Is Gafcon the problem?

Jan 1, 2017 by Jill

by Peter Jensen, GAFCON:

An interview with the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, was recently published as an article in the Church of Ireland Gazette. The newspaper’s website carried the audio of the interview in full here.

For a self-confessed Ambassador and reconciler, Archbishop Josiah Fearon uses some undiplomatic language. The frank expression of his views on the Anglican Communion and the sexuality debate, and his sweeping dismissal of GAFCON and African church leaders have caused considerable dismay. However they reveal the thinking of the Anglican Communion Office and presumably those who endorse its leadership.

Central to the task facing him, as Archbishop Idowu-Fearon sees it, is to be an ambassador, calling for reconciliation. Christians and Muslims in Nigeria hate each other, and so do Anglicans from Africa and the West. The solution is to promote reconciliation by getting people to agree to reject confrontation, learn about the ‘other’, respect differences, and commit to peace.

He applies this to the Anglican conflict over sexuality by saying that disagreement is a given. There are different views within the same body. For the two ‘sides’ to insist on their point of view being accepted through the whole body and refuse to compromise, simply perpetuates conflict.

Read here

See also: Josiah Fearon, by Bill Attwood, American Anglican Council

Are the leaders of Africa’s Anglican Churches ‘despotic’? by David Virtue, VirtueOnline