In case you missed it … 10(ish) things I’ve recently(ish) shared elsewhere.

(1) Worth setting this up: ‘if you’re unconscious or unable to speak, how will first responders know about any medical conditions you have or who to contact? … Most smartphones allow you to set up an Emergency Medical ID that can be accessed directly from the lock screen.’ Why Emergency Contacts & Medical IDs Matter

(2) Hoping that Sarah Mullally’s time as archbishop will be less frenetic than that of her predecessor (but I fear that Andrew Atherstone is in a for a frenetic few months, as he ‘is writing Bishop Mullally’s biography’, as he did for Justin Welby): Sarah Mullally will be a Primate who takes care.

(3) Not sure what’s going on in the (G)global Anglican Communion, but it looks worryingly like the beginning of a split – within the ‘orthodox’ provinces.

  • The Gafcon Primates Council declared that they are cutting all ties with Canterbury, and that they are the true Anglican Communion. The membership seems to be 12 primates (plus a general secretary). Interestingly, two of those primates are also members of IASCUFO, whose Nairobi-Cairo Proposals of December 2024 are an attempt to reform the Communion from within, making it more conciliar, and allowing ‘degrees of communion’. One of those two primates, Archbishop Samy Shehata (Alexandria), is also very senior in the GSFA, which is the other ‘orthodox’ Anglican body along with Gafcon (click on ‘Team’ under ‘Our Structure’).
  • GSFA has been issuing their own statements recently, first on 29 September in response to the appointment of a new Archbishop of Wales. In that statement, they reaffirmed their commitment to the ‘Covenant’: ‘“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”’. (The ‘Covenant’ has lots of overlaps with the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.) GSFA’s other recent statement, on 3 October, in response to the announcement about the next Archbishop of Canterbury, also expresses commitment to reforming the Anglican Communion from within: ‘To remedy this, the GSFA offers to all orthodox Provinces a framework of covenanted relationships, rooted in an explicit commitment to orthodox Anglican doctrine and mutual accountability which we commend to the whole Communion as a matter of urgency.’
  • I don’t know what this all means, but it’s certainly possible to discern different voices among ‘orthodox’ Anglicans. Is this the beginning of a split, with some cutting ties with Canterbury altogether, and others trying to reform the existing Anglican Communion from within?
  • Helpful analysis from The Living Church: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion
  • More context: the Gafcon statement was made in Sydney at a meeting of ‘a group of Primates and the founding fathers of Gafcon’ then ratified at ‘an online Global Primates Meeting’. (GSFA mentioned at 23:00.) Enough’s Enough! – A Bible-Centred Reordering of Global Anglicanism – with Laurent Mbanda (The Pastor’s Heart)
  • This is quite heartfelt (and pointed), from Matthew S.C. Olver at The Living Church (I fear I might not be too surprised about the answer to Question 1…): ‘You Have Broken My Heart’ – A Letter to My Siblings in GAFCON.
  • Michael Bird: ‘these demands will be divisive within GAFCON provinces and GAFCON sympathetic diocese and churches. The GAFCON exhortation is, in effect, “Pick a side and burn your bridges.” But many conservative Anglicans will not be willing to do that, at least not yet.’ The Anglican Schism: A Brief Guide to What Just Happened and What it Means
  • Important background information about GAFCON’s statement on the Global Anglican Communion, in an article published by The Living Church: The Inside Story on GAFCON’s Communiqué. The statement was approved in a short online meeting: ‘seven of GAFCON’s 12 primates attended, and an eighth primate confirmed his support the next day. The secretariat has not heard from the four other primates. One [said] he was not invited to the meeting.’ ‘TLC attempted to contact the leader of every Anglican Communion member church that has been associated with GAFCON and received only two replies. Both archbishops acknowledged they had serious reservations about the project but requested anonymity.’ Kenya’s position is unclear. One bishop said: ‘No archbishop can take Kenya away without changing the church’s law. This will be hard to achieve. Breaking with Canterbury may result in breaking the church locally, creating two provinces.’
  • More on the GSFA’s position in a separate article: GSFA Leader Questions GAFCON Communiqué. As I suspected, this looks like the beginnings of a split within the ‘orthodox’ wing of global Anglicanism.
  • If you’re following what’s going on with GAFCON and the Anglican Communion, this from The Living Churchpodcast is well worth listening to: Questions for GAFCON. (For context, based in the USA, ‘The Living Church Foundation is a ministry of unity that champions the catholic and evangelical faith by supporting and resourcing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion’.)

(4) I think Nigel Biggar makes a strong case here: Is there a case for slavery reparations?. (See also the recent video/podcast at Irreverend.)

(5) I’ve joined a choir: the Cleveland Philharmonic Choir. My first concert was great! You might spot me in one of the photos on Facebook.

(6) The new CofE attendance figures prove that the claims made by Bible Society’s Quiet Revival report just don’t hold up, says Tim Wyatt: CofE attendance is up – but it’s no quiet revival.

(7) Enjoyed reading this feature about Hurworth, one of the villages where I am the vicar: Hurworth near Darlington ‘one of North East loveliest spots’.

(8) Astonishing. We know that the (CofE) Church Commissioners have around £11bn in assets. Well, Trinity, Wall Street – just one church, and by no means a megachurch – has assets which ‘were valued at more than $6 billion in 2020’: Wall Street church resists contributing double to parish-share scheme.

(9) Is ‘genocidal’ (or ‘genocide’) the right way to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza? Nigel Biggar lays things out clearly, as you might expect: Israel’s acts are not ‘genocidal’. (Before you shout ‘rage bait’ – Oxford Word of the Year – let me add: You’ll never guess how it ends!)

(10) Verse 2 seems to be the place to find the richest Christology:

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see!
Hail, the Incarnate Deity!

God of God, Light of Light

He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all

a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ

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