Day two of the GSFA Assembly was focused on mission, as promised by Archbishop Justin Badi in his keynote address. Today began with a powerful opening illustration by Archbishop Samy Shahata from a book, The Minds of Billy Milligan, the only person ever acquitted of murder because of Multiple Personality Disorder. The Global South Assembly begins every day with Bible Studies on Ephesians, and today its focus on chapter one was on our identity in Christ. It’s this identity that has come into crisis through the modern confusion brought on by progressive ideology. Archbishop Sami likened the Anglican Communion today to Billy Milligan and the sickness of Multiple Personality Disorder, characterized by fracture, loss of consciousness, multiple identities, and an ignorance by each identity of the other. The result is a seared conscience and a lack of responsibility. This describes what happened in the Anglican Communion over the last fifty years.
Ephesians chapter one reminds us we have one identity only: it is not our work, feelings, gender, or sexual orientation. As followers of Jesus Christ our identity is in him alone. Yes, we express that identity in different ways and gifts, but from this one identity we receive from Christ spiritual blessings and being called chosen by God. We receive a purpose to be holy and blameless. We receive a deep sense of belonging in a world where we feel lost and isolated. We receive total forgiveness – no longer defined by our past mistakes but defined by Christ’s lavish grace, redemption, and forgiveness. As a result, we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1). This is the gift at the heart of the Good News.
It is the gift that Christ bought for us with his blood and which he revealed to the world by his Resurrection. This is the heart of the mission to which the Global South was called in being a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6). Unfortunately, theological divisions and false teaching within the Anglican Communion distracted us from the mission.
Read it all.Canon Phil reflects on the significance of mission, the focus of Day 2, as the heart of the GSFA. https://t.co/Q9aLMvQzCL
— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) June 13, 2024