[2][3] This is commonly considered a result of the consecration in 2003 of openly non-celibate homosexual bishop Gene Robinson by the Episcopal Church and more generally from the perception that some parts of the Anglican Communion might be departing from biblical teaching.
[8] At the beginning of the conference a booklet was released by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria entitled The Way, the Truth and the Life: Theological Resources for a Pilgrimage to a Global Anglican Future.
The leading participants of GAFCON included seven Anglican primates, archbishops Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Justice Akrofi of West Africa, Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda, Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda, Valentino Mokiwa of the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and Presiding Bishop Greg Venables of the Southern Cone; Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, Bill Atwood of Kenya, bishops Wallace Benn and Michael Nazir-Ali of England, Don Harvey of Canada, bishops Robert Duncan and Martyn Minns of the United States; Canon Vinay Samuel of India, Hugh Pratt and Canon Chris Sugden of England.
[11][12] The leadership team listed by GAFCON on its website consisted of 16 men, of whom 9 were from England, North America and Australia, and one other was UK based.
[2] The declaration upheld the Holy Scriptures as containing "all things necessary for salvation", the first four Ecumenical councils and three Creeds as expressing the church's rule of faith, and the Thirty-Nine Articles as authoritative for Anglicans today.
[17] The Bishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, in whose territory it was to be held, initially issued a press release saying: I am deeply troubled that this meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, will import inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese, which seeks to be a place of welcome for all Anglicans.
"[18] On 12 and 15 January 2008, the Bishop of Jerusalem had meetings with the GAFCON organisers, including Archbishops Jensen and Akinola, in which he explained his reasons for objecting to the conference, and the damage it would do to his local ministry of welcome and reconciliation in the Holy Land.
However, he proposed as an alternative, "for the sake of making progress in this discussion" that the GAFCON conference should take place in Cyprus, to be followed by a "pure pilgrimage" to the Holy Land.
[23] The primates who attended were Eliud Wabukala, of Kenya, Nicholas Okoh, of Nigeria, Stanley Ntagali, of Uganda, Onesphore Rwaje, of Rwanda, Bernard Ntahoturi, of Burundi, Henri Isingoma, of Congo, Daniel Deng Bul, of Sudan, Solomon Tilewa Johnson, of West Africa, Tito Zavala, of the Southern Cone, and Robert Duncan, of North America.
[24][25] The focus was on the shared Anglican future, discussing the missionary theme of "Making Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ".
[28] It was attended, according to their official numbers, by 1966 delegates, 1292 men and 670 women, from 53 countries, making it the largest international reunion of Anglicans since the Toronto Congress in 1963.
The number of active and retired archbishops attending was 38, including seven current primates of the Anglican Communion, Jackson Ole Sapit, of Kenya, Stanley Ntagali, of Uganda, Laurent Mbanda, of Rwanda, James Wong, of the Indian Ocean, Nicholas Okoh, of Nigeria, Stephen Than Myint Oo, of Myanmar, and Gregory Venables, of South America.
[29] An additional conference, named G19, took place from 25 February to 1 March 2019, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for those who were not able to attend the previous year GAFCON III.
G19 was hosted by bishops Michael Nazir-Ali, of the Church of England, and Azad Marshall, of the Church of Pakistan, and was attended by 138 delegates, including 31 bishops and archbishops, and four primates, Nicholas Okoh, of Nigeria, Foley Beach, of North America, both who also attended GAFCON III, Justin Badi Arama, of South Sudan, and Samuel Mankhin, of Bangladesh.
[32] Prominent on the conference's agenda was how the confessing Anglican movement would respond to the early 2023 decision by the Church of England bishops and General Synod to approve prayers of blessing for same-sex marriages.
In advance of the conference, Church of Uganda leaders said they would push for Anglican Communion member provinces in GAFCON and the Global South to separate from the Canterbury-aligned structures.
[35] Participants included primates from 10 provinces, including Justin Badi Arama of South Sudan,[36] Foley Beach of North America,[37] Samy Fawzy of Alexandria, Stephen Kaziimba of Uganda,[37] Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda,[32] Henry Ndukuba of Nigeria, Jackson Ole Sapit of Kenya, Miguel Uchôa of Brazil,[38] James Wong of the Indian Ocean[39] and Tito Zavala of Chile.