Compelled to resist: 5,000+ already – and you?

I have recently returned from Kigali, Rwanda, and the fourth GAFCON conference (Global Anglicans from over 50 countries coming together because of deep concern about unbiblical teaching and practise across the world in the Anglican Church).

The title of the conference was ‘To whom shall we go?’ and the answer was clear: to Jesus, and with Him we go to the rest of the world. It was an inspiration to be hosted by the Anglican Church of Rwanda, and though the conference was trying to find a good way to respond to hugely concerning developments, especially in the Church of England, the reality and joy of worship, Bible teaching and simply wonderful testimony to the Lord’s goodness was, to quote Jeremiah, to know there is a balm in Gilead!

I was privileged to be asked to deliver a plenary speech at the conference, tracking developments from the Lambeth Conference in 1998, when the famous Resolution 1.10 was passed, up to the present. As I drafted the speech, I was struck by the deep sense of grief I felt at the unfolding tragedy of the last few years, and the place we find ourselves in now. It remains to be seen how the English bishops and archbishops will formally respond to what has been said globally and in England, but the statements following the General Synod by GAFCON and Global South indicate we are in a situation where the teaching of Scripture as summarised by Resolution 1:10 has now been set aside in the Church of England. We asked all those who were at the conference to pray that this may not be so, and that the bishops would realise what they have done and think again.