The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a global network of conservative Anglican churches that formed in 2008 in response to an ongoing theological crisis in the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. Conservative Anglicans met in 2008 at the Global Anglican Future Conference, creating the ''Jerusalem Declaration'' and establishing the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), which was rebranded as GAFCON in 2017.

Founding

The Global Anglican Future Conference was held near Jerusalem in June 2008 at the initiative of theologically conservative African, Asian, Australian, South American, North American and European Anglican leaders who opposed the ordination of homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions by member churches of the Anglican Communion. The meeting came as the culmination of a series of controversies in the Anglican Communion that began in 2003 when the openly non-celibate gay bishop

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to the ...

was consecrated by the Episcopal Church in the USA. GAFCON was organised as a conservative alternative to the 2008

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867. As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...

, which was boycotted by many traditionalists. The GAFCON Final Statement recognises the Archbishop of Canterbury for his historic role in the Anglican Church but denies that his recognition is the cornerstone of Anglican identity. The statement also called for the formation of "A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans". GAFCON was instrumental in the formation of the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...

in 2009. The ACNA was formed as an alternative church structure for those disaffected by the official Anglican structures in the US and Canada. The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America, which covers much of South America, is a key constituent of the GAFCON movement. The

Anglican Diocese of Sydney The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese in Sydney, within the Province of New South Wales of the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is Evangelical Anglicanism, evangelical and low church in tradition. The diocese goes as far ...

, Australia, played an important role in forming the FCA and its Archbishop Peter Jensen is the FCA's secretary. Additionally, GAFCON helped to form the

Diocese of the Southern Cross The Diocese of the Southern Cross is a new Anglican diocese in Australia unaffiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia. It is to be led by a former Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies. The diocese was formed by GAFCON Australia in August 2022 ...

, a breakaway from the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

as a result of disagreements over same sex marraige and other issues.

Organization

GAFCON aims to extend the goals of the GAFCON conferences into a movement, to "preach the biblical gospel ..all over the world" and "provide aid to ..faithful Anglicans" disaffected from their original churches. GAFCON recognizes the Jerusalem Declaration, written at the 2008 GAFCON meeting, as a "contemporary rule". The FCA is administered by a "Primates' Council" originally consisting of Primates from the African provinces of the

By region

* GAFCON in the United Kingdom and Ireland was started on 6 July 2009, drawing together many, but not all, conservative Anglicans in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and other parts of the British Isles. The

Free Church of England The Free Church of England (FCE) is an episcopal church based in England. The church was founded when a number of congregations separated from the established Church of England in the middle of the 19th century. The doctrinal basis of the F ...

is also represented on the Steering Group. It has supported the

Anglican Mission in England The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) is an Anglican convocation affiliated to the Anglican Network in Europe that seeks to establish Anglican churches in England outside the Church of England. It seeks to support Anglican churches and individual ...

(AMiE), launched at the GAFCON II, as a safe haven for traditionalist Anglicans inside and outside the Church of England structures. In 2015, Rod Thomas (a member of the executive of AMiE) was consecrated the

provincial episcopal visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

for conservative evangelical members of the Church of England. * GAFCON in South Africa was started on 3 September 2009 by the initiative of Bishop

Bethlehem Nopece Nceba Bethlehem Nopece (born 1950) is a South African Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Port Elizabeth in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa from 2001 to 2018. He is a theological conservative, the leading name of the Anglican realign ...

, of the Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth. It incorporates Anglicans from three denominations: the

Anglican Church of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are loc ...

, the Church of England in South Africa and the

Traditional Anglican Communion The Traditional Anglican Church (TAC), formerly the Traditional Anglican Communion, is an international church consisting of national provinces in the continuing Anglican movement, independent of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Cant ...

. * GAFCON in Australia was started on 26 March 2015 in Melbourne, in a conference that reunited 460 members, including 40 from New Zealand, attended by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, from the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordi ...

, chairman of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, from the Anglican Church of Uganda, and Archbishop

Glenn Davies Glenn Naunton Davies (born 1950) is a retired Australian Anglican bishop. Since August 2022 he has served as bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross, an Anglican diocese set up outside of the Anglican Church of Australia. He previously serv ...

, from the

. Archdeacon

Richard Condie Richard Condie, (born 1942) is a Canadian animator, filmmaker, musician and voice actor. Condie is best known for his 1985 animated short '' The Big Snit'' at the National Film Board of Canada and has won six international awards for ''Getting ...

, from the

Anglican Diocese of Melbourne The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847Eliud Wabukala from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

sent a message of support read at the conferences. Video greetings were also sent by Archbishop Foley Beach of the

, and Bishop

of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania and chairman of GAFCON Australia. Rev. Jay Behan became the chair of GAFCON New Zealand. The creation of GAFCON New Zealand was a result of the passing of Motion 30 by the

Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia ( mi, Te Hāhi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tīreni, ki Ngā Moutere o te Moana Nui a Kiwa; formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand) is a province of the Anglican Communion serv ...

and the subsequent document "A Way Forward", proposing the blessing of same-sex marriages, presented at their General Synod in May 2014. The Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand was established in 2019 with Behan as the inaugural bishop.

Members

Member Provinces

Non-provincial GAFCON branches

References

External links

Official website

The Jerusalem Declaration

Constructing the boundaries of Anglican orthodoxy: An analysis of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)
{cbignore, bot=medic an article from the journal Religion on GAFCON and the evolution of FCA Anglicanism Anglican realignment Anglican Church in North America