EFAC: successful re-launch completed
by Revd Richard Crocker, Evangelicals Now:
The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) held the second part of its 2018 international Council meeting in Nairobi in October.
The successful establishment of the Council heralds EFAC’s reemergence as a powerful international Anglican ministry. EFAC’s vision is to encourage and develop biblically faithful fellowship, teaching and mission, as well as to resource church leaders throughout the Anglican world. There were 22 participants, including those from existing, reviving (four) or developing EFAC national Chapters. Five continents were represented and 11 participants were bishops.
The Revd Richard Crocker, General Secretary, led the gathering. Also in attendance were Dr Caroline Crocker, Director of Communications, Dr Peter Walker, Director of EFAC’s Theological Resource Network, and Trustees Bishop Keith Sinclair, Canon Dr Chris Sugden and Stephen Hofmyer QC.
Jerusalem in June
The first part of the international Council meeting, held in June in Jerusalem, had the goal of introducing the international groups to one another and to the renewing ministry of EFAC. While there, EFAC invested in exhibition space at GAFCON with the aim of introducing delegates to the expanding evangelical ministry of EFAC. There was considerable interest. Many of the new participants in Nairobi were first encountered in Jerusalem. Their interest stemmed both from the reputation of EFAC from former days and the desire to continue to encourage the church with EFAC founder John Stott’s trademark legacy of deep biblical exposition and evangelical literature.
The formal business of the Council included ratification of the EFAC Constitution, and election of an international Executive Committee. The Constitution received proposals for revision and steps were taken to address contemporary challenges. The Council accepted these amendments and submitted them for ratification by the wider membership after the mandatory time elapsed.
A global body
The Council, a representative gathering of all EFAC member groups, convenes at approximately five-year intervals. An Executive Committee was established to continue the work of the Council in the intervening years. The new Executive has a geographically distributed membership: Bishop Keith Sinclair (England) was appointed Interim Chair, with additional members the Revd Vijay Kumar (India), Bishop Seth Ndayirukiye (Burundi), Bishop Henry Okeke (Nigeria), Bishop Stephen Hale (Australia), and the Revd Richard Crocker (General Secretary, ex officio).
The Nairobi gathering continued with a three-day training event for Chapter leaders. They considered EFAC’s Vision and Goals, reviewed EFAC’s approach to organising and encouraging national Chapters, and learned about the theological vision and plans to resource it. Two case studies of EFAC in operation were presented, showing that EFAC can take diverse forms in different nations.
Bishop Stephen Hale spoke about EFAC-Australia. He suggested that Australian evangelicals are increasingly called to defend the gospel, not only in the world, but also in the church.
Bishop Henry Okeke, of Nigeria, described the emergence of EFAC as an evangelistic movement for the spread of the gospel. Teams from EFAC are often called to plant churches in the most difficult circumstances – what he called ‘rugged mission’! Today EFAC-Nigeria is organised in many zones across the nation, sponsoring exuberant regional and national teaching conventions that attract thousands of atten-dees. In both places, EFAC is a powerful force in the church.
The EFAC event that marked the culmination of EFAC’s 2018 relaunch happened to take place in the same week that CMS Africa celebrated ten years of mission and the opening of their new building in central Nairobi. EFAC conference participants attended the celebration, reminding us of the parallel evangelical vision and mission of the two voluntary societies, both in obedience to the gospel as handed down by the apostles. As a demonstration of the maturing of the world-wide Anglican family and the wider spread of effective leadership, it served as a reminder of the achievements of the past, and was an encouraging indication of the vital nature of the work of EFAC in the future.
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