A Letter from Bishop Chris
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of you will have heard about the Abuja Affirmation released at the end of the recent GAFCON gathering in Nigeria. Because it has already attracted both enthusiasm and criticism in various corners of the Anglican world, I believe it is important to offer a brief explanation of the document in a spirit of gratitude and hope.
The Abuja Affirmation is a statement issued by a gathering of Anglican leaders who desire to see our Communion renewed in faithfulness to the gospel once delivered to the saints. It seeks to reaffirm the historic teaching of the Church as Anglicans have received it, rooted in Holy Scripture, expressed in the catholic creeds, and reflected in the Anglican formularies that have guided our common life. What makes the Abuja Affirmation noteworthy is not merely its reaffirmation of doctrine, but its recognition that the present moment in Anglican life calls for renewed clarity about how faithful leadership and fellowship are to be exercised across the Communion.
It also addresses a reality we cannot ignore: the Instruments of Communion (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates’ Meeting) no longer provide the theological clarity or discipline required for the life of a global Communion. In recent decades they have repeatedly failed to resolve disputes over doctrine and practice, leaving provinces and dioceses without clear guidance or meaningful accountability. At the same time, these structures still reflect patterns formed in a colonial era when Anglican life revolved around England. Today the great majority of Anglicans live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. A global Church of this scale and diversity requires forms of leadership and fellowship that reflect its present reality and support its common mission. I believe the Abuja Affirmation offers a way to strengthen the Communion without breaking it. Its purpose is not schism, but renewal—encouraging broader participation and shared responsibility.
Earlier this week, our Provincial Dean, Bishop Julian Dobbs, shared with me in an email exchange his experience of the GAFCON gathering. He wrote, “One of the most humbling features of this gathering has been its breadth. Bishops and leaders have come from 27 provinces, 347 bishops and 121 others present. This has not felt narrow, reactionary, and very much ‘not’ western. Rather, it has been a deeply encouraging expression of global Anglican Christianity with brothers and sisters from across the world bearing witness together to Christ, Scripture, and our Anglican inheritance. As an ACNA bishop, it has been a humbling privilege to be here, not as though we were driving events, but as fellow stewards alongside many faithful Anglicans (representatives of two thirds of the current communion provinces).”
Personally, I receive this development with a measure of gladness and hope. Not because it solves every difficulty before us in the Anglican Communion—no document could do that—but because it represents a sincere effort to articulate our common faith and to seek pathways for cooperation among those committed to the same inheritance.
As Anglicans we have always sought to hold together truth and charity, conviction and humility. My prayer is that conversations surrounding the Abuja Affirmation will be marked by those same virtues. We should approach such matters neither with fear nor with triumphalism, but with the steady confidence that the Lord continues to guide His Church.
I ask your prayers for the leaders of the Anglican Communion, for those who participated in the drafting of this statement, and for all who seek to serve Christ faithfully in our generation. May the Holy Spirit grant us wisdom, patience, and unity in the truth of the gospel.
Blessings in Christ,
+Chris