Publish Date: 25 October 2025

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The peace of the Lord be always with you!

October has been an eventful month for the Anglican Communion. A new Archbishop of Canterbury was announced, and GAFCON issued a communique in response, calling for an end to communion with the See of Canterbury. No doubt you have heard many more responses across social media and amongst your friends, as Anglicans from all over the world voice their reactions to these developments. With all sides of the debate unwilling to budge, it is natural to be worried about our Communion.

It is moments in history like this that we as the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui should be ever more strongly reminded of who we are – we are Anglicans, and we approach our faith with the principle of the three-legged stool: scripture, tradition, and reason. As Anglicans, we should uphold the authority of the scripture, for the scripture is the word of our Lord, and the foundation of our faith and the truth of God. As Anglicans, we should learn from the traditions of the church, the living legacy passed on to us from the first apostles, and which has become our orthodox faith, for we are not Christians in isolation, but part of a living faith that has experienced the presence of God for 2000 years. As Anglicans, we should discern the truth with the gift of reason that we received from our Lord, for our faith is not blind, but demands our full attention in understanding, respecting, and appreciating the intricate complexities of our created world.

Part of the complexities of our world is the matter of religious disagreements, and as the wisdom of our Anglican forebears has taught us, we ought to approach it with the same principles of scripture, tradition, and reason. When we forgo balance between the three, we plunge ourselves into the trap of self-righteousness.

Without tradition and reason, we cannot hope to understand scripture deeper. Without scripture and reason, tradition becomes performative orthodoxy. And without scripture and tradition, reason alone will not be enough to lead us to God, and our faith will become no better than mere human ideology, easily swayed by secular trends. When we focus on just one of these principles, we invite pride into our hearts, as we become sure of our own correctness. We forget to be humble and considerate, acknowledging that we all have our own faults.

As Anglicans, we should, on the one hand, uphold our orthodox faith according to the teachings of the Bible, and on the other hand, be willing to listen to different voices with open ears, respecting one another as fellow Christians – for we are all sinners seeking the love of our God. It is only with humility, respect, and love that we can hope to transcend our own limited understandings, and work together towards the unifying truth that is Christ our Saviour, to whom we all belong, and in whom do we put all our trust.

We urge all members of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui to keep praying our for Anglican Communion, that God will guide us to be his faithful, humble, and loving servants, that we may walk ever closer to the truth of God, upholding the teachings of the Bible, and despite our current differences, maintaining that unity and balance that we Anglicans hold so dearly. Let us put our trust in God and his guiding hand, even when the future remains unknown to us, for surely he will lead his flock beside still waters.

Dear Lord, teach us to embrace one another, that in essentials, we may find unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity. Amen.

++Andrew Chan         +Timothy Kwok          +Matthias Der