I am writing to you regarding last week’s [partial] Lambeth [gathering (and hereafter-ed.)] as this is on the minds of many Anglicans around the world. Over the last couple of decades, Lambeth [gathering] organizers and events like these have routinely mixed heresy and orthodoxy; treating both positions as equally valid. The clear teaching of Scripture is treated as one of many valid options with no accountability for those Provinces who depart from the Bible. I wish I could be writing to you and sharing that the recent Lambeth [gathering] was different, but it was not. Before the Lambeth [gathering], Archbishop Henry Ndukuba (Nigeria), Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba (Uganda) and Archbishop Laurent Mbanda (Rwanda) wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury that they were not attending the [gathering] “because the Anglican Communion has failed to address with remorse and repentance the issues that necessitated their absence at the 2008 Lambeth [partial] Conference.” Retired Archbishop Mouneer Anis eloquently named the problem, “The Anglican Communion cannot deal with the brokenness of the world if she herself is broken.”
Sadly, rather than being a source of healing and unity, the Lambeth [gathering] compounded the problems. The Lambeth [gathering] was filled with confusion, and what that means for global Anglicanism has just begun to be felt. The Canterbury Communion is broken, not just metaphorically, but literally, as those in attendance could not in good conscience all share Holy Communion. The Primates of Brazil, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North America, Rwanda, and Uganda, and many bishops from all over the Anglican Communion in the Gafcon movement did not attend the Lambeth [gathering] because to do so would violate their consciences. However, we respected the decision of our brother Primates whose consciences led them to go to Lambeth and contend for the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures. The power of their presence magnified the power of our absence.
Archbishop Justin Badi (South Sudan) and Archbishop James Wong (Indian Ocean) of Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans admirably led the orthodox cause for biblical theology and morality in the midst of a situation in which the balance of institutional power was stacked heavily against them. I commend them for differentiating themselves from the false teaching of the Canterbury Communion and for not partaking of Holy Communion with unrepentant bishops living in immorality. It was also helpful that they reminded the [gathering] that we have not agreed to walk together no matter how many times the Archbishop of Canterbury says otherwise. At the end of the [gathering], these orthodox leaders in attendance provided a communique of their experience at the meeting, and for all those who care about the future of global Anglicanism, I commend it for your reading. The Canterbury Communion has ceased to be a place where communion can be shared and has devolved into something more akin to a federation or association of Provinces with a common history and incompatible theologies and moral….[theology].
"We are living in a unique moment in which, by the grace of God, global Anglicanism can be genuinely reformed by Biblical repentance and renewal." ~ @ArchbishopFoley addresses the outcomes of the Lambeth Conference and looks ahead to Kigali. Read it here: https://t.co/FzDlvJMl1t
— ACNA (@The_ACNA) August 9, 2022