At their meeting Dar es Salaam last month, the FCA primates council discussed the feasability of holding a second meeting five years after the inagural gathering in Jerusalem. African leaders proposed holding Gafcon II in Jerualem, but Arab Anglicans asked that another location be selected due to the political instability in the region.
One person present at the discussion said the criterium used by the primates in selecting the site that it be related to a place in the Bible, that Anglicans from the developing world be able to obtain visas to attend the meeting, and that the costs not be prohibitive.
The pagan spirituality that Paul confronted in Athens (Acts 17) resembles modern liberal Christianity in many respects. So the choice of Athens for the next Gafcon conference may be part of the Lord’s plan, a powerful symbolic reminder of the nature of the current struggle.
Of even more interest will be the subject matter of the conference. The increasing irrelevance of the official Anglican Communion has been demonstrated at a series of meetings, notably Lambeth Conference 2008, the Primates meeting in Dublin and the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica.
Attention inevitably shifts to those meetings and dynamics that are in process of replacing the AC. Gafcon is only one such meeting, smaller than e.g. the Global South, but still huge by comparison to western liberal Anglicanism. Meetings like this tend to have a profound effect on the vectors for spread of the gospel in future years, and the manner in which Anglican churches deal with each other. Pray for the planners and speakers.
MichaelA (#1),
I agree with you, but let me add a few other thoughts about the rich symbolism of Athens and the appropriateness I see in the FCA movement holding GAFCON II there.
First, when I heard last week the rumor that GAFCON II might be held in Athens, I immediately thought of the famous line of the apologist Tertuallian (the great early theologian in Carthage about AD 200): “[i]What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?[/i] That is, what does pagan philosphy and learning have to do with biblical religion? But the very eloquence and elegance of Tertullian’s Latin showed that he actually did appreciate the fact that Greek philosphy wasn’t all bad. Of course, philosophically trained early theologians like Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, not to mention other apologists like Athenagoras of Athens, would have been much more positive in their affirmation that all truth is God’s truth, even if it comes from a tainted source like a pagan poet such as Paul quotes in Acts 17. I see the selection of Athens as therefore a very positive sign that while the FCA movement is profoundly conservative and traditional (in the best sense), it is not by any means committed to a fundamentalistic despising of education per se.
Second, I welcome and applaud the decision to hold GAFCON II only five years after GAFCON I, as opposed to the way the Lambeth Conference is customarily held only once a decade. In today’s fast-paced world, and with so many things in Anglicanism evolving as quickly as they are, it’s very desirable to hold such major gatherings of orthodox Anglican leaders (and not just bishops, as with Lambeth) twice a decade. Personally, I hope the pattern of meeting every five years continues, as long as needed.
Finally, holding a second Global Anglican Future Conference shows that the Jerusalem meeting in 2008 was no mere flash in the pan. The confessional movement within Anglicanism is here to stay. The Global South portion of orthodox Anglicanism has come of age and is rightly beginning to exercise real leadership. Thank God for them!
David Handy+
Last time I was in Athens, I climbed up onto the Areopagus where St Paul told the Athenians who the unknown god was [Acts 17:16-34]. I was surprised because the place is flat but rough with nowhere comfortable to stand or to sit, and apparently had always been so. There was no smoothing of the stone or sign of any foundations of any structure one could see, so presumably this was just where people came, just as they were and maintained a sense of urgency because it is so uncomfortable. Nevertheless I found it profoundly moving – there are high views of Athens from all sides and it is definitely a place for elevated thoughts if not your head in the clouds.
Down below in and near the ruins and columns surrounding the Forum and Gymnasium is an ancient 5th Century church – it is very small and decorated with early wall paintings, but a very good place to pray.
I love Greece, but it is not the most stable country at the moment, and its people are going through much pain and hardship, though they need people to visit.
Here is the church. It looks like I got the date wrong – some say it is Byzantine from the 10th Century, and some from the 11th AD. It is rather special.