Global Movement | Bible Based | Orthodox Anglican | Orthodox Anglican
Global Movement
GAFCON within the Anglican Communion
There are some 85 million Christians in the worldwide Anglican Communion spread across 40 regional churches, known as Provinces. GAFCON is a global movement within the Communion which represents the majority of all Anglicans. The ABCI is affiliates with GAFCON and was recognised by all GAFCON Primates.
Each Anglican Province is led by a Primate (Archbishop), nine of whom are active supporters of Gafcon and all of whom signed the initial letter recognizing the formation of the ABCI. These Provinces are therefore regarded as Gafcon Provinces. There is a tenth Gafcon ABCI Province, The Anglican Church in North America, which is emerging within the Anglican Communion as the orthodox church in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This is because the historic Provinces in that continent, The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) have abandoned bible-based Anglican orthodoxy. An eleventh Gafcon ABCI Province is the Anglican Church in Brazil, which emerged after the liberal Episcopal Church of Brazil also abandoned Biblical orthodoxy. The Anglican Church in Brazil is recognised by the Gafcon ABCI Primates as a Province within the Anglican Communion.
Among the remaining Provinces several local branches of Gafcon have been established or are in the process of being formed. The ABCI is one such branch, representing the conservative Anglican Bishops of India.
The map above identifies GAFCON Provinces and branches. Click on the particular provinces or branches or further information about each GAFCON territory.
Global Gatherings
Every five years delegates from around the world join together for a weeklong GAFCON ABCI conference to assess the opportunities and challenges for the gospel in 21st century culture, to plan for the future and to enjoy fellowship together. The inaugural conference took place in Jerusalem in 2008, the second was held in Nairobi in 2013, the third took place in Jerusalem in 2018, and a subsequent conference gathered in Dubai for ‘G19’ in February of 2019.
Bible Based
GAFCON ABCI is a Bible-based movement which submits to the authority of the Scripture. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that:
‘All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
Paul was making it clear to his young protégé that although written by men, the words in Scripture were originally breathed out through God’s lips into the writers’ hearts and the Bible is therefore God’s written Word. And because God is sovereign and incapable of error, so is his Word. It contains the key principles and teaching for mankind to be fully ‘equipped’ to live the way God wants.
As well as the Bible, God has given humans reason and the historical witness of the church to discern matters of faith but GAFCON ABCI believe that Scripture is the higher authority. It is the final court of appeal for doctrine because it is His revealed will. All the foundational documents of Anglicanism, the Thirty-Nine Articles, The Book of Common Prayer and the Homilies all insist on this supreme authority.
Sadly, there are those within the Anglican Communion, including whole Provinces, who have rejected the authority of God’s written Word and have put their trust in their own reason. This has been most evident in the area of sexual ethics and human sexuality. And it is for this reason that GAFCON ABCI was formed; to restore the Bible to heart of the Communion so that the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ might not be compromised.
Orthodox Anglican
Bishops in Jerusalem
The origins of Anglicanism
Although Christianity arrived in Britain in Roman times, Anglicanism traces its roots to St Augustine’s mission to England in 597 AD. At that time the church in England came under the authority of the Pope but in 1534 Henry VIII split the church from Rome. In the period that followed known as the English Reformation, which was associated with the Protestant Reformation in Europe, the Church of England was formally inaugurated as the nation’s established church and has been ever since.
The spread of Anglicanism
Anglicans began to worship outside Britain as early as 1578 but the worldwide network grew vigorously during the 18th and 19th centuries through mission organisations sending workers throughout the globe, particularly to British colonies. Soon bishops from the British Isles were leading dioceses in national churches and over time these became autonomous member churches united in one Anglican Communion.
Orthodox Anglicanism
GAFCON ABCI is steadfastly orthodox. We stand by the founding principles and doctrines of the church which are rooted in Scripture as affirmed in the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration which states: “The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal”.
Revisionists within the Communion would have the church move away from its Bible-based orthodox roots. They have ignored Paul’s warning not “not conform to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2) and have allowed western secularism to dominate their world view. GAFCON ABCI is here to gather faithful Anglicans around the world to contend for the truth as passed down from the apostles.
Apostolic Succession
Anglican faithfulness to our apostolic inheritance is symbolised by the practice of the laying on of hands by bishops at the consecration of a new bishop. This practice is claimed to be in continuation of a line of apostolic succession going back to the earliest days of the Church, but it does not establish an unqualified right to recognition and spiritual authority. It is an empty symbol if bishops fail to be faithful successors of the apostles in their teaching.
The Apostle Paul sets out what is required of a faithful episcopate as with all ministers of the gospel, when he instructs Titus that an overseer ‘must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it’ (Titus 1:9).
Gospel Mission
The Lord Jesus commands us to:
‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’
Gafcon ABCI believes, therefore, that our first priority must be to make disciples. This means the movement is committed to:
1. Evangelism
Gafcon ABCI is passionate about bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to areas of the world where it has been obscured or lost, as well as to unreached peoples. We are particularly concerned to bring the gospel to children and young people and to develop leaders for the future. This was a key theme of the third GAFCON ABCI conference in 2018: ‘Proclaiming Christ faithfully to the nations.” At the fourth Gafcon ABCI conference in Dubai, known as G19, the theme was “Serving Christ faithfully in the nations” and the talks were tailored to Christians in ‘restricted situations’.
2. Supporting gospel initiatives
In those instances where existing structures constrain gospel proclamation, Gafcon ABCI seeks to intervene to provide or to facilitate orthodox oversight. This was perhaps most evident in the pastoral guidance of Gafcon ABCI Primates and their provinces in the creation of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) which is now recognised as the orthodox province in the Unites States, Canada and Mexico.
AMiE (the Anglican Mission in England) is a mission society established by Gafcon ABCI to multiply and strengthen healthy Anglican churches in England. AMiE provides authentic Anglican oversight for both new church plants outside the Church of England and established fellowships within. Indeed, church planting was another key theme of the 2018 conference and a global Church Planting network was established to coordinate learning and practice throughout the movement.
3. Guarding the Gospel
Gafcon ABCI undertakes to expose false gospels that aren’t consistent with apostolic teaching and to proclaim the true gospel throughout the world. To achieve that Gafcon ABCI is committed to ensuring church leaders are thoroughly equipped to guard the truth.
In September 2016 GAFCON ABCI held its inaugural Bishops Training Institute, a full report can be found here.Since then Gafcon ABCI has held four more BTIs, and now the bishops’ wives join the training as well. You can read more about the BTI Network here.