What I'm Taking Home from GAFCON

When I think about that happened at the recent GAFCIB meeting in Jerusalem, a scene from the Bible comes to mind, it is were God shows Moses the Promised Land. In a small way, this is what it felt like to be at GAFCON, and I was so grateful to be a part of it. GAFCON was a gathering of people (1200 people representing 37 countries) whose only common denominators were a passionate commitment to Jesus and their identity as evangelical Anglicans. These common denominators overrode everthing else, including our cultural distinctives (which were significant), our preferences regarding music or liturgy, and our differences over the ordination of women. We all agreed on the authority of the Bible, the theology of the creeds and the 39 Articles. We all shared a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and we had all answered the call to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

I must say that in over 30 years of ordained ministry, I have never been in any other Episcopal or Anglican gathering quite like it. Given all that we held in common we were free to be bold in our preaching, clear in our theology, heartfelt in our prayers, passionate in our missionary expansion and jubilant in our worship. While the work we did together was extremely heard, our times together were marked by the deep satisfaction of knowing that God was in our midst protecting and blessings us. There was among us great joy.

There was also a completeness about the breadth of our concerns: care for the poor, planting new churches, working with those with AIDS, marriage and family, theological education, evangelism, leadership development and cultural apologetics: all of which were discussed in a very international context. There was no room for provincialism, cultural snobbery, sectarianism, racial or ethnic stereotyping. The very breadth of our fellowship and the high caliber of the presentations continued to press us further into thinking globally and locally simultaneously.

Contrary to several media reports, the issues of gay marriage or gay ordinations were almost never mentioned. Some in the press painted this conference as a protest movement against Gene Robinson, and that assertion completely misses the point of what actually happened. The real substance of this conference was about mission: doing the work of the Gospel. The felling at GAFCON was this: regardless of what other parts of the Anglican Communion want to do about this seemingly endless conversation about human sexuality, we will talk about finding ways to work together to fulfill the Great Commission. I would encourage you to read for yourself "The Jerusalem Declaration" found on the GAFCON website (www.gafcon.org). It is hardly a perfect document, but it lays out a way forward in the midst of the controversies of our Communion.

How does one think about this conference in comparison to the present state of the Episcopal Church, and especially the Diocese of Pennsylvania? By comparison huge sections of my Diocese (PA) are theologically warped, morally sick, and organizationally deteriorating. As a whole, there is little evidence of a joyful affirmation of creedal orthodoxy. There is little support for a commonly held endorsement of Biblical morality. There is almost no passionate missionary evangelism, even among many who call themselves evangelicals! The best that can be said about many in the Diocese of PA is that we are engaged in various forms of ministry to the poor, and there is a passion for social justice. While some individual congregations are doing good work, the marks of our overall diocesan leadership is lethargic and preservationist. There is no vision to reach the greater Philadelphia area for the Gospel. Instead and tragically, most are only desperately trying to maintain what they have, even as it slips through their fingers.

Our relationship with the Diocese of Pennsylvania continues to offer significant challenges. The spiritual covering and the sense of camaraderie in Gospel mission that should be a part of diocesan life are rarely present for us. More often than not, we go to diocesan meetings and wince at what we see and hear. There are precious few who share any evangelical vision for ministry and the few of us who do bear the weight of feeling quite alone. We have friends and acquaintances with whom we have things in common, but that is different from sharing a common vision for ministry. While there are several places in the diocese where Good Samaritan can serve with them as partners, they are very few in number in comparison with the 150+ parishes in the diocese. So, to be a part of this wider Anglican fellowship is a tremendous blessing.

What am I taking him from GAFCON? Three things stand out:

1. A renewed call to the Great Commission. If one phrase captures the essence of GAFCON it is: "moving forward in mission." Internal preoccupations with the state of the diocese or the Communion cannot rob us of God's vision of sowing the seeds of the Kingdom and reaping the harvest. We are a part of a Body that has a calling that is larger than serving ourselves. That calling is bringing Christ's redemption of the world- lives being changed, one by one, by the power of Christ. I believe God is calling us to ask Him how to evangelistically reach out to our immediate neighbors.
2. A renewed appreciation for our Anglican roots. One of the highlights of this conference fro me was a series of worships on "Our Anglican Identity." Superb teachers, primarily from the UK, spoke movingly of the vision of our Anglican forebears of a church fully committed to the authority of the bible expressed in worship, liturgy, sacraments and service. So much of who we are, and why we do what we do, stems from the deep historic roots of our Anglican history. God has given us a gift in being Anglican Christians. It is time we learn more about what we have received.
3. A renewed call to intercessory prayer. In the midst of very hard work that we did at GAFCON, we were conscience that we were being covered and sustained by teams of intercessory prayer warriors. As God is calling us to move forward in mission, we will need a stronger covering of prayer for any of these efforts to succeed. When Jesus told His disciples to life up their eyes and see the field white for harvest, he first told them to pray. As you have heard me say before, it is prayer that moves mountains not programs. New steps will be taken to help us find the power, wisdom and guidance that can only be received through the fruit of prayer.