The Gafcon organizing committee, which is arranging an alternative to the Anglican Lambeth Conference, has announced that the dates and venue of the Jerusalem conference have been changed.
Following consultations with the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Suheil Dawani, the conference will now be broken into two parts: a consultation for church leaders in Jordan from June 18-22 and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from June 22-29.
“We are very grateful for the feedback that we have received on the many complex issues that confront us,” the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen (pictured) said on Feb 19.
Good.
Seems like a sensible thing to do, considering the possible ramifications.
May they have much prayer support and security coverage in both locations.
Um… Is Jordan not in the same province? i.e., does the Primate still have a voice?
Actually, Jordan is in the same [i]diocese[/i] (Jerusalem). Ergo this makes no difference. And, too, even if it were in a different diocese or province, the “pilgrimage” to Jerusalem still goes against the wishes of the bishop and primate.
Lesson: Learn your Anglican geography.
Lesson: Ask permission.
Lesson: If someone says, “I’d really rather you didn’t gather at my house,” do not assume they’re not including the back yard.
Wayne, that is not the point. The point is that it was thought GAFCON would enflame the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Moving the main consultation to Jordan could lessen that tension considerably. Same diocese or not, Jordan is an entirely different world. And anyone can make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, so why can’t certain Anglican prelates. By moving the political aspect of the conference out of Israel, they are attempting to address the Bishop’s concerns. It [i]does[/i] make a difference, the question is, is it a big enough difference.
#6: Agreed. I do question, however, the advisability of a large number of primates and bishops making a pilgrimage en mass (as it were).
As we all know, there are some who are either opposed to GAFCON in principle or whose paymasters are opposed to GAFCON. By changing the venue, the GAFCON organisers have made an important concession to those who thought it unnecessarily provocative to +Jerusalem. IMHO +Jerusalem never properly explained what was so difficult about the venue yet they have given him the benefit of the doubt.
Now we will see if the sour grapes continue and whether +Jerusalem was really throwing his toys about because “you never spoke to me”, or because “this is very unhelpful to the cause of peace” or more because “I don’t want you to run this conference anywhere”.