Australian and English evangelicals: A conversation with Andrew Atherstone

From Lionel Windsor at The Australian Church Record –

“Andrew Atherstone is Professor of Modern Anglicanism at the University of Oxford. He has been in Sydney for the Annual Moore College Lectures, held in August 2026, on Anglican Evangelicalism in the Age of John Stott, Jim Packer and Dick Lucas: Surviving and Thriving in a Mixed-up Denomination.

The lectures explored the recent history of Anglican evangelicals in England and the question of whether to stay or leave in the face of liberal and heterodox bishops.

In this interview, the ACR asked Andrew particularly about the mutual influence between Australian and English evangelicals, and the contribution of some key Australian figures. …”

– Read the interview here.

(Interestingly, he mentions a link to the Diocese of Bathurst.)

William Taylor answers questions on the Church of England crisis

From St. Helen’s Bishopsgate:

“Following William Taylor’s recent talks on Titus and the Church of England, a number of questions and comments were raised by those who attended. … Leo Elbourne sits down with William Taylor to explore those questions in more detail, clarify his position, and discuss the implications for churches, ministry training, and the future of evangelical ministry within the Church of England.”

– Watch here.

The sermon about which William is being questioned.

Lee Gatiss at Church Society has a somewhat different approach.

New video from The Alliance as 2026 General Synod Elections approach

With elections for the makeup of General Synod in the Church if England coming up shortly, The Alliance has produced a 2’30” video to invite link-minded men and women to join them.

“At this critical moment for the Church, with elections for General Synod, we want to be clear about who we are – a diverse network of networks brought together across traditions in order to secure a sustainable platform at the heart of the Church of England for those committed to the received teachings of the universal church of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join with us.”

– See more at their website.

Responding to false teachers in the Church of England

In a sermon at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London on 10th September 2026, William Taylor addresses the question of responding to false teachers in the Church of England.

Preaching from Titus 3:1-15, “God’s strategy: the church in a broken world”, he says,

“There can be no closer spiritual tie with a false teacher than allowing them to

• select your future leaders,
• train your new church workers,
• ordain your new deacons and presbyters,
• and install your new incumbents.

Remember, Paul has said what our strategy is. …”

St. Helen’s has published a seven minute excerpt – though the full sermon can also be seen here.

England’s Historic Cathedrals Turn to Pop Concerts and Silent Discos

What happens when you forget why you’re there?

“ ‘Candlelight concerts’ are taking place every week this fall in many of Britain’s ancient, historic and once-Catholic cathedrals, but these are not lofty performances of sacred or even classical music.

In Worcester Cathedral, founded in 680, rebuilt by St. Wulfstan, and the burial place of King John who issued the Magna Carta, the late pop singer Whitney Houston’s greatest hits will be performed. On other nights, the once-hallowed nave will be the setting for cover bands playing songs by the Eagles, Coldplay and Tina Turner.

Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, which survived Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries and is famous for featuring the 14th-century ‘Washington Window,’ which inspired the U.S. flag, will become the venue for the Beatles and Queen tribute bands in October. …

Every medieval cathedral in England appears to be hosting these concerts, except for two: Westminster Abbey and Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. …”

– Story from The National Catholic Register.

Photo: Salisbury Cathedral.

In it to win it—or quit now? with Andrew Atherstone

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“For evangelical Christians in the Church of England, the question of whether to stay, resist, or leave is a live crisis.

If you’re deciding whether to head into C of E ministry or carve out a path in independence, or if you’re a pastor navigating a “mixed denomination,” how do you maintain gospel integrity when institutional leadership turns away from historic orthodoxy?

Church historian Dr. Andrew Atherstone (Wycliffe Hall, Oxford) to look back at six decades of evangelical oral history—and what it teaches us about our current crossroads.

We cover:

The 1960s Crisis: Why ministers like Herbert Carson, Eric Lane, and Moshe Radcliff reached the breaking point and the intense personal cost of separation.
Lloyd-Jones vs. Stott (1966) & Keele (1967): The iconic confrontation that defined the “in it to win it” strategy for a generation.

Dr Atherstone has been presenting on this at Sydney’s Moore College Lectures.”

– Watch or listen here.

More to come next week!

The Thirty Nine Articles.

Disdain and hostility: What I witnessed at the Church of England’s General Synod

“Every five years (called a quinquennium), the Church of England elects its General Synod, which is essentially the church’s equivalent of the House of Commons.

And as this quinquennium came to an end, it felt as if the sun was setting on the Church of England as a whole.

I am an outsider. I am not a Church of England member.

But I am a Christian, and I believe wholeheartedly in the Christian faith that the Church of England has historically upheld and still claims to do so today.

I attended General Synod for the first time to support Rebecca Bensted from the Christian Legal Centre and our Core Issues Trust/X-Out-Loud allies as we held a fringe event to explore the ramifications of a ‘conversion therapy’ ban, and highlight the importance of the gospel message of change, repentance and regeneration.

And I was astounded by what I saw. …”

– From Christian Concern, Holly Baines reflects on her experience at the Church of England’s General Synod.

Reactions to the Church of England General Synod’s vote on Palestine

Here are two reactions to the vote in the Church of England’s General Synod –

Why the Church of England has got Israel wrong – James Patrick at Premier Christianity.

“Dear Archbishop Sarah,

In light of the controversial motion passed at General Synod yesterday, your five-day pilgrimage in the Holy Land just three weeks ago could appear to be a well-timed advertisement in its support. Even so, your concluding pastoral letter wisely steered clear of the worst excesses of the Kairos Palestine II document commended in the motion. KPII accuses Israel 30 times of ‘genocide’, and claims that the State of Israel is ‘racist’ and colonialist from its origins (1.3; 2.1; 3.3; 4.2), a listed example of antisemitism in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition adopted by the Church of England in 2018. It is no wonder that British Jewish and Christian leaders alike have expressed their deep concerns about this motion, which promotes incendiary accusations rejected by our own government. …”

A Shameful Day for the Church of England – Julian Mann at The Daily Sceptic.

“The atmosphere at the Church of England’s General Synod after it passed its shameful anti-Israel motionwas frighteningly complacent. From where I was sitting in the press gallery on July 13th the members in the chamber seemed to be very pleased with themselves.

But unless these largely middle-class Anglicans had returned home to an enclosed-order monastery after their meeting in the York University central hall, how could they fail to register the impact of the nuclear bomb they had just let off? …”

Image: Church of England General Synod, 13 July 2026.

See also Ian Paul’s speech during the debate –

CofE General Synod Private Member’s Motion affirming intimate same-sex relationships narrowly defeated

From The Church of England Evangelical Council –

“A Private Member’s Motion seeking to affirm that committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationships are compatible with Christian discipleship was narrowly defeated at this week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod in York.

The motion, proposed by Professor Helen King and amended by the Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, was debated on Monday 13 July as part of the Church’s continuing dialogue around marriage and sexual ethics. …”

– News from CEEC. Emphasis added.

A Chaplain’s Vindication

Andrea Williams, Director of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre in Great Britain, shines a light on the “institutional self-loathing” of the Church of England and the toll on a minister of the gospel –

“Dr Bernard Randall’s seven-year ordeal is one of the most extraordinary and disturbing cases I and the team at the Christian Legal Centre have ever had the privilege of being involved in.

Here was a Church of England chaplain, preaching in a Church of England chapel, in a school with a Church of England ethos, giving a sermon rooted in Church of England doctrine.

He encouraged pupils to think, to debate, and to love their neighbours. He did not bully. He did not harass. He did not incite hatred. He did what a Christian minister is called to do. …

The Church of England should have defended Bernard immediately. It should have recognised that a chaplain in a Christian school must be free to articulate Christian doctrine.

Instead, it joined the pile-on. It blacklisted him, demanded he submit to a psychological assessment by someone whose work included assessing serious offenders, and left him shut out of ministry for years.…”

– Read it all at The Critic. Photo: Christian Concern.

U.K. clergyman cleared after 7-year legal battle over gender ideology

The latest in a long-running saga –

“The Rev. Bernard Randall, 53, an Anglican clergyman, reached a settlement with his former employer and was cleared in a Church of England safeguarding investigation after seven years of litigation, according to the Christian Legal Centre.

Randall in 2019 preached a sermon regarding gender ideology while working as a chaplain at an Anglican school, Trent College. He taught, in accordance with the Church of England’s official doctrine, that marriage was between one man and one woman. He said students should debate secular teachings on gender ideology, while urging them to respect alternate views.

The school reported Randall to a government counterterrorism agency and eventually fired him, while he simultaneously faced an inquiry from the Church of England and was barred from preaching. …” (emphasis added)

– Report from World News Group.

Statement from Christian Concern.

“… There has been no apology for the remarkable fact that the Church took nearly seven years to reach its conclusion, whereas the secular LADO took just one day to determine that it was not a safeguarding matter but rather an ‘issue regarding the subject’s beliefs which ran contrary to his employers [Trent College].’ The Church of England’s bishops declared in 2021 that Dr Randall’s sermon contained ‘nothing … outside the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England’, making the contrast in treatment even more extraordinary.

The independent investigator also said: ‘It is a matter for the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the Diocese of Derby as to what they feel is an appropriate role for Dr Randall to be considered for. He may choose to apply for a licence, for Permission to Officiate (PtO) or may apply for another role within a school or another educational facility.’

It now remains to be seen how the Derby Diocese and Bishop of Derby will actively help and support Dr Randall back into full time ministry within the CofE.” (emphasis added)

Earlier posts.

Photo: Christian Concern.

What is the Church of England for?

Carl Trueman offers a devastating commentary on too much of the Church of England –

“H. Richard Niebuhr famously denounced the liberal church of his day, summarizing its theology in a single withering sentence: ‘A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.’ What he did not note—but perhaps implied—is that such theology typically manifests in worship that is infantile, offering a pastiche of the wider culture’s predilections that would qualify as kitsch, if its purveyors had the wit to see it as such. The progressive church is always a poor imitation of what the world considered cool the day before yesterday.

Walking through the streets of London in early June, I encountered a first-class example of such third-class theological life…”

– Read it all at First Things.

(Thanks to Julian Mann for the link.)

The importance of a special relationship in a crisis

From The Australian Church Record, an encouraging and enlightening contribution by Robin Sydserff of The Proclamation Trust –

“At the celebration of Dick Lucas’ 100th birthday on 14 September 2025, the overseas contribution was a series of recorded video messages from past and present Christian leaders in Australia, testifying to a special relationship. The relationship, first between conservative evangelicals in the Church of England and Sydney Anglicans, has enlarged over the last fifty years and more to embrace a much wider constituency.

In a special relationship there are times when strong things need to be said. ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend’ (Prov 27:6). …”

– What is the crisis? Who are the friends? How have they been a blessing to each other? Do take the time to read it all.

First published in the ACR’s Easter 2026 Journal.

Image from an interview with Robin Sydserff and David Cook on The Pastor’s Heart, August 2025.

C of E General Synod committee approves debating Private Members Motion on compatibility of intimate same sex relationships

From The Church of England Evangelical Council –

“In July this year, the Church of England will see the most significant Private Members Motion (PMM) on sex and marriage in the last 40 years being brought to General Synod.

It has been confirmed by the Business Committee that the July General Synod will debate the PMM proposed by Professor Helen King, which seeks to affirm the compatibility of intimate same sex relationships with Christian discipleship.

The controversial motion… is cleverly worded and designed to secure support for a revision of the Church of England’s sexual ethics, while at the same time not explicitly asking for a change to Church of England doctrine.”

– Details at the CEEC. (Emphasis added.)