There is always a sense of expectancy as a conference begins and today was no different, as members of the Gafcon Primates Council, together with invited bishops, clergy and laity from around the world, gathered in Plano, Texas for the Gafcon Mini-Conference. Their goal? To consider prayerfully how Gafcon will continue to lead the renewal of the Anglican Communion.
Gafcon is not about imagining a better future but about building one, practically and spiritually.
Practically - many of the Gafcon Primates are on the Board of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF) and in that capacity they spent Monday determining priorities and approving aid projects. ARDF partner with local churches, providing disaster relief and strategic development schemes, from schools to food security, always with the aim of providing long-term, sustainable solutions.
Spiritually - over the decades the Gafcon leadership have taken seriously their responsibility to uphold the truths of the gospel as articulated by the Jerusalem Declaration. Many have taken costly stands to avoid walking together with those who have wandered from the path. By the time the Opening Eucharist began this evening, they had already spent more than six hours in consultation with one another and with delegations from around the Communion.
Although this is a much smaller conference than the regular five-yearly Gafcon gathering, (the next of which will take place in 2028), it will still be significant. There has been a special focus on inviting newly consecrated bishops, so that senior leaders can consult with them too about how best to take the work forward under the authority of the Scriptures. Again, this is a movement committed to long-term sustainable development.
And the key to it all is the gospel - as the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America, the Rt Revd Steve Wood, told the gathered bishops and archbishops when he preached at the Opening Eucharist:
"We are first and fundamentally 'sent ones'. We are sent as heralds with good news that God in Christ is reconciling himself to the world. As bishops and archbishops there are many things that rightly demand our time and attention, but brothers, there are many people in our world, in our cities, in our towns, who need to meet the man who knows all that they did and loves them anyway.
And they have tried everything. They have tried many others to satisfy a need they cannot even articulate; many others to satisfy a thirst that they cannot assuage. But only one man can give this living water, one person that is completely satisfying, and it is our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the midst of all our administrative, and organisational and ecclesiastical responsibilities - we are fundamentally sent ones. Sent with a singular message - "that in Christ Jesus, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors"...
...The resetting of the Anglican Communion is not simply organisational - it is also missional, and theological, and relational. We reset not around an idea or an organisational structure, we reset around the gospel and around the fundamental charge that has been given to every Christian - that we carry into the world the good news of God in Christ reconciling himself to this world."
Wonderfully, there is no need to be in Texas to benefit from the rest of the wisdom that will be shared there this week. Anyone can watch the livestream, which will give a glimpse of how Gafcon intends to continue their work of renewing the Anglican Communion around the gospel.
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