June Communiqué: GAFCON IV Edition

Dear people of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese: It has been a very full two months since I last wrote you at Easter! Five visits to parishes in three states, two ordinations, an American Anglican Council Board meeting, our very first Strategic Planning Meeting, and a journey to the momentous GAFCON IV in Kigali, Rwanda. And yes, my family and I did make time to rest and to be with our risen Lord. I truly hope that you are all remembering to do the same when those busy times come.

While all of those ministry activities are significant in their own way, and God was working in all of them, I want to highlight specifically the last two that I mentioned: the Strategic Planning Event and GAFCON.

I was honored to attend the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Kigali, Rwanda. A team of delegates from the Gulf Atlantic Diocese arrived April 16 and as I write this we are now en route home.

Many people have tried to describe what the experience was like, attending a conference of 1300 Anglicans from around the globe. Parts of it felt like home: greeting familiar faces from around the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), workshops from gifted presenters, singing songs we knew and loved, and of course, worshiping through shared liturgy. Other parts, however, provided a unique glimpse into the hoped-for vision of heavenly worship–brothers and sisters from every tribe and tongue, praying earnestly together, singing alongside one another, repenting together, and rejoicing together (see Revelation 7:9).

Two particularly moving moments of worship:

Just a few days before the conference, the leaders of Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans were deeply divided over numerous issues, and so we began GAFCON IV needing a miracle. As you can see in the Kigali Commitment, just such a miracle came about.

The stage is well set for our next season of renewal. I look forward to the meeting in Cairo 2024.… There, the GSFA will gather to continue their good and godly work of building, for the first time in history, a global Anglican Communion that is conciliar and covenantal, with provisions that discipline heresy and hold us accountable to one another into the future. To be clear, never before in the long history of the Anglican Communion (the third largest Christian community in the world and the largest body of Protestants in the world) have we had global structures to maintain good discipline – and now we will under these new structures.. I’m prayerful and expectantly thankful for what will happen in Cairo next year, as these godly structures will be filled with the same Gospel fervor experienced this week at GAFCON IV!

You can read more reflections from Fr. Andrew on this momentous event here.

The Rev. Leah Slawson joined the bishop's staff as Director of Safeguarding, responsible for our Safeguarding Our People program. This includes oversight of our Safeguarding Committee, comprised of three teams: the Response team, the Preventative team, and the Training team. The Safeguarding Our People Committee exists to protect our people, our congregations and communities and the diocese, from unnecessary or unforeseen risks; to assist with consistent and uniform policies throughout the diocese; and to help prevent, and respond with integrity to, crises arising under any diocesan policies through a supportive and transparent process.

• Peter Lebhar was ordained a deacon March 31.
• Megan Trautman was ordained a deacon March 31.
• Leah Slawson was ordained as a deacon May 7.
• Curtis Froisland was ordained a priest June 2.
• The Rev. David Trautman has been called as rector of Servants of Christ Anglican Church in Gainesville, FL.
• The Rev. Brian "B.G." Garrison has been called as priest-in-charge of Good Samaritan Anglican Church in Middleburg, FL. He will be transferring in from the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.