Who we are:
St John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church, Vancouver is a community of Christians dedicated to the exposition and teaching of the Word of God, to the spreading of the good news of the Gospel at home and abroad, and to the application of God's purpose in our own lives and families.
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GAFCON is a call to vision and action for mission, based firmly on the “faith once delivered to the saints” and revealed in Scripture, to reform the church and transform persons, communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
GAFCON – Global Anglican Future Conference:
The Global Anglican Future Conference took place in June this year. Its purpose was three fold:
- To provide an opportunity for the fellowship to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Christ.
- Develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians within the current context.
- Prepare for an Anglican future in which the Gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centered mission is a top priority.
GAFCON outlines the mission imperatives for the next 25 years and how to begin to respond to them. GAFCON was a pilgrimage to the places of the Biblical story to renew our faith and commitment. GAFCON envisions the Global Anglican Future.
The GAFCON final statement can be viewed here.
What does GAFCON mean for us at St. John’s?
1. It affirms our identity
GAFCON reminds us we belong to a large, vital, growing, diverse, faithful global Anglican family; a family we can be proud of; a family which wants to be united, not just by common links to Canterbury but by the doctrine which is revealed in Scripture. GAFCON is not schism, nor a church within a church, we are not splitting or breaking away from the Anglican communion. Instead, GAFCON creates a Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans which affirms the Jerusalem Declaration, a statement of the core of simple Christianity as we Anglicans have received it.
2. It offers Accountability and Order
GAFCON is about the renewal of Anglicanism. It address the sickness of the communion and the failure of the communion structures to deal with that sickness by creating three new realities:
a. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
b. The Jerusalem Declaration
c. The Primates’ Council
At the heart of GAFCON is the robust restatement of authentic Anglicanism in the Jerusalem Declaration.
3. It is a Movement not a Meeting
More than a joyful face to face encounter with brothers and sisters from around the globe, GAFCON indicates something of the way forward by calling for a new confessing Anglican province in North America.
Reflections on GAFCON by members of St. John's can be read here.
Rev. David Short's sermon at GAFCON: |
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Rev. David Short |
Details of the GAFCON conference:
- GAFCON website.
- The Way, the Truth and the Life is an excellent reference and discussion book prepared for GAFCON delegates prior to the conference and it may be downloaded here.
- Anglican TV.
- The Anglican Essentials blog.
- Photos of the conference posted to the Anglican Network in Canada website.
Related links:
Anglican Network in Canada: www.anglicannetwork.ca
Global South Anglican www.globalsouthanglican.org
The Common Cause Partnership www.united-anglicans.org
Anglican Mainstream www.anglican-mainstream.net
VirtueOnline www.virtueonline.org
Church of England Evangelical Council www.ceec.info
More information on GAFCON:
The following articles are very helpful in understanding the need, importance, and purpose of GAFCON.
What is GAFCON? – Russell Powell 
Doing the Lambeth Walk – Robert Tong
The Limits of Fellowship – Philip Jensen
Anglican realignment overview video:
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Anglican realignment – Who is leaving? 1 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video  |
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Anglican Realignment – What is the crossroads? 2 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – How to remain faithful 3 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – Global Anglican response to the Diocese of New Westminster 4 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – Episcopal Oversight at St. John's 5 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – On same sex blessing 6 of 10 Dr. Rev. J. I. Packer of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – First order issues 7 of 10 Dr. Rev. J. I. Packer of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – Implications for the Church 8 of 10 Dr. Rev. J. I. Packer of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – The future of the Church 9 of 10 Dr. Rev. J. I. Packer of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
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Anglican Realignment – Who is leaving who? 10 of 10 Rev. David Short of St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver play video |
Crossroads DVD – an overview of the issues:
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A Crossroads: St. John’s and the Anglican Re-Alignment |
Statements, commentaries, and letters:
A Pastoral Statement from the Primate and Metropolitans of the Anglican Church of Canada PDF 69kb
A Pastoral Statement from the Primate and Metropolitans of the Anglican Church of Canada, with Comment from George Egerton PDF 72 kb
Letter from Archbishop Gregory Venables, read November 22, 2007 at the Anglican Network in Canada national conference in Burlington, Ontario PDF 51 kb
Rev. Dr. J. I. Packer, Global Realignment; Who We Are And Where We Stand: A Theological Perspective PDF 96kb
Letters of support for the Anglican Network In Canada, November 22-23, 2007:
The Right Revd. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburg, Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network and Chair of the Common Cause Partnership PDF 69 kb
The Most Revd. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, Primate of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East PDF 53 kb
From the Most Revd. Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of the Province of New South Wales PDF 48 kb
