What is happening in the Anglican Church?

In recent days the worldwide Anglican church has been the focus of important and serious attention. This is all the culmination of more than three decades of fractures that have been emerging due to differences about what the Bible teaches, what the Bible is and what authority the Bible has in the church.

In 2008 a group of leaders from across the world gathered in Jerusalem to discuss these fractures at what was then called the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). The conference name then became the name of the movement that has gathered like-minded people from around the globe to refocus the Anglican Church on the teaching of the Bible, the theology of the Prayer Book and the 39 Articles of Religion (Anglicanism’s founding documents). 

I have been to three GAFCON Conferences and they have all been times of enormous blessing and thankfulness; but also lament as we have reflected on the state of the Anglican church across the world. In too many places, Jesus’ name is not proclaimed and the life Jesus saved us to live is not encouraged. 

Last week, the leaders of GAFCON gathered in Sydney and decided that “Enough‘s enough”. It was time to make clear that the majority of the Anglican church can no longer recognise the historic role the Church of England has had as an Instrument of Communion or unity. This came about in response to the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, whose rejection of foundational Christian ways and practices is well known. So the Global Anglican Communion was born and it’s a new day for the Anglican Church across the world. The historic connection to England has been permanently fractured.  

Now, it’s important to keep those developments in perspective. The Anglican Communion has always been, in shape and practice, a fellowship of autonomous provinces - a family bound together for mission around the Word of God rather than by a single, central legal authority. Since 1867, Anglicans have worked together as a Communion in mutual partnership or fellowship. We are connected by common confession and shared mission, not by legal force, ecclesiastical law or covenant. 

It has always been possible that those within that family could choose not to remain in fellowship with others when the Bible’s teaching was compromised. And our very own Dudley Foord (a precious Rector of Christ Church) led part of the fractured Anglican Church in South Africa decades ago for this very reason. When faithfulness to the Scriptures is compromised, relationships are tested and sometimes broken. That is a sad reality, and a current reality but it does not change our calling as a church or as a diocese here in Sydney.

Here in Sydney our situation is straightforward. Our church remains part of the Anglican Church of Australia and the Diocese of Sydney, and our commitment is to proclaim Christ and his Word faithfully in this place and to work through the structures of the Australian Church to share Jesus with every Australian. Practically speaking, despite our diocese being a supporter of GAFCON and even my personal connection, nothing about our day-to-day ministry or organisational structures changes: we will continue to preach the Bible plainly, love our neighbours, and build wholehearted disciples of Jesus. 

We do not rely on the Archbishop of Canterbury for our identity or for our authority to minister. We have an historic connection to England but our life together flows from the gospel, the Scriptures, and the structures of the Australian Anglican Church in which we live and serve. While some Anglican leaders in Australia remain committed to the 1867 fellowship, it is neither unanimous nor required nor often discussed. 

Ideally, when the day comes that the whole Australian Anglican Church is filled with faithful bible-believing leaders, we will decide as a national church to align with the new Global Anglican Communion. I am praying for this and some of the ministry I do outside our church works towards this. I invite you to pray for a biblical reformation in Anglican Churches across Australia.   

But for now, to every member of our church: be encouraged. These national and international conversations can feel unsettling, but they do not unsettle the gospel. Let this be a season in which we deepen our confidence in the Word of God. Read the Scriptures together; encourage one another in faithful teaching; pray for our leaders near and far; and keep doing the basic, beautiful work of making Jesus known in our streets, workplaces and homes.

We have been given the ministry of the Word and the commission to go (Matthew 28:18-20). Whatever shifts happen in global structures, our mission here remains the same - to hold out the word of life, to love graciously, and to make disciples. Let us press on with clarity, courage and humility, trusting the Lord who builds his church.