Official Diocesan Blog

By The Leadership of Reconciliation Anglican Church

Jerusalem’s rich religious history and its well preserved archaeological record provided a poignant backdrop to GAFCON 2018. The final conference picture of almost 2000 delegates from around the globe gathered as one body on the Temple Steps in the Old City is a beautiful pictorial summary of the gathering (See photo on page 2). It is also a reminder of the meeting’s location: Jerusalem. The city figures large in seemingly everything, which prompted this columnist to do a bit of Biblical story checking.

The slogan, “Think Globally, Act Locally”, was coined in 1970 by a leader of the environmental movement. It was meant to get people thinking about the effect their actions had on a global scale and encouraged them to do good things for the environment in their own homes and communities.

Cultivating a desire and calling to pray for the world either individually or corporately can be a challenging endeavor, especially when it comes to finding quality information in this saturated marketplace of ideas. To that end, we recommend the prayer resources by Operation World, Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation and Pray for the World (an abridged version). Operation World is both the organization that researches and writes the books and the name of the flagship prayer handbook; all titles are published by InterVarsity Press.

Jenni Bartling

GAFCON: Conference, Family Reunion, or Taste of Heaven? When I returned home from attending GAFCON, my sister asked me if I had to “pinch [my] self” while I was in Jerusalem. I responded, “Are you kidding me? I am still pinching myself!”

I’d never even dared to dream my husband and I would have such an opportunity. And the experience exceeded my expectations. I’ve yet to wrap my head around all that took place during that one week in June, but I do know that a gathering of 1,950 Anglicans from 50 nations will always be more than just a conference!

One of the most powerful and symbolic moments of the most recent Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem happened at the beginning of the first day. The conference MCs had us welcome each other by continent. They had those from Europe stand up (dozens stood) while the rest of the world said, “We welcome you in Jesus name.” Likewise, others stood: those from North America (a few hundred); Oceania (a few hundred); Asia (dozens); South America (dozens). But, when Africa was invited to stand, half (or more) of the 1,950 participants stood up.

Every year on the first weekend of November, certain members of the diocese gather together to conduct business required by the constitution and canons. This business meeting is called "Convention," and about 175 people, clergy and laity are "delegates" who attend.

As announced last month, Bishop Jim Hobby is implementing some changes to the Diocesan Staff that he believes will allow us to better serve the clergy and congregations of the diocese.

After a few days of recovery and reflection, here are some final thoughts about GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem.

1. From the overall experience (worship, teaching, fellowship, networking, etc.), I believe that Gafcon is a vibrant, global missional movement. To see African, Asian, and Latin American leadership was thrilling. Colonialism is over and the fruit of sacrificial mission work has fully matured, producing more sacrificial mission. Awe-inspiring! God is using the crisis in the Anglican Communion to forge a missional movement led by the Global South.

Dear Friends,

Today was again filled with great teaching, inspiring worship, and encouraging fellowship.

Our Bible exposition focused on the story in Luke of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Our preacher exhorted us to preach Jesus in the Old Testament and to preach well.