GAFCON have announced details of their 2018 Conference.

Introduction

It is our great pleasure to announce that the dates for the next GAFCON Conference, to be held in Jerusalem will be: Sunday 17 to Friday 22nd June 2018.

Jerusalem has a special place in the hearts of the GAFCON movement as it was the location of our very first conference back in 2008. The city stands as a constant reminder of the birth of the Gospel and the movement’s determination to remain true to the teachings of our Lord and his Word

In 2008, over 1,100 delegates from the laity, bishops and other clergy attended. In 2013, this number grew to over 1,500 and in 2018 we plan to expand again.

Why Jerusalem 2018?

1. Compromised leadership

The old forms of Communion governance – the Primates Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference of bishops, all of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is central in, are becoming increasingly compromised.

Looking back, it is clear that Archbishop Justin Welby’s apparent success in gathering nearly all the Primates of the Communion in Canterbury in 2016 was short lived.

The measures agreed by the Primates to distance The Episcopal Church (TEC) from Communion decision-making were completely undermined by TEC’s full participation in the Lusaka meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council just three months later. It is not therefore surprising that the Global South Primates have concluded that the old governance structures are ‘unable to sustain the common life and unity of the Anglican Churches worldwide’, as they stated in the communiqué from their Cairo conference in October 2016.

2. Change the communion from within

GAFCON’s work is growing, including its online presence and resources, training initiatives, standing with orthodox Anglicans marginalised in their own provinces and dioceses, pioneering mission and building global networks. Our expanded 2018 meeting in Jerusalem will add further to this momentum.

3. True Communion, true unity

Jerusalem 2018 will be another great assembly where the Anglican Communion will be free to truly experience communion, speaking and acting as a united family of Churches centred on the biblical gospel rather than a theologically confused institution which can find little common ground.

Here we will see the vision of the Jerusalem Statement, formulated back in 2008 continue to unfold. As we stated then: ‘The primary reason we have come to Jerusalem and issued this declaration is to free our churches to give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ.’

Further details

Further details of the forthcoming conference will be circulated through the provincial and branch networks in due course.  In the meantime, you can read materials and watch video highlights from GAFCON’s two previous conferences via the revamped ‘Events’ pages on the new GAFCON website here.