The First Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches – GSFA 9th Trumpet, 11-15 June 2024, St Mark’s Conference Centre, El Khatatba, Egypt
“I Will Make You As A Light To The Nations” (Isaiah 49:6)
A. Preamble
1. A total of 200 participants from across 40 nations gathered as orthodox Anglican leaders for the 1st Assembly of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA). This is the first Assembly of the GSFA after the Global South Churches adopted a new Covenantal Structure in 2019 to bind their communion in Gospel life and witness together as a covenanted ecclesial body within the Anglican Communion. To maintain continuity with the past and remember our roots, we have chosen to recognise GSFA’s 1st Assembly as also the 9th Trumpet of Global South churches since its first gathering at Limuru, Kenya in 1994.
2. As at June 2024, 11 Provinces have become fully covenanted members of GSFA through their respective synodical processes. There are also 3 Associate Member dioceses and 14 Mission Partners comprising Anglican networks, theological colleges and mission societies. We were joined by special guests and observers. At the 1st Assembly, in total, there were 13 active Primates, 44 Bishops, 46 Clergy and 36 Lay leaders present.
3. As an Assembly, we expressed our deep appreciation to Archbishop Samy Shehata, the Primate of Alexandria, and to the people of the Diocese of Egypt for their outstanding Middle-Eastern hospitality extended to us during our stay in Egypt.
4. We also expressed our gratitude to the government authorities of Egypt for providing us a safe environment in which to meet as well as their readiness to process travel visas where needed.
5. We were tremendously blessed that our Primates, bishops and Assembly participants had a personal audience with Pope Tawandros II, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church; and that Pope Tawandros II expressed keenness to build the fellowship with the GSFA as an expression of the ecumenical unity of the body of Christ.
“People have made their stand for the gospel of Christ against false ideologies for the sake of their countrymen,” Archbishop Kanishka Raffel of Sydney preaches at Global South Assembly. “Bishops have sworn, along with presbyters, to drive away false teaching.” #anglican pic.twitter.com/y1fl3Wkc1s
— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) June 15, 2024