A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Proverbs 25:11 In their statement that “The Future Has Arrived,” the Primates of the Gafcon movement have declared: Our Gafcon Primates gathered this hour to fulfil our mandate to reform the Anglican Communion, as expressed in the Jerusalem Statement of 2008. To be a member…
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll is Professor Emeritus at Trinity Anglican Seminary and retired Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University. He served on the Statement Group of the first three Global Anglican Future Conferences and gave an inaugural address at the fourth. He has written extensively about the history of the Gafcon movement in The Global Anglican Communion: Contending for Anglicanism 1993-2018 (Anglican House: 2018) and online at “Reviving, Reforming, and Reordering the Anglican Communion: Fourteen Theses for Global Anglicans” (2023). He currently serves on the ministry board of Anglican Compass.
The Global Anglican Communion: From Canterbury to Jerusalem
Someone may ask: “Hasn’t the Anglican Communion been around for a long, long time?” This depends on what you consider a long time and how you define the Anglican Communion.
Women Bishops and Reception: An Occasion for Rethinking
Editor’s Note: The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, now a board member of Anglican Compass, also served from 2015 to 2020 as the Convener of the GAFCON Task Force on Women in the Episcopate. In 2017, this Task Force issued a recommendation for a moratorium on the consecration of women bishops. In this article, we share Dr. Noll’s 2019 essay…
The Canons of Nicaea: Their Relevance for Anglicans Today
As we repeat the Nicene Creed week by week and come to appreciate its teaching, it is easy to miss the historic revolution that led to its creation at the First Council of Nicea. The early Church from Pentecost onward was a missionary movement taking the Gospel from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria to the…
Trinity Sunday: God the Father’s Day?
Some years ago, David Roseberry posted a piece on Anglican Compass titled, “Should You Preach a Father’s Day Sermon on Father’s Day?” (Answer: “Yes!”). Let me pose another question, particularly appropriate in 2025, when Father’s Day converges with Trinity Sunday. My question is this: Should we preach on God the Father on Trinity Sunday? Have…
We Believe: Of All That Is, Visible and Invisible
The first article of the Nicene Creed—“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth”—can easily slip by without our stopping to wonder at it. This is particularly true of the brief addendum, not found in the Apostles’ Creed, “of all that is, visible and invisible.” But this little phrase…
Prayers for the Global Anglican Communion of Churches
As Anglican churches prepare this World Mission Sunday, I would like to propose that our prayers include a petition for the global Anglican communion of churches.
George Herbert: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Priest and Poet
George Herbert, perhaps the greatest devotional poet in the English language, was also a faithful pastor to a small country church. When I was a student, Herbert helped lead the way of my pilgrimage to Christ. As an adult disciple and priest, I have continually refreshed my spirit by dipping back into Herbert’s prose and…
Reclining On Christ: Saint John’s Example of Intimacy with Jesus
Saint John was an apostle, an evangelist, and a bosom friend to Jesus, who set an example of reclining on Christ. John’s feast is December 27th, and we also remember him on Maundy Thursday and any time we read from his Gospel. A Bosom-Friend I call John a bosom friend because it was he, “the…
The Book of Wisdom: Divine Intelligence or AI?
This is the fifth part of Dr. Noll’s series, “Reading and Enjoying the Apocrypha.” Many Anglicans greet the season of Advent with the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” the second verse of which says: O Come, thou Wisdom from on high, Who orderest all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show, And…
