jQuery Slider

You are here

GSFA PRIMATES BREAK COMMUNION WITH CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

GSFA PRIMATES BREAK COMMUNION WITH CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
The GSFA will no longer recognize Welby, as "first among equals"
Church of England has broken communion with orthodox provinces
GSFA and GAFCON Primates say they will meet to "reset" communion

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
February 20, 2023

In a move with historic consequences, twelve orthodox Anglican Provinces that make up the Global South Fellowship of Anglican (GSFA) provinces have issued a statement saying they have broken communion with the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury following the Church of England's formal acceptance to bless same-sex unions.

The GSFA will no longer recognize Archbishop Justin Welby as the "first among equals" leader of the global Communion.

The Primates stopped short of declaring a new Anglican Communion.

"As the Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles by this innovation in the liturgies of the Church and her pastoral practice (contravening her own Canon A5), she has disqualified herself from leading the Communion as the historic "Mother" Church. Indeed, the Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith expressed in the Anglican formularies (the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal and the Book of Homilies) and applied to the matter of marriage and sexuality in Lambeth Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

The primates said the actions of the Church of England would no longer allow them to be "in communion" with those provinces that have departed from the historic faith and taken the path of false teaching. They said they would be "a holy remnant."
The GSFA Primates said they would meet, consult and work with other orthodox Primates in the Anglican Church across the nations to re-set the Communion on its biblical foundation. "We look forward to collaborating with Primates and bishops in the GAFCON movement and other orthodox Anglican groupings to work out the shape and nature of our common life together and how we are to keep the priority of proclaiming and witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world foremost in our life as God's people."

The primates blasted Welby for leading his House of Bishops to make the recommendations that undergirded the General Synod Motion on 'Living in Love & Faith,' knowing that they run contrary to the faith & order of the orthodox provinces in the Communion whose people constitute the majority in the global flock.

"Given this action by the Church of England's General Synod, we believe it is no longer possible to continue in the way the Communion is. We do not accept the view that we can still "walk together" with the revisionist provinces as prescribed by the Anglican Communion Office and in the exploratory way proposed by IASCUFO (Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith & Order) at the recent Anglican Consultative Council (ACC)-18 meeting."

The primates said they will move to "reset" the Communion, to reflect their mission and ministry across the nations.

This Statement is endorsed by the following GSFA Primates

1. Archbishop Justin Badi (Primate of South Sudan & Chair of GSFA)
2. Archbishop Hector (Tito) Zavala (Primate of Chile & Vice-Chair of GSFA)
3. Archbishop James Wong (Primate of Indian Ocean, GSFA Steering Committee member)
4. Archbishop Titre Ande (Primate of Congo, GSFA Steering Committee member)
5. Archbishop Stephen Than (Primate of Myanmar, GSFA Steering Committee member)
6. Archbishop Foley Beach (Primate of North America, GSFA Steering Committee member)
7. Archbishop Samuel Mankhin (Primate of Bangladesh, GSFA Steering Committee member)
8. Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba (Primate of Uganda)
9. Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo (Primate of Sudan)
10. Archbishop Samy Shehata (Primate of Alexandria)
11. Archbishop Miguel Uchoa Cavalcanti (Primate of Anglican Church in Brazil)
12. Archbishop Leonard Dawea (Primate of Melanesia)

To read the full statement click here: https://virtueonline.org/statement-gsfa-primates-church-englands-decision-regarding-blessing-same-sex-unions

Subscribe
Get a bi-weekly summary of Anglican news from around the world.
comments powered by Disqus
Trinity School for Ministry
Go To Top