Anglican Church moves to avert growing doctrinal crisis

KAMPALA | COU | DOCTRINE CRISIS

Anglican Church leaders under the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) have agreed on reorganization steps to avert the doctrine crisis which is threatening the Church today.

More than 1,300 church leaders and Christians gathered at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda from 52 countries for the GAFCON and Uganda was represented by 207 delegates from April 17-21, 2023.

In a communique, which has come to be known as the Kigali Commitments issued at the end of the conference, participants expressed concern that despite the 25 years of persistent warnings by most Anglican prelates, there have been repeated departures from the word of God undermining the biblical truth the Church stands for.

“These warnings were blatantly and deliberately disregarded and now without repentance, this tear cannot be amended.

The latest of these departures is the majority vote by the General Synod of the Church of England in February 2023 to welcome proposals by the bishops to enable same-sex couples to receive God’s blessing.

It grieves the Holy Spirit and us that leadership of the Church of England is determined to bless sin,” the statement partly reads.

The conference theme was taken from John 6.68: To Whom shall we go?

 Church of Uganda Archbishop Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, in a subsequent statement, commended the Ugandans who participated in the conference while embracing the Kigali Resolutions.

“I want to thank all our Bishops for mobilizing their Christians so well to attend the conference in such big numbers. Everyone had to fund their own participation in the conference, so it was a big sacrifice and a very big sign of their commitment to the Lord and his Church,” he said.

He added that Uganda was the third largest delegation at the conference, after the US and Nigeria with a representation of 16% of the delegates.

“I am so proud of our Bishops, clergy, and Christians for this commitment to their Lord and his Church. There was inspirational worship, excellent Bible teaching, helpful background information on the current challenges in the Anglican Communion, and practical equipment to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to a world searching for answers to life’s challenges,” he said.

He added: “We are very pleased with the Kigali Commitment because we believe it charts a way forward for global Anglicanism to reclaim its historic and Biblical faith. There are two complementary groups that are joining forces to reset global Anglicanism on the foundations of the Bible.”

The two groups include the GAFCON, a mission movement calling the Church to proclaim the unchanging truth in a changing world, and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans which has developed a covenant that provides good governance structures that reset the Anglican Communion around a shared, common confession of faith and mutual accountability to prevent future doctrinal crises.

“Both groups are necessary to reclaim global Anglicanism for its Biblically-based missional heritage. The effort to reset global Anglicanism is a massive one because of the theological decline in most of the Western world. This conference has helped us understand each group’s unique role and contribution and why we need both in this cause,” Kaziimba.

He added that the COU hierarchy was delighted in the clarity the conference had given to the Church structures where all current and newly authenticated Anglican Church-planting networks can find a global home that honors Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and the authority of the Bible.

“We have recognized that the Archbishop of Canterbury has abdicated his historic place as the “First among Equals” among the Primates and Churches of the Anglican Communion, and we no longer recognize him as our leader.

The Church of England’s General Synod's decision to provide prayers of blessing for same-sex unions and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s enthusiastic support for it are decisions we can’t recognize and have resulted in breaking fellowship with him and the Church of England,” Kaziimba said.

He added; “We believe the Cairo Covenant, developed by the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, provides a much-needed and ready-made alternative church structure for such a time as this. The Church of Uganda has adopted the Cairo Covenant and encourages all Bible-believing Provinces to study it and do the same.

We will continue to support Gafcon because of its commitment to its mission. In fact, we will adopt Gafcon’s proposal to declare the next ten years as a decade of discipleship, Evangelism, and Mission.”