Anglican congregation founds new church after arrest threat
THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST
Bewdley Road,
Kidderminster,
Worcestershire, DY11 6RLVicar: Rev'd Charles Raven, MA
St John's Vicarage
33 Lea Bank Avenue
Kidderminster
Worcestershire, DY11 6PA
27th January 2002
PRESS STATEMENT
CONGREGATION MOVES AFTER ARREST THREAT
Some two years ago, my congregation disassociated itself from the oversight of the current Bishop of Worcester, Dr Peter Selby, who notoriously likened the 1998 Lambeth Conference to a Nazi Nuremberg rally after it affirmed the traditional view that homosexual sex as incompatible with the bible. He is closely involved with gay/lesbian campaigning groups in the Church of England and has recently been mentioned as a possible contender to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Ironically, we have now been threatened with arrest if we continue at St John's - under the very same legislation used to prosecute Peter Tatchell, the gay rights activist, after he disrupted a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Easter Sunday 1998!
This draconian measure has been taken because I have agreed to a request from my congregation to continue as their vicar, despite Dr Selby's insistence that my licence to minister at St John's cannot be renewed after expiry on the 31st January. But there is a growing restlessness within the church about the way procedural rules are being used to suppress biblical ministry and this was evident in October 2001 when the national conference of the Church of England Reform group unanimously agreed to recognise me as a valid Anglican minister in Kidderminster beyond 31st January.
In normal circumstances, I would be willing to move on, but we do not live in normal times. Many at St John's cannot, in conscience, accept the spiritual oversight of a bishop who is willing to set aside the teaching of the Bible, but they have no voice. The unprecedented exploitation of loopholes in church representation rules by supporters of Dr Selby at church annual meetings in April last year saddled St John's with lay leadership committed to replacing me with someone who would reverse the church's principled stand. In these circumstances, if I were simply to leave St John's in the normal way, those in the congregation wanting biblical, orthodox Anglican ministry would be effectively abandoned.
Sadly, the Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to act, despite many requests, claiming that he has no power to intervene. However, in June 2000 he was prepared to firmly rebuff a request to carry out a confirmation at St John's by a visiting Ugandan Bishop, Dr Eustace Kamanyire, citing his 'metropolitical jurisdiction' over the Diocese of Worcester.
What then is to be done? We have no wish to secede from the Church of England, but do not wish to precipitate an undignified skirmish in the parish church by trying to stay, so if we cannot be faithful Anglicans at St John's, then we must find somewhere else. The irony of course is that we have no quarrel with the teaching and beliefs of the Church of England, but find ourselves forced out by those who do not uphold its teaching! A new Anglican Church is therefore being founded, to be known as Christ Church Kidderminster. It will be structured in the normal Anglican way, including an elected Church Council and a Council of Reference is being formed, chaired by an Anglican bishop, as an interim measure until such time as alternative episcopal oversight can be secured.
Unless the leadership of the Church of England can find the will to resist collusion with the dominant 'anything goes' culture, in ten years time it is inevitable that there will be many more 'Kidderminsters'. It will not arrest decline by threatening to arrest the orthodox.
ENDS.
Web site: http://www.themelios.org.uk
A brief chronology is attached by way of background.
Summary of key events to end 2001 in St John's Kidderminster dispute with the Bishop of Worcester:
September 1999.
After a period of prayer and reflection, St John's District Church Council and I as vicar, publicly disassociate from the spiritual oversight of the current Bishop of Worcester, Dr Selby. This follows Dr Selby's outspoken rejection of Lambeth Conference resolution 1.10 with regard to homosexual sex at a conference organised by the Lesbian Gay Christian Movement in Derby on 6th February 1999 in the course of which he likened the Lambeth Conference to a Nazi Nuremberg rally.December 1999.
'Reform', representing some 400 Church of England parishes, publicly calls on the Archbishop of Canterbury to secure the resignation of Peter Selby or provide alternative oversight for St John's.March 2000.
Radio 4's 'File on Four' broadcasts a programme on the future of the Church of England which includes interviews with myself and members of St John's congregation. It refers to our situation as part of a wider 'battle for the soul of the Church of England'.June 2000.
Retired Ugandan bishops Eustace Kamanyire and Howell Davies conduct a confirmation service at St John's. For inviting them, Peter Selby bans me from officiating elsewhere in Worcester Diocese and afterwards issues a 'letter of unwelcome' banning both bishops from further ministry in the diocese. The ban on Bishop Kamanyire is still capable of being headline news in Uganda over a year after the event (The Kampala Monitor, 13-8-01).September 2000.
Canon David Walker is appointed to Worcester Diocese as the new suffragan Bishop of Dudley. The Birmingham Post carries the headline 'Bishop to support gays in the clergy' and in response to questions on the gay issue, Canon Walker is quoted as saying '. while some things are unchangeable, many things are specific to their context and it is up to us to interpret it'.November 2000.
The 'Forerunner Trust', a registered charity, is launched as an alternative means of funding for St John's. The congregation has a particular problem in that it is legally part of a team ministry with two other churches, Holy Innocents, Foley Park, and St Peter's Birchin Coppice. Although twice the size of these two churches put together, under the team constitution, St John's has only one third of the places on the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the team and this team PCC is chaired by the 'team rector', the Revd Harold Goddard, who is vicar of Holy Innocents and a strong supporter of Dr Selby. The Trust is therefore set up to enable members of St John's to give with a clear conscience, for the support of their own congregation and in the confidence that it will not be used to support diocesan work under the current episcopal leadership (see below).January 2001.
'New Directions', a monthly Church of England journal, publishes an article setting out Peter Selby's close involvement with homosexual campaigning groups in the Church of England. It also reveals how several people who have been, or continue to be, committee members of the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality, a homosexual pressure group which Peter Selby was instrumental in founding in 1996, now occupy key posts in Worcester Diocese.April 2001.
The result of elections for churchwardens at St John's own Annual (District) Church Meeting was overturned by the Annual (Team) Meeting of Parishioners of the liberal dominated team ministry (see November 2000 entry) chaired by Harold Goddard. Candidates sympathetic to Peter Selby, who had lost the election at the congregational level, were subsequently elected at a team Annual Meeting 'packed' by their own supporters. So St John's ends up not with the churchwardens they elected, but has churchwardens who support Peter Selby imposed by the team. Similar tactics are used to remove from the DCC others who oppose the views of Peter Selby. This is the first time in the Church of England that the church representation rules have been used like this in a team ministry.September 2001.
Harold Goddard issues a press statement following a meeting of St John's DCC which repeals the resolution of September 1999 and publicly calls on me to reconsider my position. I and others of like mind have in fact boycotted the DCC since April, not wishing to lend credibility to it in view of the manipulation of the Annual Meetings. My response to the press makes it clear that I fully intend to carry on.October 2001.
At the Reform national conference, there is a unanimous vote of support by the 160 delegates which includes a pledge to recognise me as a valid Anglican minister beyond the expiry of my licence from the Bishop of Worcester on 31st January 2002.November 2001.
The Bishop of Manchester performs what the church press describe as an 'honourable U-turn' having initially refused to agree to a request earlier in the year from the PCC of Christ Church Chadderton to affirm his agreement with the Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10. This is a telling contrast to the intransigence of the Bishop of Worcester.
END
Anglican Church League, www.acl.asn.au