The Most Rev. Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, issued this statement late Wednesday:
Many of you have heard the news that I have been invited to attend a gathering of the Primates of the Anglican Communion this coming January.
I did indeed receive a personal call from Archbishop Justin Welby inviting me to attend and participate.
If my fellow GAFCON Primates accept the invitation, and I am expecting that they will, then I have also pledged to attend. The challenges facing the Anglican Communion over the last couple of decades are no secret, and it is time to face them. Previous meetings of the Communion, from the 1998 Lambeth Conference to the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, gave clear direction for maintaining and restoring order within the Communion. Unfortunately, these resolutions were not followed which further divided the Communion. The resulting situation is one in which the fabric of the Communion continues to be torn.
I am thankful for the way in which GAFCON has proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ, and has been seeking the renewal and restoration of the Communion.
I ask your prayers for myself, as well as the other GAFCON and Global South Primates, as we continue to seek to evangelize, proclaim the Gospel, and work for the restoration of the Anglican Communion’s life and witness.
