Over 1000 senior leaders from seventeen provinces in the Anglican Communion, representing 35 million church-going Anglicans, have registered for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem at the close of the online registration process. They include 280 bishops, almost all accompanied by their wives. Final attendance figures will depend on smooth processing of requested visas, and other factors.

GAFCON leaders have met in the period leading up to Pentecost with the leaders of Anglican, Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic churches and Palestinian Christians and Messianic Jews in Jerusalem to brief them on the nature and purpose of GAFCON. GAFCON is concerned to affirm the continuing presence of the Church in the Holy Land.

Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, the chair of the Programme Committee reports that the programme is almost complete. "Our programme will focus on the transforming love of Christ. We will be drawing from the scriptures of the Old and New Testament in our pilgrimage, and their relevance to the challenges facing the church globally today. These include secularism, other religions, poverty and HIV/Aids as well as moral and theological issues."

Pilgrims will visit traditional sites in Jerusalem during the pilgrimage June 22 – 29, 2008 including Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Ophel Gardens and Temple steps where at the first Pentecost Peter preached and people of all nations responded. The 1000 pilgrims will travel to Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity and Shepherds' Field, and then to Galilee.

The goals of the GAFCON conference in Jerusalem are to:

1. Provide an opportunity for fellowship as well as to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Christ.

2. Develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians.

3. Prepare for an Anglican future in which the Gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centered mission a top priority. Pentecost 2008

For further information: Rev. Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad, GAFCON Head of Communications: (+47) 97 56 16 96, US phone (SkypeIn): (202) 580 8685, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Plans are well in hand for the Global Anglican Future Pilgrimage and Conference at the end of June.

The Pilgrimage is to the roots of the Christian Faith. Pilgrims will visit the Mount of Olives where Jesus and his disciples often spent time, especially on the eve of his crucifixion, the steps of the Temple where Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, and Bethlehem, Nazareth and Capernaum, the places of Jesus' birth, upbringing and early ministry.

The roots of the Christian faith are also in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. So there will be daily study sessions focusing on expositions of bible texts by speakers from East Asia, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and England. Worship will also be an important element. There will be early morning communion and night prayer each day. There will also be a major pilgrimage Holy Communion Service at the opening and closing of the Pilgrimage with the sermon by an Anglican Primate. Worship is being planned by a team from the United States and Uganda.

Some afternoons and most after-dinner periods are being left free for pilgrims to undertake other visits, for example to the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and for fellowship together to share their experience and partnership in mission.

The Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Most Revd. Peter Akinola, has called on all God's people throughout the Church of Nigeria for Massive Intercessory Movement for the forthcoming Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).

The prayer coordinator for this movement, Most Revd. Benjamin Kwashi asked that intensive prayer be made for the 2-week long conference and pilgrimage holding in Jordan and Jerusalem in June this year.

Specific areas to pray for include courage, strength, vision and wisdom for the Primate and other faithful Anglican leaders in the global church; that God may speak to His church, give clear direction for the Anglican Church
worldwide and glorify His Name.

Archbishop Kwashi also requested that the Church intercede for the organizers of GAFCON and for God's guidance in all practical arrangements and safety in travel.

From the Church of Nigeria website.