Dear
Friend in Christ,
We are so happy to be connected with you through these monthly emails. We also invite you, if you haven't already, to connect with via
Facebook,
LinkedIn, and our
website. Please also feel free to contact us via
email or by leaving comments at any of our social media venues. We want to work together for the health of today's and tomorrow's Church--and, for that, communication is vital!
We recently enjoyed meeting with brothers and sisters in Wales, England, Florida, and are now meeting with believers from all over the world at GAFCON, where EFAC has a exhibit. But, we want more. We are reminded of Romans 1:9-12.
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Y
es, we do pray for you, but we also want to come and see you so that we can be even more mutually encouraged. Please invite us!
Grace and Peace to you from your fellow EFACters
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A Short History of the Theological Resource Network (TRN)
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by Rev'd Dr. Chris Wright
I'd known John Stott and Vinay Samuel personally since the 70’s but was still unprepared for what they asked me to take on while sitting in John Stott’s small flat in Bridford Mews, London, in 1989. I had returned the year before with my family from India after teaching at the Union Biblical Seminary in Pune for five years. They invited me to lead a new initiative within EFAC, namely a Theological Resource Team (which quickly changed to the
Theological Resource Network
- or
TRN
for short). At that time, John Stott was the founder of EFAC and Vinay was its honorary General Secretary.
The TRN was to bring together evangelical Anglican theologians from around the world to reflect and write on theological issues of relevance to the Anglican Communion, seeking to inculcate more biblically orthodox resources for Anglican faith and life
. For a while we considered the motto “Biblical Obedience in the Anglican Communion” – but since that produced the acronym of a defunct British airline, we never used it publicly!
A small steering committee was established under the oversight of the new honorary International Co-ordinator, Bishop David Evans. With myself as Chair, the committee included Chris Sugden, Ida Glaser, Paddy Benson and Graham Kings. From 1989 to 2003 TRN hosted a biennial consultation in different parts of the world, including Kenya, Vancouver, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Jamaica. Participants over the years were widely varied. Those I remember were: Robinson Cavalcanti and Simea Meldrum from Brazil; Emmanuel Gbonigi and Ben Kwashi from Nigeria; David Gitari, Samson Mwaluda and Esther Mombo from Kenya; Philip LeFeuvre from South Africa; Peter Moore and Simcha Newton from the USA; Harry Robinson from Canada; Alf Cooper from Chile; Juliet Thomas and David Emmanuel Singh from India; Las Newman from Jamaica. Doubtless, there were many others who have slipped from my mind.
Our first gathering, in Mombasa in 1990, at the beginning of the Decade of Evangelism, addressed the topic, “Evangelism with Theological Credibility” and produced a book,
One Gospel – Many Clothes
. We then went on to tackle issues in biblical authority and hermeneutics, social and ethical issues such as ministry in contexts of poverty and oppression, the role of the family, and inter-faith issues, such as our engagement with Islam.
Our methodology was somewhat different from the standard format of theological consultations, where the whole programme is taken up with lengthy presentations of papers prepared in advance by experts, followed by a modicum of Question and Answer and discussion. We turned that inside out, and built each conference around case-studies shaped by a template of key questions, which were sent and read in advance. These rooted our discussion in actual missional practice “on the ground.” We then allowed our theology to flow and build from biblical engagement with, and critique of, the real-life materials we had on the table between us. It was gloriously unpredictable, but wonderfully fruitful. The results after 1990 were published by Chris Sugden in issues of
Transformation,
with news and summaries of the events in the
EFAC Bulletin.
The TRN took a major role in hosting and setting the agenda for two international conferences, bringing delegates together from around the whole EFAC movement within the Communion. These took place at Canterbury in 1993 (with John Stott himself giving the Bible expositions), and in Nairobi in 2003. At the Nairobi conference, Bishop David Evans retired as honorary International Co-ordinator, a role that George Kovoor then accepted. I myself also took that opportunity in 2003 to step down from the responsibility of leading EFAC-TRN, after 14 years of consultation planning and chairing with my small team. I had, in the meantime, moved from being Principal of All Nations Christian College to my present post as International Ministries Director for Langham Partnership (also at the invitation of John Stott!).
I am very encouraged that EFAC has been re-launched with fresh vigour and leadership, and especially that it has taken on the theological task that TRN began two decades ago!
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What in the World is an EFACter?
Those of you who will be joining us and visiting our conference stand at GAFCON will see a sign where you are encouraged to be an "EFACter". Richard Crocker's dog, seen here having helped unpack an EFAC box, is not one. But, what is one? And do you want to be one?
An EFACter is someone who subscribes to the EFAC
Basis of Faith
and believes in our
Vision and Purpose
, as outlined on the EFAC
website
. An EFACter works to encourage and develop biblically faithful fellowship, teaching and mission throughout the Anglican world. An EFACter is a Bible person, a Gospel person, and a Church person.
If all of these describe you, you are an effective EFACter. Congratulations! Now, read below to find out more about how to live out your calling as an EFACter.
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EFAC News
What's new?
First we now have a
team of intercessors
, who are willing and able to pray for us and for all EFAC chapters. So, if you chapter has a prayer need, please
email us
--it will go out with the next prayer request email.
What's new at
our website
? Check it out! We have a new posts (found on the homepage) and a couple of new papers (found on the Reading page).
For your convenience, we have linked them below, but to be kept absolutely up-to-date, go to our website frequently!
A Message from Revelation to the Church of Today
, inspired by Bishop Keith Sinclair's talk at the Evangelical Fellowship in the Church of Wales Read it
here
. Note also that you can read what Bishop Keith actually said in the adjacent paper.
Two papers from Church of England Evangelical Council. One is
Guarding the Deposit: Apostolic Truth for an Apostolic Church
. The other is
Gospel, Church and Marriage: Preserving Apostolic Faith and Life
. Both can be accessed via this
link
.
Incidentally, if you missed the
May newsletter
, it is available on the EFAC website under Resources, Reading, Newsletters. Or you could just click
here
.
While you're on our website anyway, check out the whole thing and
let us know
what you think! Input is welcome.
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Please join with EFAC in achieving the goal of encouraging and developing biblically faithful teaching and mission. Here are some suggestions for what you can do to help:
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Spread the Word!
When you receive the email newsletter,
share it with friends who may be interested.
Like EFAC Global on
Facebook and click
share on our posts, so that your Facebook friends see them, too.
Follow our
website and
share our posts through your social media feeds.
Invite us to your Church or church gathering, so that we can get to know you and your friends.
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Pray!
EFAC is having a two- part meeting of the International Council. The first has already happened in Jerusalem and the second will be in Nairobi. Pray for all the organization, the funding, and the attendees. Pray that the right people will join this vital EFAC group.
Please also pray for all EFACters around the world, that they will be faithful to the mission of Jesus Christ and powerful in His service.
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Give!
As we write, EFAC is helping the Kenyan delegation to see something of Israel while they are in Jerusalem for GAFCON. Please
give generously to this opportunity, which combines teaching with rest and fellowship.
EFAC is seeking financial support for our many exciting projects
.
Please help us balance the budget by
giving us what you won't miss
every month
. It won't hurt you, but it will help spread the gospel throughout the world.
Please note, the link above only works for the USA. If you are an EFACter from a different country, email us and we will advise you on the best way to give.
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