21st April 2023

36 delegates from the Anglican Network in Europe, representing both dioceses (The Anglican Convocation in Europe and The Anglican Mission in England) attended Gafcon IV in Kigali, Rwanda.

There was much reason to rejoice and mourn.

Rejoicing in the sufficiency and supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ and his transforming grace, we found great unity in Jesus and partnership with brothers and sisters around the world in proclaiming his word. It has been a significant and memorable experience for us to be part of this momentous gathering. It has been marked by faithful and compelling expositions of scripture, prayerful and heartfelt repentance in personal response, as well as deep concern for the needs of the world. We have been thrilled at the connections made for on-going global partnership as together we ‘proclaim the unchanging truth to a changing world’.

It was a great grief, deep sadness, and with broken hearts that the conference discussed the current crisis in the Anglican Communion. Strong words were used of the ‘betrayal' and ‘failure’ of the Canterbury-aligned structures to uphold the word of God and banish error. It was with enormous sorrow that we had to conclude the Archbishop of Canterbury and others have ‘abdicated their right to lead’ and their position is now ‘entirely indefensible’. We have rightly mourned.

But we rejoice, therefore, in God’s provision of Gafcon and the ongoing recognition of the Anglican Network in Europe as an ‘orthodox jurisdiction’ and a 'safe harbour for faithful Anglicans’. We stand with those who are ‘compelled to resist’ within the Church of England, as well as those contending for orthodox Anglicanism within other Canterbury-aligned structures. We welcome Gafcon’s commitment, in partnership with the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans for the resetting and reordering of the Communion and we look forward to playing our part to the glory of God.

We fully endorse the Kigali Commitment.

Bishop Andy Lines
Presiding Bishop