Went to ‘Be Faithful’ yesterday, the launch conference of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans [FCA] in the UK. It was terrific to catch up with so many friends, many of whom had travelled from all over the country to be there. I just jumped on the 159.
Ruth Gledhill was there. She arrived late, left for a press briefing before lunch and never returned. Still, great that she came! She wrote about it here. With the execption of Peter Jensen’s address, she missed the best bit.
The afternoon session was hugely encouraging and stimulating. It needed to be. The combination of a full stomach courtesy of Starbucks, a warm room courtesy of the lack of air conditioning and a wandering train of thought courtesy of Vinay Samuel I was barely hanging onto consciousness. However, the media boys at St Helen’s did a great job with some audio visual stimulation on the issues of mission, ministry, stewardship, fellowship and oversight. Even William Taylor settled into the role of chat show host cum compere. Christine Perkin had it taped from the start!
These five emphases deliberately picked up on the Reform Covenant from a few years’ back. A copy can be found here. My observations to it can be found here.
If it hadn’t been for input from Vaughan Roberts, Richard Coekin and Peter Jensen I’d have been hugely disappointed with the day. As it was I came away reminded that our place in the Anglican Church is still worth fighting for. But the real work is done on the ground in our churches and on our knees before the Lord.
The full text of Archbishop Peter Jensen’s address can be found here. It’s pure gold. He’s one of the reasons I still feel it’s alright to be Anglican.
