GAFCON Day 2 is well over and it’s been another big one.

The day opened with an exposition by Richard Coekin on the crucifixion of Jesus from Luke’s gospel. His opening line set the tone:

Christ and him crucified is central to everything!

Richard encouraged us all to make brave decisions where others in church structures didn’t hold to this key concept. He was followed by others who struck a similar chord.

Stanley Ntagali, Primate of Uganda, also urged delegates to not compromise on false teaching as he told of his own decisions and he was followed by others such as Archbishop Greg Venables (South America) who also called us to not compromise on Biblical truth by partnering with those who don’t hold onto the authority on Scripture in their practice.

By now one of the major themes of the conference is clear. There is a stark line being drawn that there will no longer be any concession to the constant compromises we are faced with. We will not go to Lambeth unless ACNA are included and TEC and the AC of Canada excluded (notwithstanding their hoped-for repentance). Genuine Anglicanism is not defined by relationship with Canterbury but by things far more substantial; a love of genuine Anglicanism including its truths and formularies.

And so we’re also seeing that there is a consistently growing need to support one another in this genuine gospel partnership. The point was put clearly in this livestream interview with Rico Tice who tells of his resignation from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s evangelism taskforce because the bishop who was chairing it denied Biblical truth.

In the afternoon delegates went on a number of different tours including the City of David, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem and the Holocaust Museum. I took a personal tour of the Old City, my first time ever. It was striking to see key locations such as the Mount of Olives, the Temple Mount, Golgotha and the approximate location of the Sepulchre. Although the walls that exist today are not the original walls (dating from Ottoman and Medieval times) and the actual city in Jesus’ time probably lay slightly to the south of the current Old City, you still get a clear sense of scale and relative location of the events of the last few hours of Jesus’ life. There’s nothing quite like seeing it with your own eyes.

Here’s some of the social media excitement…

More to come tomorrow

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