The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans is a global network of conservative Anglican churches which formed in 2008 in response to what it claimed was an ongoing theological crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Conservative Anglicans met in 2008 at the Global Anglican Future Conference, creating the Jerusalem Declaration and establishing the FCA.
Founding
The Global Anglican Future Conference was held near Jerusalem in June 2008 at the initiative of theologically conservative African, Asian, Australian, South American, North American and European Anglican leaders who opposed the ordination of homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions by member churches of the Anglican Communion. The meeting came as the culmination of a series of controversies in the Anglican Communion which began in 2003 when the openly non-celibate gay bishop Gene Robinson was consecrated by The Episcopal Church in the USA. GAFCON was organised as a conservative alternative to the 2008 Lambeth Conference which was boycotted by many traditionalists. The GAFCON Final Statement recognises the Archbishop of Canterbury for his historic role in the Anglican Church but denies that his recognition is the cornerstone of Anglican identity. The statement also called for the formation of "A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans". The FCA was instrumental in the formation of the Anglican Church in North America in 2009. The ACNA was formed as an alternative church structure for those disaffected by the official Anglican structures in the USA and Canada. The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America, which covers much of South America, is a key constituent of the FCA movement. The Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia played an important role in forming the FCA and its Archbishop Peter Jensen is the FCA's secretary.
Organization
The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans aims to extend the goals of GAFCON into a movement, to "preach the biblical gospel... all over the world" and "provide aid to... faithful Anglicans" disaffected from their original churches. FCA recognizes the Jerusalem Declaration, written at the 2008 GAFCON meeting, as a "contemporary rule". The FCA is administered by a "Primates' Council" originally consisting of Primates from the African provinces of the Anglican Communion.
By region
The FCA in the United Kingdom and Ireland was started on 6 July 2009, drawing together plenty but not all conservative Anglicans in the Church of England and other parts of the British Isles. The Free Church of England is also represented on the Steering Group. It has supported the Anglican Mission in England, launched at the GAFCON II, as a safe haven for orthodox Anglicans inside and outside the Church of England structures. In 2015, Rod Thomas was consecrated the provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members of the Church of England.
The FCA in New Zealand was started on April 2016 in two conferences that took place in Auckland and Christchurch reuniting nearly 500 members from the entire country. The FCA of New Zealand is the local expression of the GAFCON, whose chairman, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, from Kenya, sent a message of support read at the conferences. Video greetings were also sent by Archbishop Foley Beach, of the Anglican Church in North America, and Bishop Richard Condie, of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania and chairman of the FCA Australia. Rev. Jay Behan became the chair of the FCA New Zealand. The creation of the FCA New Zealand was a result of the passing of Motion 30 by the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and the subsequent document "A Way Forward", proposing the blessing of same-sex marriages, presented at their General Synod in May 2014. The Church of Confessing Anglicans of Aotearoa/New Zealand was established in 2019 with Behan as the inaugural bishop.
