Monday, June 23, 2008

GAFCON: Blowing Smoke

This evening I logged on to check email and found the Anglican Blogosphere had exploded with the news that eight people had been banned from GAFCON by its organizers. Apparently, Ruth Gledhill first reported this news. It has since spread like wildfire. It has even prompted the creation of a Facebook page.

The banned individuals are Bishop Robert O'Neill of Colorado; Mr. Davis MacIyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria; The Rev. Colin Coward of Changing Attitude in England; the Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity USA; the Rev. Scott Gunn; Mr. Louie Crew, founder of Integrity; Mrs. Deborah Edmunds, the personal assistant of Bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem; and the Rev. Robert Edmunds, Bishop Dawani's chaplain.

As yet, there is no mention of the banning on the GAFCON website.

Here is The Guardian's report on recent happenings at the conference... ummmm...pilgrimage. Take a look at Archbishop Akinola's opening remarks. He doesn't seem to have anything new to say. Not enough real news, or nothing really newsworthy? Maybe we can create some buzz if we ban some people from the...ummm...pilgrimage. As I read through the multitude of blogs and news stories I found that this idea also occurred to Jim Naughton of The Lead.

On the other hand, as any good magician knows, distract the audience's attention with one hand while the other hand does the mechanics of the magic trick. Here is Mark Harris' analysis. Let's not be distracted by the smoke being blown.

Peace,
Jeffri

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