December newsletter with an introduction to our John Stott series, an update on EFAC's relaunch, and more!

Volume 8 | December, 2018 View as Webpage

Monthly News & Updates

Dear Friend in Christ,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your fellow EFACters! Richard and I have been and will be very busy this month (and longer), following up on all the amazing progress that was made at the meeting in Nairobi. What a privilege and joy to be working on something that the Lord is so obviously blessing!

Remember that last month we promised a surprise for you? TRN Director, Dr Peter Walker has obtained permission to make a few extracts from Focus on Christ by John Stott available to EFACters. The first of this excellent series is below.

Now, get yourself a hot or a cold drink (depending on where you live), settle down on a comfortable chair, and enjoy the December EFAC newsletter!

Please remember EFAC in your end-of-year giving . We have BIG plans for the coming year and need your prayers and help to achieve them. Projects include: starting many new chapters, publishing a couple of books, providing new chapters with a start-up kit, and much more. Details will be in the January newsletter.

The King is Speaking

by Dr. Peter Walker (seen teaching on the left)

The film The King’s Speech (2010) vividly portrays the power of a king addressing his people, as we hear the British King George VI speaking to the nation before the Second World War. How keenly people huddled around their radio sets in order to hear exactly what he was saying!

In the Bible, we have the speech of another—far, far greater—King. God is speaking to us in his Word, addressing us as his people. But are we listening? Are we “tuned in”?

I was speaking recently to someone who was reflecting on the way in which—not least because of the Internet—there are so, so many words out there in the “ether”, on the airwaves. “Words have become cheap”, she said, “So many words but less and less meaning!” And together we tried to coin a word for this death of the word in our culture: “legicide”, we mused, or perhaps “lexicide”?

Bombarded by a relentless barrage of wordy noise, of fake news, of multiple choices, it becomes difficult to turn aside to hear the “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 in AV), and deliberately tune into hear our Master speaking “in accents clear and still”.

One person who did tune in—on a daily basis for over 50 years—was EFAC’s founder, John Stott. He expected those working for him in the church to do as he did—setting their alarms very early to enjoy reading the Scriptures in prayer for an hour before daring to appear for breakfast. Woe betide those whose bedroom lights had not been on at 6.00 a.m.!

Out of this personal discipline—paying close attention to the Word of the Lord, puzzling over its problems, seeking understanding from the Spirit—there emerged John’s ministry of faithful preaching and lucid exposition of the biblical text.

Chris Wright (who has inherited some of John’s ministry in running the Langham Partnership) once summarized John’s gift as being that of a “skilled exegete of the New Testament text”. John’s writing is a legacy that brings the magisterial beauty of the New Testament before our eyes and causes our hearts to “burn within us” as we hear through its pages the voice of the King addressing us as his people.

And so, we are bringing you over the coming months three or four extended extracts from one of his many books, Focus on Christ , which is a written version of a sermon series he gave in London forty years ago and which is soon to be republished by Langham Publishing under the new title Life in Christ . (1)

Speaking in the aftermath of the controversy caused by the publication of The Myth of God Incarnate (1976) he noted that: “over against every denial of the incarnation, the church needs to reaffirm its conviction that the Christian faith is a Christ-centred faith (a faith in God as revealed in his incarnate Son) and that the Christian life is a Christ-centred life (a life lived in fellowship with Jesus Christ).”

John then set out to give us a fresh portrait of the fully-revealed biblical Christ and to encourage us make him the very centre of our thoughts and our actions. Let him continue in his own words:

My theme in this little book is that Jesus Christ is the centre of Christianity, and that therefore both the Christian faith and the Christian life, if they are to be authentic, must be focused on Christ .

My concern is to examine the implications of a Christian faith and life that are focused on Christ, and to do so by means of the prepositions which are used in the New Testament in reference to him. In themselves prepositions are insignificant little words, but in the New Testament they are also signposts to profound theological truths. Many prepositions are pressed into service to portray the richness of a Christian’s relation to Christ. We are said to live our lives “through” Christ, “on” him, “in” him, “under” him, “with” him, “for” him and “like” him. Our relationship to Christ is thus displayed as a multi-faceted diamond of great beauty.

My purpose is not just theoretical; it is also pastoral and practical. How can we develop our relationship to him? How can Jesus Christ become more real to us until he occupies the central place in our lives? The process of Christian growth which is implied by these questions is as mysterious in its maturing as falling in love. For just as a couple come to know, respect and love one another more and more, until each feels the other to be indispensable and they agree to marry, so we are to come to know, worship and love Jesus Christ more and more until he becomes indispensable to us, and life without him becomes inconceivable.

It was my privilege to preach a course of sermons on this topic at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, in 1978. This series overlapped the three-week residential Lambeth Conference at the University of Kent outside Canterbury. So as a congregation we found ourselves praying, with thousands of others throughout the Anglican Communion, that Christ would be the centre of the bishops’ thinking. As the sermons have now been rewritten for publication as a book, it expresses my anxious desire and prayer that God will graciously make many more of us in his church become truly Christ-centred Christians.

The founder of EFAC was praying that Christ himself would truly be “front and centre” throughout the Anglican Communion. One generation later (note the biblical period of forty years!) no doubt his prayer would be robustly the same.

Those forty years have seen many developments—not least the dawn of the Internet with its multiplication of words. So, there may be real value in our returning to the words of John Stott. Growing up in the era when radio ruled the world and words had to been chosen well and delivered clearly, John learnt the skill of crystal analytical clarity expressed in concise, clear speech. He drilled down into the detail of the text and emerged with nuggets of diamond-like beauty: simple, clear and deep words bringing to light the plain truths of Scripture.

The result is authoritative teaching that is biblical, pastoral, concise and incisive. As we tune in to John’s distinctive wavelength, may we also find ourselves tuning in to the King’s speech—hearing fresh messages from the King.

(1) The original book was published under the title Focus on Christ (Collins, 1979). All extracts are taken from the soon to be rereleased updated version, now titled as Life in Christ, by John R. W. Stott published by Langham Preaching Resources, Carlisle, UK, 2019. www.langhampublishing.org. Used by permission.

EFAC Successfully Completes its Relaunch

By Richard Crocker

The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) held the second part of its 2018 international Council meeting in Nairobi (Oct 29-Nov 1). The successful completion of this Council signals EFAC’s reemergence as an Anglican ministry with an international vision of developing the teaching of the Scriptures and resourcing church leaders in support of biblical discipleship. There were 22 representatives present: nine from existing EFAC groups and four from reviving groups. Five nations were admitted as observers seeking to develop EFAC in their area. While the location meant that the majority of participants came from African nations, five continents were represented. Eleven participants were bishops, two were lay, and the rest were clergy.

Rev. Richard Crocker, in his first year as General Secretary, arranged the gathering. Dr. Caroline Crocker, Director of Communications, organized travel and prepared the extensive meeting materials. Dr. Peter Walker, Director of EFAC’s Theological Resource Network, and trustees Bp. Keith Sinclair, Cn. Dr. Chris Sugden, and Stephen Hofmeyr, QC were in attendance.

The international Council meeting Part 1, held in Jerusalem in June, had the goal of introducing the international groups to one another and to the renewing ministry of EFAC. Many of the new contacts in Nairobi were first encountered at the EFAC exhibit at the June GAFCON conference, which followed the EFAC Council meeting. The name of EFAC founder John Stott is known and respected in many parts of the world. EFAC exhibitors found that the desire to continue to encourage the church with his trademark legacy of deep biblical exposition and evangelical literature is strong. Of course, while the interest of many may have originated from the reputation of EFAC from former days, it continues and grows because of the renewed vision and work in 2018.

The formal business of Part 2 of the Council included ratification of the EFAC Constitution and election of an international Executive Committee. The Constitution received proposals for revision. It was noted that the Church of England Evangelical Council had taken steps to adjust their Statements of Faith to address contemporary challenges. They strengthened the clause on the atonement and added a clause affirming the biblical marriage discipline. The Council accepted these amendments and submitted them for review and acceptance by the wider membership.

The Council, a representative gathering of all EFAC Member Groups, convenes at approximately five-year intervals. Therefore, an Executive Committee was established to continue the work of the Council in the intervening years. The Council took the decision, in consideration of the relatively recent reemergence of the international face of EFAC, to appoint an interim Executive, with the capacity to develop the activities of EFAC in these new days. In particular, the need to support the encouraging number of EFAC national groups currently emerging was recognized, as well as the responsibility to steward and increase the resources available to the movement.

The Executive Committee has a geographically distributed membership: Bp. Keith Sinclair (England) was appointed Interim Chair, with additional members Rev. Vijay Kumar (India), Bp. Seth Ndayirukiye (Burundi), Bp. Henry Okeke (Nigeria) and Bp. Stephen Hale (Australia) and Rev. Richard Crocker (General Secretary, ex officio ).

The gathering in Nairobi continued with a three-day training event, in which the EFAC Vision and Goals were considered. This included a SWOT analysis and formulation of specific OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Also reviewed were EFAC’s approach to organizing and encouraging Member Groups, the vision for the Theological Resource Network, and how Communications can assist EFAC Member Groups. Plans for resourcing EFAC global together with the individual Member Groups were discussed, as well.

Next, two case studies of EFAC in operation were presented, clearly illustrating that EFAC has different forms in various nations. Bp. Stephen Hale described a secular nation, albeit with a Christian history. He suggested that Australian evangelicals are increasingly called to defend the Gospel, not only in the world, but also in the church. Despite the many challenges they face, he feels that the evangelical strength in the Australian church will prevent developments such as those that have occurred in the USA and Canada. In comparison, Bp. Henry Okeke described the emergence of EFAC in the Decade of Evangelism as an evangelistic movement for the spread of the Gospel. Teams from EFAC are often called to plant churches in the most difficult circumstances--what he called “rugged mission”! Today EFAC is organized in many zones across Nigeria, sponsoring many exuberant regional and national teaching conventions that attract thousands of young attendees, and it proves to be a powerful force in the church. Both of these presentations were a great encouragement to those attending the conference.

The Nairobi EFAC event happened to take place in the same week that CMS Africa celebrated 10 years of mission and the opening of a new building intended to serve as a headquarters and stream of income for its mission support. The EFAC Council attended the celebration, which reminded the company of the parallel evangelical vision and mission of the two voluntary societies. As a demonstration of the maturing of the world-wide Anglican family and the spread of effective leadership, it also served as an indication of the development potential of EFAC. We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will accomplish through this ministry in 2019!

The second part of the international Council, held in Nairobi in October

The new EFAC Executive Committee

Julia is our hero! She translated for both Richard and Caroline while they were teaching in Kenya. Thank you!!

Richard preaches at a confirmation service in Mbeere diocese.

After working very hard and enjoying wonderful fellowship, the EFAC Council celebrated with a wonderful dinner together.

Rev. Vijay Kumar presented EFAC with a gift plaque from the diocese of Amritsar.

EFAC News

Website: Due to the amazing work that the Lord has done this year, the EFAC website has required substantial updating. Have a look at our recent news, our leadership, the calendar with photos of past events, and more. Best of all check out the updated map at the bottom of the page, showing all the newly developing EFAC Chapters!

Articles: To stay up to date with EFAC articles, be sure to follow us on our website and Facebook.

EFAC Intercessors : These faithful people are willing and able to pray for us and for all EFAC chapters. So, if your chapter has a prayer need, please email us . We will add your need to the monthly prayer request email. If you want to be an intercessor, email us!

Incidentally, if you missed previous newsletters, they are 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.

Prayer Request from Archbishop Glenn of Sydney, Australia , applicable to all EFACters: Pray for clear and persuasive proclamation of Christ as Lord and Saviour this Christmas, for stamina to uphold the Christian faith in the face of an increasingly secularist society, which seeks to marginalise the Christian messages, and for peace, calm and resilience in the midst of the busyness of ministry, that our strength might be God, and not in ourselves.

Help us with an end-of-year gift!

Please join with EFAC in achieving the goal of encouraging and developing biblically faithful teaching and mission. Our specific objectives for next year are as follows:

Develop a worldwide Anglican evangelical identity, that promotes connectivity, diversity and unity in truth.
Develop organizational structures to increase visibility and enable mission.
Develop biblical literacy.
Develop financial resources to support projects and growth.

The Executive Council will be meeting on Wednesday, December 12 to discuss and approve the measurable Key Results that will show we achieved each of these objectives...things like establishing new Chapters, publishing theological and ministry-level articles, and developing an apologia for evangelical Anglicanism with a view to having a series of regional conferences where teaching and discussion can take place. More information next month!

Please partner with us in this important ministry by giving generously, via our website or by sending a check made out to "EFAC" to either of the addresses shown below. Please also consider whether you can support us with a monthly donation--perhaps an amount that you would not miss, but would make a great difference to us. Thank you for your consideration of this request!

EFAC | Email | Website