More than 200 Anglican bishops from conservative dioceses around the world are to boycott next month’s Lambeth Conference and attend a rival Global Anglican Future Conference in Jordan this week instead.
Entire provinces, such as Nigeria, Uganda and R wanda, are attending the alternative gathering, styled Gafcon, instead of Lambeth because of their emphasis on a Bible-based Christianity that rules out many of the liberal developments in the Western Church, such as the increasing acceptance of homosexuality.
Two Church of England bishops, Wallace Benn, of Lewes, and Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, of Rochester, will be carrying the standard for the Church of England, and conservatives from the United States and Australia will also be in Amman.
Although organisers say their goal is not to set up a rival Anglican structure, in a statement at the weekend the Church of Uganda admitted that the aim of Gafcon was “to prepare for an Anglican future in which the gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centred mission is a top priority”.
Has Jerusalem been annexed by Jordan? Did I miss something?
On the contrary, East Jerusalem (including the Old City) was part of the state of Jordan until it was occupied by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967. United Nations Security Council Resolution of 242 calls unanimously for Israel to withdraw from East Jerusalem and the other Occupied Territories. The resolution was drafted by the UK and supported by the US, amongst others.
It goes without saying…but I’ll say it…that Lambeth without the largest provinces represented is diminished significantly. Uganda’s statement is so important: in essence…’We can’t go and act as if we are in fellowship with the American Church, when we are on record as maintaining that there is broken fellowship until repentance is demonstrated.’
That kind of un-spun honesty is refreshing.
Dan+
GAFCON will meet for several days in Jordan before proceeding to Jerusalem.
I poosted this above, but there are more responders on this thread. Also, the article (secular) sells it as an alternative which I do not believe it was promoted as. Here is my question from above:
#2: Jordanian *occupation* of East Jerusalem was a consequence of the ceasefire line of 1948. It was NEVER recognized by any state. The ‘West Bank’ is NOT ‘Occupied Territory’ since it has NEVER been a sovereign state since the Maccabean Kingdom – or if we are going to use such language, let us recognize that it has continually been ‘occupied’ by other powers since 63 BC, including The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 1948-67.
All, since #1’s question has been correctly answered (#4) please no further talk of Jordanian / Israeli history or politics. They will be deleted as off topic. Thank you very much. –elfgirl
GAFCON is meeting in Amman, the Jordanian capital, before leaving for Jerusalem.