INDIGENIZING GLOBAL ANGLICANISM: The Next Step in Resetting the Anglican Communion

Apr 27, 2023 by

by Stephen Noll:

I began this essay one day after the announcement of the “Kigali Commitment,” the communiqué of the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. Many Anglicans are rejoicing in what is being termed an historic turning point in “resetting” the life of the Anglican Communion after twenty-five years of turmoil. The communiqué states:

Resetting the Communion is an urgent matter. It needs an adequate and robust foundation that addresses the legal and constitutional complexities in various Provinces. The goal is that orthodox Anglicans worldwide will have a clear identity, a global ‘spiritual home’ of which they can be proud, and a strong leadership structure that gives them stability and direction as Global Anglicans. We therefore commit to pray that God will guide this process of resetting, and that Gafcon and GSFA [Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches] will keep in step with the Spirit.

It is my hope that this revival, reform, and reordering of the Communion may follow apace. But I do recall a similar hope five years ago. I had been on the Statement Group that produced the “Letter to the Churches” from GAFCON III in Jerusalem. This statement had set out similar bold expectations and was greeted with similar acclaim. Many of those hopes remained unrealized five years later.

So, much as the exhilaration of GAFCON IV is justified, one must also ask: will it be followed by implementation? I want to address one element of this implementation which I think is at the heart of a successful resetting of the Communion. I am calling it indigenizing Global Anglicanism.

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