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“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us” Luke 2:15
Dear GSFA Family and Friends,
When the angel announces to the shepherds that the longed for the Messiah has come, it is not a summons, but a proclamation. The news is so wonderful that a summons is not necessary. The shepherds hurry, saying, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened’.
As they then gather around the manager, they are the first of millions upon millions who will gather to worship Christ as Lord as the succeeding centuries unfold. They remind us that our communion as Anglicans flows from divine rather than human initiative as we are drawn together by the grace of God and the ‘good news of great joy’ (Luke 2:10) of salvation.
The GSFA’s covenant structure gives practical expression to this truth. Provinces and dioceses join freely without compulsion, but they also join formally, after synodical assent to the doctrinal affirmations of the Covenant and the obligations that follow for our common life. ‘The good news of great joy’ is for ‘all the people’ and therefore knows no boundaries, but to preserve that good news, the diversity which we rightly celebrate in a global communion must be a boundaried diversity.
In my own context of South Sudan, land without clear boundaries can easily be lost to land grabbers who establish themselves and then claim ownership. If church property is not fenced our work is disrupted and land can be lost. Likewise we must protect the Communion from spiritual ‘land grabbers’ who seek to occupy its institutions even after they have departed from its historic faith and practice.
I think this gives a helpful perspective on a major issue the GSFA has had to consider this year. When the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals of the Inter Anglican Standing Committee on Unity Faith & Order (IASCUFO) were published twelve months ago, we were invited to respond.
In our paper, submitted in July after consultation with Gafcon, we welcomed the acknowledgment that colonial-era structures no longer reflect the demographic and theological realities of a Communion in which the great majority of active members are in the Global South, but expressed concern that the proposals seek to ‘make room’ for those who
have abandoned biblical authority and appear to be based more on organisational pragmatism than the historic Anglican understanding of the Church as grounded in Holy Scripture.
Since then, subsequent events have underlined the importance of our concerns. We now have an Anglican Primate, Archbishop Cherry Vann of the Church in Wales, who is in her own words
“openly lesbian and civilly partnered” and whose Province has recently set out a plan to introduce same sex “marriage” ceremonies by 2027.
We have also seen a missed opportunity to restore trust and unity with the choice of Dame Sarah Mullaly as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. She led the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ project which opened the door to same sex blessings in the Church of England and has publicly supported of this development. As the GSFA made clear in its statement of 3rd October, we are unable to recognise her as the ‘primus inter pares’ leader of the Communion.
These developments reinforce our conviction that the GSFA’s covenant structure is the only way to restore the profoundly torn fabric of the Communion. We will not walk with sin, but neither will we walk away from the Anglican Communion.
GSFA’s commitment to the Communion continues to be demonstrated in action as well as words. In October we held this year’s second Bishops Formation Retreat, including bishops and their wives from eight Provinces. It was especially significant for the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan who were able to meet in person for the first time since the outbreak of the civil war in April 2023. In the communique from the assembled bishops, Bishop Prof. Alfred Olwa, Chairman of the GSFA’s Leadership and Ministry Formation Track, commented that “the retreat marks a crucial moment for strengthening episcopal leadership across the Anglican Communion”.
The Mission Partnerships Track also held a further Missions Consultation Roundtable in October, including representatives of thirteen Mission partner organisations. Both gatherings were very kindly hosted by Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba at the Church of Uganda’s Lweza Training and Conference Centre and in recognition of the foundation work done on mission partnerships, a GSFA tree was planted in the grounds at Lweza.
I am also greatly encouraged by the continuing impact of the Economic Empowerment Track following its Singapore Conference in March. It has been a catalyst for a growing number of projects, including church based entrepreneur training and development in the Anglican Church of Brazil, financial management training in my own Province and work on church based educational initiatives in several East African Provinces. Poverty blights the lives of millions of Anglicans, especially in Africa, and we believe that our Churches have a vital role to play in developing partnerships which enable lasting economic inclusion.
Looking forward to the New Year, the GSFA Primates will be meeting from 14th -17th January in the Seychelles, hosted by the Province of the Indian Ocean. Pray that for faith, courage and wisdom and that by God’s grace we may be equal to the extraordinary challenges facing our global Communion.
Finally, while we rejoice in the light that has dawned with the coming of our Lord Jesus let us remember to pray, especially for those in our GSFA family, who suffer where darkness seeks to reign through war, the threat or war and insecurity, including our brothers and sisters in Sudan, Myanmar, DR Congo and in my own nation of South Sudan.
I take this opportunity to wish you all the joy of Christmas and the blessings of our one Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama
Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and
Chairman of GSFA
