But there is another equally, if not more pressing, question inextricably linked to the first. It was the question raised in the GAFCON assembly for clergy and laity today: What is our hope for the Anglican Communion? Among the answers given were:

That we would be a growing global fellowship of mutually accountable followers of Jesus under the authority of Scripture who spread the Gospel of Jesus

That we would live together within good and godly synodical structures with provisions for discipline for Provinces and Dioceses that fail to uphold orthodoxy

That we would be known by what we are for rather than what we are against

If this, indeed, captures the future of a biblically faithful and missional Anglican Communion, what can GAFCON and the Global South do together to make this future a reality?

The possibilities are many, and only time will tell if ideas like these or others will find their way into the upcoming declaration. Regardless, all GAFCON and GSFA provinces, dioceses, and networks must withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and associated committees and networks associated with the Canterbury-led Communion in keeping with both the GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration Clause 13 and the GSFA Ash Wednesday 2023 Declaration. When matters arise that require a response, GSFA and GAFCON leaders should commit to issuing joint statements to exhibit a unified alternative to the Instruments of Communion they left behind.

GAFCON could adopt the Chairman and General Secretary's vision of GAFCON as a mission network to proclaim the unchanging Gospel in a changing world and to adopt a Decade of Evangelism, Discipleship, and Mission, again providing a unified front towards global transformation in Christ.

It would also be beneficial if all provinces, dioceses, and networks present at this GAFCON IV are asked to study the GSFA Cairo Covenantal Structures and to seriously consider applying for membership under the terms of the Covenant. The more people who enter into a covenantal relationship with one another through the GSFA Cairo Covenant--including existing Anglican provinces as well as new branches, networks, dioceses, and provinces--the stronger we will be as the true and faithful Anglican Communion. GSFA and GAFCON can partner together to authenticate and recognize those dioceses, networks, and other ecclesial bodies of biblically faithful Anglicans who are refugees of corrupted and compromised churches in the Canterbury-led Communion, helping them to become full members of both GAFCON and GSFA.

Above all, both bodies must reaffirm that WE ARE already the true and faithful Anglican Communion!

ACNA Archbishop emeritus Robert Duncan reflected long ago on the issue of Anglican identity in the context TEC's abandonment of biblical Christianity when could no longer remain in corrupted company. Reflecting on the actions of TEC and our loss of so many church buildings, he said, "Let them take the stuff; we will take the souls!" So, let Canterbury take the "stuff." Let GAFCON and GSFA take the souls. That's what we have been called to do together for Christ and his Kingdom!

THE HOPE OF GLORY

The day began with a reading from Colossians 1. The Rev. Paul Donison, a trustee of the American Anglican Council, gave this moving reading of scripture that calls the Colossians to look towards Christ, away from the chaos around them. St. Paul reminds the Colossians that it is Christ living within them, through the Holy Spirit, that is a guarantee of the glory that will be revealed in them on the Last Day.

But what, exactly, is this glory?

The glory of Jesus is more than just how great Jesus is. It is an actual glory generated by the power of God, which is revealed in Christ, not just through the Transfiguration but ultimately in the Resurrection. Christ himself prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began" (John 17:5). This glory of Jesus, seen in Jesus, was his hope when he was surrounded by pain, torment, sin, and the devil. He knew who he was, despite what the world around him said. It is also our hope that we might become as he is when he is revealed to the world on the Last Day. "The glory you have given me," Jesus prayed to the Father, "I have given to them." He prayed for those who would follow him, asking God the Father to give to them everything he gave to Christ. It isn't glory for glory's sake, it is a glory meant to be given away. It is a glory born out of humility.

St. Paul's call to the Colossians to behold Christ's glory isn't a call to simply look at Christ and stare, marveling at his greatness. It is to look upon Christ and find our hope in the face of suffering, knowing that this glory will be seen in us if we persevere. And this is the hope--that like Christ and in Christ and by Christ, we will share in the resurrected life when we are crowned with honor at the Last Day and enter into his glory. The catch, of course, is that we must first go through the cross before we receive the fullness of this glory. There is no resurrection without suffering, no entrance into life without death. That is why we need hope because of the multitude of sufferings we face in this world.

In a spiritual sense, GAFCON must continue to live in this reality as it seeks to help reform the Anglican Communion. GAFCON looks upon Christ and vehemently defends his Word. It calls the whole Anglican Communion towards repentance while moving away from heretical teachers and failing ecclesial structures and towards Christ and his clear, authoritative word. GAFCON provides oversight to all biblically faithful Anglican believers who are seeking to escape churches that have caved in to secular values and unbiblical teaching. But these leaders who glorify Christ must also press on in their mission to join Christ in that glory, not just to behold that glory but to move forward into glory themselves and bring a train of disciples with them. This will require leaders to share in the same sufferings of Christ (Phil 3:10) that he suffered on his way to glory. We behold his glory in order to join his glory and bring others to that glory. The final Resurrection is its fulfillment, but it can start here in the already/not yet of Kingdom glory. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that we move "from glory to glory" until we attain that final glory of sharing in his very nature.

Is GAFCON a group meant to look at Christ, remind people to behold him, and point out how churches like England and the Episcopal Church USA are turning away from him? Surely, this is part of the whole. But is it also ready to join Christ in that glory through the sacrifices that must be made for the sake of its brothers and sisters in the Global South? Are leaders in both GAFCON and Global South ready to embrace that hope of glory through the reality of suffering and self-sacrifice?

The Colossians were reminded to see Christ in glory and know that the glory they saw was theirs to attain. This was their hope in the midst of intense suffering, persecution, and worldly temptations. GAFCON was created in the midst of this kind of suffering that continues today. It has beheld the glory of Christ where that glory has faded in churches around the world. Now GAFCON must continue to operate as servants of those Anglicans who are biblically faithful wherever they may be. They must, as Archbishop Raffel from Sydney said, embrace humble servitude and true repentance for the sake of unity. How that will look like going forward is still unknown. But if such sacrifice and humility are embraced, there will be unity and a true glory that will be revealed in the Church both in this age and, more fully, in the age to come.

END