“No longer any hope for a unified Communion”

One of the saddest stories I have seen in awhile was just published in the New York Times: “Conservative Anglicans Hold Rival Conference.” This “alternative” to the Lambeth Conference, the Global Anglican Future Conference (or GAFCON), is currently being held in Jerusalem in stark opposition to the pro-homosexual leaders in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. In conjunction with the conference, these conservative Anglican leaders have produced a “manifesto,” entitled The Way, the Truth, and the Life: Theological Resources for a Pilgrimage to a Global Anglican Future, which expresses the reason for the new council. In this document, the leaders of GAFCON state:

There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion. The intransigence of those who reject Biblical authority continues to obstruct our mission, and it now seems that the Communion is being forced to choose between following their innovations or continuing on the path that the Church has followed since the time of the Apostles. We have made enormous efforts since 1997 in seeking to avoid this crisis, but without success. Now we confront a moment of decision. If we fail to act, we risk leading millions of people away from the faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures and also, even more seriously, we face the real possibility of denying our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It seems clear that these leaders are clearing the ground for an alternative Anglican church. The split is all but complete. The question now is: which churches in the U.S. will follow suit? And what happens to the worldwide Anglican Communion? Truly, a sad day.