GAFCON’S ‘missionary bishop’ explained: Will it actually make a difference?

Jun 12, 2017 by Jill

by Harry Farley, Christian Today:

David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, seems relaxed about the prospect of a ‘cross-border intervention’ on his flock.

‘In some levels I am disappointed,’ he said when asked about a conservative ‘missionary’ bishop planned in response to gay marriage being permitted by Scotland’s Anglicans.

Within minutes of the SEC’s vote, the conservative grouping GAFCON announced Canon Andy Lines as a ‘missionary bishop’ to oversee traditionalist parishes who want to defect from the official Scottish Anglican church

Chillingworth told Christian Today: ‘I don’t think it will make very much difference here. The congregations which we have which will be giving serious thought to their position within this Church following this vote will do that on their own and in context of our relationships here.’

But despite this apparently laid-back attitude, the decision by conservatives to make Lines a bishop has caused shockwaves around the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury rebuked the move, warning a ‘missionary’ bishop would ‘carry no weight in the Church of England’ and citing canons from Christianity’s formative Council of Nicea in AD 325 to warn of the ‘great disturbances and discords’ it would cause.

The issue is likely to be discussed at the next meeting of global Anglican leaders in October.

Although Welby is clearly nervous by the overt challenge to his own authority and to the official Anglican structures, there are genuine questions as to what difference it will actually make.

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