible to gain official approval for new work to start in unchurched areas, especially as they will inevitably fall foul of the existing parish system.
This all calls for the opening of regular dialogue between Ebbsfleet and the Anglican Network in Europe to ensure that from now on they work in tandem so that Anglican Gospel witness is spread more evenly across the country and new work opened in the university towns and deprived housing estates. The growing student communities and the urban and rural poor should have the opportunity to hear and respond to Jesus as much as the suburban middle classes. It would be great to have orthodox Catholics on board too, but their societies have remained strangely silent as Christian faith and morality is under increasing public challenge. Maybe this will change, as they too come to realise that their future within the Church of England is now far from secure.
