This summer, the Gafcon movement will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with an historic conference in Jersualem, Israel. But why is this an historic event? Why does the Gafcon movement matter and what does it even stand for?
Over the last few decades, the need for the Gafcon movement has unfolded and today the entire Global Anglican Communion faces a climactic point in its history. Throughout this recent history, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, former professor and Academic Dean at Trinity School for Ministry, played a significant role in contending for biblical truth in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. And now, as Gafcon Jerusalem 2018 approaches, he is releasing a book to help readers understand the current state of the Communion. The Global Anglican Communion: Contending for Anglicanism, 1993-2018 is commended by 22 leading scholars and church leaders.
From the book description:
This anthology of his writings (often in the heat of battle) chronicles the departure of the Anglican establishment in North America and England from classic Christian teaching on Scripture, marriage, and church order.
The first section contains essays on three “paving stones” of the Anglican way: “Reading the Bible as the Word of God”; marriage as “Two Sexes, One Flesh”; and “Communing with Christ” on doctrine and discipline.
The second section covers the “Road to GAFCON” (the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem in opposition to the Lambeth Conference). Noll explains the teaching of the two historic documents of the period: the 1998 Lambeth “Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality” and the GAFCON Jerusalem Statement and Declaration, arguing that the trajectory of Anglican tradition passes through the Global South, not Canterbury.
The third section casts a vision of a reformed Global Anglican Communion characterized by an over-arching covenant, conciliar governance, and a united resolve to carry the Great Commission forward in the face of militant Islam and militant secularism.
Dr. Noll would like “to commend to readers a vision of a renewed and reformed Global Anglican Communion, a communion of churches that builds on the heritage of the Church of England and represents the emerging leadership of formerly colonial Anglican churches, whereby the oversight of doctrine and discipline has shifted from Canterbury to the Global South.”
The book is offered now at a special Gafcon discount price of $12.95 (+ free shipping) from Anglican Liturgy Press, and will be available in the future through Amazon.
Professor Noll has also started a “Contending Anglican” website and Facebook page for those who are interested in the Global Anglican Communion.
