[ELO] Jerusalem bishop calls GAFCON participants to reconciliation, not division

[Matthew Davies]

Episcopal Life Online
June 22, 2008

Jerusalem bishop calls GAFCON participants to reconciliation, not division

By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani has
called on participants of the Global Anglican Future Conference
(http://www.gafcon.org) (GAFCON) to approach their summit in a spirit of
"peace, reconciliation and goodwill," saying that "it is crucial to the
Anglican witness here in Jerusalem and to the wider world that this is so."

Dawani, who has expressed concerns that the June 22-29 conference would
import "inter-Anglican conflict" into his diocese and made earlier calls for
it to be moved, addressed GAFCON participants during a June 22 service of
Evening Prayer at St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem.

Describing the Anglican community in the Holy Land as "orthodox," Dawani
told ENS: "We do not agree with recent developments in the Episcopal Church
concerning sexuality, but that is not going to divide us. Unity is at the
heart of the gospel and we as indigenous Christians in this Holy Land are
committed to the work of peace, justice and reconciliation."

Expected to draw more than 1,000 conservative Anglicans, including some 280
bishops, the GAFCON summit is viewed by some critics as a "divisive event"
and a rival to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, but is described by its
organizers as an opportunity to develop a "renewed understanding of our
identity as Anglican Christians."

Among GAFCON's participants are Episcopal Church bishops Keith Ackerman of
Quincy, Jack Iker of Fort Worth, Peter Beckwith of Springfield, Bob Duncan
of Pittsburgh, five Anglican primates and several former Episcopalians, some
of whom have been consecrated as bishops in other Anglican provinces but are
not officially recognized as such by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

GAFCON also brings together several Anglican breakaway groups that have
formed in recent years.

Refuting claims that GAFCON is about schism, Iker told ENS that the
conference is "all about a renewal of confidence in Anglicanism."

Ackerman said that some of the bishops at GAFCON will also be attending the
Lambeth Conference. "If this is a rival to Lambeth, nobody told us," he
said.

During his address, Dawani underscored his commitment to the Lambeth
Conference, emphasizing that the once-a-decade gathering of bishops, set for
July 16-August 3 in Canterbury, England, "is so important to our ongoing
life together and for the mission of the church."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_98105_ENG_HTM.htm