The primates who are expected to serve on the Primate’s Council of the GAFCON movement have issued a response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s concerns about the GAFCON communique and a critique of the present form of the proposed Anglican Covenant has also been posted.
They respond to a number of the questions the Archbishop raised in his letter, including the Uniqueness of Christ, Legitimacy, Discipline, and Faith and False Teaching.
Their response to the Archbishop on the question of authority for instance reads:
“On authority. As the Virginia Report notes, in the Anglican tradition, authority is not concentrated in a single centre, but rather across a number of persons and bodies. This Council is a first step towards bringing greater order to the Communion, both for the sake of bringing long overdue discipline and as a reforming initiative for our institutions.
Whilst we respect territoriality, it cannot be absolute. For missionary and pastoral reasons there have long been overlapping jurisdictions in Anglicanism itself – historically in South Africa, New Zealand, the Gulf and Europe. In situations of false teaching, moreover, it has sometimes been necessary for other bishops to intervene to uphold apostolic faith and order.”
Read the full statement here.
Additionally, the GAFCON Theological Resource Team has released a statement criticizing the St. Andrew’s Draft of the proposed Covenant stating in part that:
Sadly this new draft of An Anglican Covenant is both seriously limited and severely flawed. Whether or not the tool of covenant is the right way to approach the crisis within the Communion, this document is defective and its defects cannot be corrected by piecemeal amendment because they are fundamental. The St. Andrews Draft is theologically incoherent and its proposals unworkable. It has no prospect of success since it fails to address the problems which have created the crisis and the new realities which have ensued.