In these days when so much of the Anglican Church in the west is insisting on a different gospel from the one we received from the apostles, it's good to read about the Christ-centred, gospel-driven, God-honouring, Spirit-filled Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Primates Conference. ['Primates' means Senior Bishops & Archbishops!] [1]
A Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala,
Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya and Chairman of the
FCA Primates Council to the Global Fellowship of Confessing
Anglicans
October 29, 2012
The day we give special thanks for James Hannington,
Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, and his Companions,
Martyrs, 1885
My dear people of God:
Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The Primates’ Council has just concluded its
October 2012 meeting in Dar es Salaam where we witnessed
the blessing of God in a number of key areas:
• In the increase of our
numbers
• Through the achievements of our
April meeting
• By the testimonies of those who are
joining with us
• In the new funding provided for our
communication efforts
• Through our decision to meet again
in a Global assembly
• By the recognition that we are not
alone in this spiritual battle
We gathered in this historic city grateful for the
faithful witness of the Anglican Church of Tanzania during
these challenging times. The Most Reverend Valentine
Mokiwa, Bishop of the Diocese of Dar es Salaam and Primate
of Tanzania, welcomed us. We were made aware of some of the
current difficulties facing Tanzania and committed ourselves
to prayer for protection for the Church and peace and
prosperity for all of this nation’s citizens.
During our meeting we were vividly reminded of the costly
struggles of so many of our fellow Christians, whether
facing violent persecution, natural disaster or spiritual
conflict with competing ideologies. Such struggles have
shaped our intention to use the next Global Anglican Future
Conference (GAFCON2), now to be anticipated in October 2013
(rather than May as previously indicated) to stand in
solidarity with all of our oppressed sisters and brothers
and to study the theme of declaring the gospel of God
‘in the midst of much conflict’ (1Thessalonians
2:2).
We were pleased to welcome the Most Reverend Henri Isingoma,
Primate of the Anglican Church of the Congo as member of
the Primates’ Council. We are thankful for his
faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his embrace
of the tenets of the Jerusalem Declaration and his
enthusiastic support for the work of the Fellowship of
Confessing Anglicans.
We reflected on our meeting in London this past April
when we gathered 200 leaders from 31 countries and enjoyed
outstanding fellowship. We received excellent theological
and biblical material that is now published on the GAFCON
website. We also heard remarkable testimonies of
leadership under pressure from around the Communion. But
perhaps the most telling quote was from a Nigerian bishop
who said, ‘Now we know we are not alone.’ That
is at the heart of our calling as the Global Fellowship of
Confessing Anglicans – to provide an authentic
Anglican community for those who have been alienated for
whatever reason.
As a result of the increased aggressiveness of the
revisionists there are now those in every province and
beyond who wish to stand with us and who need our help to
stand for Christ: in Recife (Brazil), in South Carolina, in
the Church of Scotland, in Ireland, in England, in
Australia and many more. We received reports from various
FCA affiliates and rejoice in their faithful witness in the
face of tremendous pressure and were delighted to receive
an application for the establishment of an FCA affiliate in
Australia.
We were also reminded of the need for prayer for those
who will gather in Auckland, New Zealand, for the meeting
of the Anglican Consultative Council. In particular we
prayed that they will avoid compromise and have the courage
to declare boldly the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is good
news for all people at all times and in all cultures.
We also rejoiced in the news that we have now received
funding to expand our Communication efforts and look
forward to more regular communication between our various
constituencies and the ability to be able to share the
remarkable stories of courageous and costly discipleship.
We are also hopeful that this will also be a means by which
we can be more effectively mobilized for intercession for
one another and the communities that we serve.
From our very inception we have always understood that
our fight is not with any particular person, political
party, program or province but rather we are engaged an
age-old battle for the soul of the Church.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full
armor of God, … Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in
the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:12-20)
At its heart we are engaged in a spiritual and
theological struggle and we were unanimous in our
commitment to renew the FCA Theological Commission with
Provincial representation and a revised mandate that will
provide theological resources to address areas of current
concern.
We concluded our meeting with a glorious service of
evening worship at the Cathedral of St Albans in Dar es
Salaam. As we sang the familiar words of the evening hymn
“The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended”
we gave thanks that “The Voice of Prayer is Never
Silent. Nor dies the strain of praise way!” We are
indeed not alone!
In Christ’s love and service,
The Most Reverend Eliud Wabukala
On behalf of the FCA Primates Council
[1] The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans arose from the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem a few years ago. It's a worldwide fellowship of Anglicans who believe that the Christian message and Christian morality is not changed by the winds of sinful human culture. You can find out more here: http://gafcon.org/ and here: http://fca.net/ and here: http://fca.net/uk
Tuesday 30 October 2012
Saturday 27 October 2012
Punishment & forgiveness
Few things are as fundamental to our Christian lives than a correct understanding practice of punishment and forgiveness, and there is nothing that Satan loves more than injustice and enmity.
The Christian life can only start when we realise our guilt before God (see John 16:7-11 where Jesus explains that this self awareness is the work of the Holy Spirit). That is hard enough for people to accept, but the next steps are unnacceptable to many 'Christians' today; for if we are guilty and God is truly just, then there must be punishment (that's the point Paul labours in Romans 1-3, climaxing in Romans 3:19-20), and for us to be forgiven, someone has to bear that punishment or God ceases to be just. Once we see this, then we can understand what happened at the cross - how Jesus Christ took our guilt and was punished for it on our behalf so that we could be forgiven and God remain just (Isaiah 53; Romans 3:21-26).
But punishment and forgiveness sometimes also has to occur in human relationships. When someone has wronged someone else, then there may have to be just and fair punishment. Clearly this had happened in Corinth when someone had persisted in sexual immorality and would not repent (1 Corinthians 5:1). And in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, the issue of punishment and forgiveness crops up again. It's hard to know exactly what had happened, but someone had done something that had so upset some of the Corinthians that they had punished him. Perhaps the punishment was just, perhaps not (v10). But Paul's point is that there comes a time when forgiveness has to be offered and reconciliation made, "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." (v11).
There's nothing Satan likes more than enmity. Enmity between God and man or enmity between Christians. And Satan hates the cross because there he was defeated, for there reconciliation and peace between God and man were made possible. Not only that, but when sinners are reconciled to God, they learn to be reconciled to each other.
At St Peter's, as we begin to experience growth and now have two paid ministers, we enter into areas where Satan sees opportunities for division and strife. We need to be on our guard and remain united. It will, from time-to-time, mean forgiving one another. But we're people of the cross, united to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we must not - we will not - be divided!!
The Christian life can only start when we realise our guilt before God (see John 16:7-11 where Jesus explains that this self awareness is the work of the Holy Spirit). That is hard enough for people to accept, but the next steps are unnacceptable to many 'Christians' today; for if we are guilty and God is truly just, then there must be punishment (that's the point Paul labours in Romans 1-3, climaxing in Romans 3:19-20), and for us to be forgiven, someone has to bear that punishment or God ceases to be just. Once we see this, then we can understand what happened at the cross - how Jesus Christ took our guilt and was punished for it on our behalf so that we could be forgiven and God remain just (Isaiah 53; Romans 3:21-26).
But punishment and forgiveness sometimes also has to occur in human relationships. When someone has wronged someone else, then there may have to be just and fair punishment. Clearly this had happened in Corinth when someone had persisted in sexual immorality and would not repent (1 Corinthians 5:1). And in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, the issue of punishment and forgiveness crops up again. It's hard to know exactly what had happened, but someone had done something that had so upset some of the Corinthians that they had punished him. Perhaps the punishment was just, perhaps not (v10). But Paul's point is that there comes a time when forgiveness has to be offered and reconciliation made, "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." (v11).
There's nothing Satan likes more than enmity. Enmity between God and man or enmity between Christians. And Satan hates the cross because there he was defeated, for there reconciliation and peace between God and man were made possible. Not only that, but when sinners are reconciled to God, they learn to be reconciled to each other.
At St Peter's, as we begin to experience growth and now have two paid ministers, we enter into areas where Satan sees opportunities for division and strife. We need to be on our guard and remain united. It will, from time-to-time, mean forgiving one another. But we're people of the cross, united to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we must not - we will not - be divided!!
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