WHO IS LEAVING WHO?
The archbishop’s palace is at Lambeth in the UK. Every ten years, bishops from around the world are convened to a conference. In between these events, a lot of networking and exchange of ideas and opinions occurs.
IT IS BETTER TO BE FIRST, THAN IT IS TO BE BETTER.
By the time the Federation of Independent Anglican Churches of North America was established in 2003, EF Schumacher’s book Small is Beautiful was already a classic. There is no shame in being small, sometimes it is a huge advantage.
Take Gideon, for example. Ten thousand men rocked up when he put out the call to arms. But he only kept three hundred, and sent the rest home. That small force was enough to overcome the enemy using an unconventional military strategy. Big armies are clumsy. Gideon’s strike force won the day.
The Federation of Independent Anglican Churches of North America was the first iceberg to be calved by the Anglican Church of Canada due to the syncretism of the mother church. But it was not the last. In later years other groups have been formed like the Essentials Federation, the Anglican Network in Canada, and the Anglican Diocese of Canada. These are all dissident groups. Many have joined the larger Anglican Church of North America.
Confidence in the Anglican establishment has been shaken by the scandal involving the former archbishop of Canterbury, and the selection of his successor. She is a “revisionist” and African Anglicans in particular are now distancing themselves from the mother church. Here is a relevant statement by the Rev. Charles Raven:
…the charge that GAFCON is a breakaway or separatist group is not supported by the evidence. It is a movement of reform and revitalisation which has enabled faithful Anglicans to remain within the Communion, especially in North America and Brazil. While being clear that participation in its common life is based upon fidelity to the biblical gospel, not merely upon historic ties, the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration of 2008 says quite unequivocally that ‘Our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion’.
Authentic Anglicanism and False Fears” Archived 11 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine, GAFCON official website, 28 January 2020.
The Federation’s position echoes this. We did not leave the Anglican church. It left us.
