Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia responds to GAFCON plan for schismatic diocese: “orthodox Anglicans can continue with confidence as members of the Anglican Church of Australia. To suggest or insinuate otherwise is to not speak the truth.” [emphasis added]
GAFCON has issued a press release, GAFCON Australia backs plan to form non-geographic diocese for Australian Anglicans. The diocese would be an alternative, outside the Anglican Communion, for disaffected members of the Anglican Church of Australia.
GAFCON is the affiliation of conservative Anglican Communion provinces and schismatic groups in the geographic territory of other Anglican Communion provinces. In North America that group is ACNA.
Church Times has GAFCON ark too early, Australian Primate observes.
Archbishop Smith criticised the board of GAFCON for not showing restraint until the Australian Church had had an opportunity to discuss the Appellate Tribunal’s decision. Instead, GAFCON’s decision was “ramping up the tensions among us”, he said. GAFCON’s move, he continued, was in contrast to the “very significant restraint . . . shown by people who might want to see movement toward the blessing of same-sex couples”.
Despite the forecasts, there had not been a “flood” of blessings of same-sex unions after the tribunal decision, he said, “Not a flood, not a trickle, not a drip”; so “faithful, orthodox Anglicans can continue with confidence as members of the Anglican Church of Australia. To suggest or insinuate otherwise is to not speak the truth.”
Archbishop Geoffrey Smith’s letter is here (PDF).
Smith was elected primate in April 2020 over Richard Condie, chair of GAFCON Australia. In an earlier attempt to elect a primate, conservatives coalesced around Condie, successfully blocking Smith’s election at that time.