On Tuesday night in Manchester, a whole bunch gathered on the Church of Restoration in Wythenshawe for the inauguration of the third diocese of the Anglican Network in Europe and the consecration of their first diocesan bishop, Rt Rev Dr Gideon Illechukwu.
The Anglican Missionary Congregations (Europe) (AMC) has grown from a single Nigerian diaspora congregation in Manchester to 39 congregations everywhere in the UK and in some parts of Europe. After two years of negotiations, the AMC joined the Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) and the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) of their mission to proclaim Christ faithfully to the people of Europe.
It was a historic moment, because the Most Rev Henry Ndkuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, explained: “The Anglican Missionary Congregation has been part and parcel of the chaplaincy and mission of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion within the United Kingdom.
“And through several consultation and requests we’ve this present day released AMC to the Anglican Network in Europe to be a part of the Anglican Network in Europe and to serve God’s people within the proclamation of the gospel within the expansion of the dominion of God and standing for the reality of the word of God on this generation.
“And on behalf of the Church of Nigeria at this point my brother Bishop Andy Lines, the presiding Bishop of ANiE, we, the Church of Nigeria, hand over AMC to be a part of the Network. Amen.”
It was also a ravishing expression of the Lord gathering people from every tribe, language, people and nation with a view to reach this needy continent. In a service with a vibrant Nigerian flavour, people from everywhere in the network celebrated their unity in the worldwide Anglican family of Gafcon.
As Most Rev Laurent Mbanda, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and Chair of the Gafcon Primates said after the service, “This is what Gafcon has done and can proceed to do; not only contending for the gospel but providing an ecclesial home for those determined to proclaim God’s unchanging truth in a changing world.”
“The Anglican Network in Europe remains to be small, but it surely is a growing Province-in-Formation. It is probably going that there can be at the least 100 congregations and pioneer churches within the network by the tip of this 12 months.”
Bishop Paul Donison, General Secretarty of Gafcon suggested why the Anglican Network in Europe was so attractive: “In the West I believe we’re seeing a renewal of interest inside liturgical, sacramental traditions because I believe because the West continues to collapse under secularism [ … ] there is a craving for something sacred, for something different.
“Our Anglican expression has a chance to supply the Bible, offer a type of discipleship that is definitely rooted in a rather more sacramental liturgical tradition that I believe can reach into much of our paganized Western region. I believe that what is occurring within the reformation of Anglicanism today is folks, who’ve been solidly for the Bible for generations inside Anglicanism at the moment are under Gafcon, recommitting to some our ancient patterns.
“They’re actually leaning into our Anglicanism, they’re leaning into the Prayer book. They’re leaning into ‘what does it mean to have bishops today?’.
“I mean for a lot of us, perhaps, we didn’t particularly know what to do with bishops for generations. Well, under Gafcon, if you happen to can have godly bishops who’re preaching the word, people simply lean into that role of bishops. So, I believe all of that’s going to succeed in the world, especially within the West, in a robust way within the generations to come back.”
The Church of Restoration, where the service took place is often known as AMC (Europe) HQ. It was originally commissioned within the Fifties by the Church of England to service the brand new post-war housing estate at Newall Green. The constructing was consecrated as St Francis Church in 1961, by the then Bishop of Manchester, William Greer. By 2012, the congregation had dwindled to 2, and the church was closed. It was used as Community Centre before the AMC moved in.
The Church of Restoration could subsequently be seen as an emblem of much of what Gafcon and the Anglican Network of Europe seek to attain under God. The restoration of confessional Anglican worship, to a continent where churches have been emptied by false teaching, that gives each the faithful and the lost with hope for the long run.
