What is the GAFCON Forum?
GAFCON Forum: ‘GAFCON’ stands for Global Anglican Future Conference. The GAFCON movement is a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to retain and restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion. GAFCON is steadfastly orthodox rooted and grounded in the foundational truths of the scripture as affirmed in the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration stating, in particular, that the doctrine is based on the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal”.

Why was the GAFCON Forum formed? And when?
Since the middle of the last century, as Western society has become increasingly secular, Christian values have been shunned with a substantial portion of the church forsaking the clear teaching of the Bible and conforming to the prevailing culture.  This became particularly evident with sexual ethics, and so at the Lambeth Conference in 1998, through Resolution I.10, the worldwide assembly of bishops reaffirmed the Bible’s teaching on sex.  They reaffirmed that:
•    Marriage between a man and a woman is the God given context for sex
•    Abstinence should be honored outside marriage
In spite of this confirmation of the Bible’s teaching on sex, in 2003 a clergyman in a same-sex relationship was consecrated as a bishop in The Episcopal Church (TEC), the Anglican church in the USA.  Within a year TEC clergy were blessing same-sex unions and were soon followed by the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC).  For years orthodox Anglicans called on TEC and ACoC to repent but to no avail.  So in 2008, when bishops from these two Anglican Provinces were invited to the next Lambeth Conference, a group of 291 bishops and 1,148 lay and clergy leaders met in Jerusalem to consider how to take a stand against the collapse of biblical witness in parts of the Anglican Communion.  In that moment the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) was born and the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration was created.

Narrate the history of the GAFCON Movement.
The History of GAFCON at a glance:
1998 – Resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference upholds the Bible’s teaching on marriage between a man and a woman, and abstinence before marriage, while urging pastoral care of those of same-sex attraction.
2002 – Diocese of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) authorised liturgy to bless same-sex unions. Eight parishes seek alternative episcopal oversight.

2003 – An Anglican clergyman in America who is in a same-sex relationship having divorced his wife is consecrated as a bishop.
2008 – GAFCON is created to guard and proclaim biblical truth globally and provide fellowship for orthodox Anglicans.

When was the GAFCON forum introduced in India?
The informal meet of the GAFCON forum was initiated on Oct 15, 2021 at the ITC Hotel Towers, Chennai. The GAFCON meet being held informally with ABCI for the first time in India as directed by the GAFCON Council. The forum was presided by Abp. Dr. John Sathiyakumar who was earlier nominated as the Chairman to the GAFCON Chapter in India. The session ended by submitting a Memorandum of Appeal to the Govt of India on various issues faced by the religious minorities.

What is The Anglican Bishops Council of India (ABCI) and how is it related to GAFCON?
In February, 2022 GAFCON Chair Abp Foley Beach conveyed a letter on behalf of all the gAFCON Primates to His Excellency, the Bishop Primus and Metropolitan of the CEEC.CHURCH, and the recently appointed chair of the GAFCON Anglican Bishops Council of India, Archbishop Dr. John Sathyakumar.  In that letter Abp Beach confirmed that, based upon the 8 October 2021 Report and Recommendation to the GAFCON Primates from Bishop Bill Atwood, the GAFCON Ambassador, and Bishop Glenn Davies, the Regional Secretary for Oceania and Asia, the GAFCON Primates recognized the establishment of an Anglican Bishops Council able to represent the interests of the Anglican Churches to the Indian Government under the leadership of Archbishop John Sathiyakumar, but including any or all Bishops who were willing to commit to following the affirmations contained in the Constitution of the Anglican Bishops Council.

When was The Anglican Bishops Council of India (ABCI) initiated in India?
Given the recognition of the GAFCON Primates, the ABCI was duly registered with the Govt of India on May 22, 2022 as the “GAFCON ANGLICAN BISHOPS COUNCIL – INDIA”.

On what basis of understanding are both forums joined for?
ABCI is committed to cooperate with GAFCON on the basis of the following understanding:

a.    Be grounded in the Orthodox Principles of Anglicanism in opposing homosexuality, refusing to authorize heterodox, unorthodox priests and bishops.
b.    Accept the Jerusalem Declaration and Jerusalem Statement of 2008.
c.    Participate in the promulgation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
d.    Accept their commitment to financial transparency and customary audits and/or reviews in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
e.    Cooperate with, and allegiance to, the GAFCON Primates Council and GAFCON Structures, committing to function under the authority of the Regional Secretary and the Primates Council.
f.    ABCI will strive to maintain the cause of all minority groups guaranteeing their rights to non-discrimination and equality.

What is the Jerusalem Declaration of the GAFCON Forum?
THE JERUSALEM DECLARATION OF 2008:
In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:
•    We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus.
•    We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.
•    We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
•    We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
•    We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
•    We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church
•    agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.
•    We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Savior from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come in repentance and faith.

•    We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
•    We recognize that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.
•    We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family.
•    We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.
•    We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all
•    nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptize, teach and bring new believers to maturity.
•    We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God, to uphold and
•    advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.
•    We are committed to the unity of all those who love Christ and build authentic
•    ecumenical relationships.
•    We recognize the orders and jurisdiction of Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and encourage them to join us in this declaration.
•    We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.
•    We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call them to repent and return to the Lord.
•    We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.
•    We believe the Holy Spirit has led us during this week in Jerusalem to begin a new work.
•    There are many important decisions for the development of this fellowship which will take more time, prayer and deliberation. Among other matters, we shall seek to expand participation in this fellowship beyond those who have come to Jerusalem, including cooperation with the Global South and the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa. We can, however, discern certain milestones on the road ahead.

10.    What is Anglicanism? What is its Orthodoxy?
Anglicanism: Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity, with around 110 million adherents worldwide.

Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. The majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of the international Anglican Communion which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These provinces are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Orthodoxy: GAFCON is steadfastly orthodox. It stands 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.