GAFCON gathering claims 'sense of betrayal' at liberal Anglican teaching

A gathering of conservative Anglicans organised by the former Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, has called for liberal bishops not to be invited to the 2020 Lambeth Conference.

A GAFCON meeting for Anglicans in 'restricted circumstances' – where practising Christian faith is difficult or dangerous – in Dubai referred in a closing statement to 'the sense of betrayal they experience when the very gospel for which they are suffering is being undermined and denied in other parts of the Anglican Communion. It grieves us that those who reject the clarity and authority of the Scriptures, the universal teaching of the Church, the classical Anglican formularies and the decisions of the Lambeth Conference undermine the credibility of our witness amongst our fellow citizens of other faiths and of none,' the statement said.

It called for representatives of breakaway groups like the Anglican Church of North America and the Anglican Province of Brazil to be invited and warned that 'the fellowship in the Anglican Communion has been torn at the deepest level by those who preach another gospel and those who urge us to continue to "walk together" with them'.

Among those present were the Primate of All Nigeria, GAFCON chairman Nicholas Okoh, the Primate of South Sudan, the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, the Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and other senior bishops, including the Archbishop of Jos, the new general secretary. Together they represent the 'vast majority of faithful Anglicans', according to GAFCON.