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“For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good” Psalm 122:9
Dear GSFA Family and Friends,
Psalm 122 is one of the ‘Psalms of Ascent’ expressing the pilgrim heart of God’s people as they draw near to Jerusalem, the place of God’s special presence. There is a delight in being together as the people of God which transforms our relationships from self-seeking to seeking the good of others. Our covenanted relationship leads us to say, ‘I will seek your good’ and I continue to be deeply thankful to God for the many ways in which the GSFA is a means by which we can seek one another’s good.
It was in this spirit that I went to London accompanied by Archbishop Samy Shehata (GSFA Deputy Chairman) and Archbishop Titus Chung (GSFA Hon. Secretary) at the invitation of the Alliance, a coalition of orthodox leaders, clergy and parishes in the Church of England which is calling the Church of England back to the way of faithfulness after and for the establishment of new structures within the Church where these are necessary for the sake of biblical conscience now that the Church of England has formally departed from biblical teaching by endorsing the blessing of same sex relationships.
We were honoured to be introduced by the Revd Nicky Gumbel, known around the world for his advocacy of the Alpha Course, to a gathering of over three hundred Church of England leaders at the Royal Horseguards Hotel. Recognising that their spiritual ‘grandfathers’ made very great sacrifices to bring the gospel the GSFA now represents, we assured them that we would stand by the ‘grandchildren’ in their time of need.
But soon after this, the Church in Wales announced the election of the Cherry Vann as its new Archbishop. It is deeply painful and distressing to find that she describes herself as “an openly lesbian and civilly partnered bishop”. This harms not only her own Church, but as she is a Primate, it harms also the whole Anglican Communion by extending the ‘tear in the fabric’ caused by false teaching to what should be the highest level of Communion leadership.
This is why the GSFA’s call for a reset through covenanted relationships is so urgent. As we affirmed in the Communique from our 1st Assembly last year ‘We cannot walk together in sin’ but the existence of the Covenant means that there is no need to ‘walk away from the Communion and its rich inheritance of biblical faith’
This appointment also shows the scale of the challenge facing the Inter Anglican Standing Committee for Unity Faith & Order (IASCUFO) as it seeks to encourage fresh thinking about Anglican identity and belonging after a quarter of a century of crisis and confusion. The GSFA submitted its response to IASCUFO’s Nairobi-Cairo Proposals in July after two consultative meetings with representatives of GAFCON and we expect to make this publicly available in early October.
But GSFA’s life is not only about guarding the faith; it is also about mission, service, and strengthening one another. I am therefore delighted that the Economic Empowerment Track Conference held in Singapore in March is proving to be a catalyst for some very promising projects, while the Leadership and Ministerial Formation Track continues its much-appreciated work with this year’s second Bishops Formation Retreat in Kampala, 19th -24th October. This will be especially important for the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan as they meet in person for the first time since the outbreak of the massively destructive civil war in April 2023.
Shortly afterwards, the Mission Partnerships Track will hold its second Missions Roundtable, also in Kampala, 27th-31st October with representatives from many of the GSFA’s fifteen Mission partner organisations in attendance. This will be the last event to be led by the Track Chairman, the Rev Dr Timothy Chong, who will shortly be retiring from his post in the Diocese of Singapore as Director of Missions and Dean of Timor Leste. He has laid a very strong foundation for the future of this track and on behalf of the GSFA family, I thank God for his dedication and vision, wishing him God’s richest blessing for the next chapter of his life and ministry.
My brothers and sisters, please pray that in these gatherings we will truly seek one another’s good, and that in all things the grace of God will be poured out richly among us.
The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama
Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and
Chairman of GSFA
