Getting up to speed for the CofE General Synod meeting tonight
The Church of England’s General Synod continues to meet tonight, Australian time.
Anglican Futures gives a taste as to what to expect:
“Synod members have received thousands of pages of reports to read in advance of this week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod and millions of words will, I am sure be written, over the coming days. But for those who have other things to think about – here is a quick summary of what to look out for…”
They cover –
1) Will the Archbishop of York get ‘cancelled’? [Update from Anglican.ink – no.]
2) What more can be said about the Makin Report?
3) Will General Synod vote for ‘greater’ independence of safeguarding?
4) Can the Church of England become less middle class?
5) What can be said about Living in Love and Faith in an hour?
6) Can synod fix the way bishops are chosen?
7) How can poorer dioceses avoid bankruptcy?
Related:
The problem with the C of E: An open letter to Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York) – Ian Paul at Psephizo.
Pain, anguish and anger to be expected at the General Synod this week
“The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has given two interviews to the press this weekend, on the eve of the General Synod. the church’s parliament.
In an interview with the Church Times editor, Sarah Meyrick, he said the church was facing deep systemic challenges and he expected there would be a lot of pain, anguish and anger expressed at the synod, but hoped to focus on change. He also revealed that at a recent bishops’ meeting, there were “tears and penitence and a deep sharing with each other”, adding that there was also pain and a sense of the whole Church being humbled.
Speaking to Kaya Burgess at The Times, he said the general public is disgusted by the Church of England and its deeply shameful failures to tackle abusers in its ranks. …”
– The Religion Media Centre in the UK provides a summary of current religious news stories, including the continuing woes of the Church of England. Here’s their summary for 10 February 2025.
(Link via Anglican Mainstream.)
Are the Church of England’s bishops running scared from gay wedding celebrations?
“Are the Church of England’s bishops running scared from the problems caused by the prospect of gay wedding celebrations in parish churches across the country?
That would appear to be the political reality behind the House of Bishops’ decision at its meeting on January 20 to delay the introduction of stand-alone services of same-sex blessing. …
What has changed since that gung-ho General Synod vote in February 2023 when 34 bishops voted for the introduction of services of same-sex blessing, called Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF), with only four voting against and two abstaining?”
– At Christian Today, Julian Mann surmises what might be behind the delay in going ahead with same sex weddings in the Church of England.
Nominating the next Archbishop of Canterbury
“Dear members of the General Synod,
As you will expect, the process for the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury is underway and I wanted to write to share the outline framework of the emerging plans surrounding this. It is a significant responsibility, and all those involved are committed to ensuring this important process is carried out with the utmost integrity and care. …”
– Stephen Knott, The Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments, has written to members of the Church of England’s General Synod to outline the process of nominating the next Archbishop of Canterbury. From the Church of England website.
Bishop of Chelmsford front-runner for Archbishop of Canterbury after Dover rules herself out
“Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, the Iranian-born Bishop of Chelmsford, is now emerging as the front-runner to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury after the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, ruled herself out in a television interview last week. …”
– Julian Mann writes at Anglican Mainstream.
Photo from the Diocese of Chelmsford, where you can also read the Christmas 2024 sermon from Bishop Francis-Dehqani:
“we must be willing to see through the eyes of the child who was born in that stable, whose mother had sung of the proud being scattered, the mighty being cast down and the lowly lifted high, and who grew into the man who eschewed worldly power and success not only by siding with those who are victims of poverty, exploitation and abuse but by first becoming a victim himself through death on the cross, experiencing every kind of injustice and horror. Seeing through his eyes means seeing through the eyes of victims, those who are powerless and marginalised, strangers, outsiders, and yes, those who have experienced abuse at the hands of the church.…”
Does the ideal Archbishop of Canterbury exist in the current Church of England?
“A letter in the Church Times from a frontline parish minister deserves to be at the top of the agenda for the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) as it decides who should be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Rev James Dudley-Smith’s list of personal and spiritual qualifications for the ideal candidate in the January 10 edition of the paper are worth citing in full …
James serves as Rector of St John’s Church in Yeovil, Somerset, and is the son of the celebrated evangelical hymn writer, Timothy Dudley-Smith (1926-2024), a former Bishop of Thetford in Norfolk.”
– Julian Mann writes at Christian Today.
Lord for the Years: A tribute to Timothy Dudley-Smith
BBC Radio 4 last week aired an edition of “Sunday Worship” with a tribute to Timothy Dudley-Smith.
It’s available on their website for a limited time.
(Image from a 2020 message from Bishop Dudley-Smith to the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland.)
Justin Welby: a professional obituary
“Monday 6 January marked the last working day of Justin Welby as Archbishop Canterbury.
His resignation was forced on him after his failure to act competently in the oversight of a devastating sexual abuse scandal. But it would be unfair to take that single act of incompetence and use it as a lens to judge his entire performance as Archbishop. Tragic though the end of his tenure was, we need to look at the other elements of the way he held office in order to assess it fairly. …”
– Gavin Ashenden – former Anglo-Catholic bishop and now member of the Roman Catholic Church – shares his personal evaluation of Justin Welby’s tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury. At Christian Today.
Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
O Come, All Ye Wokeful! Now CAROLS are censored by Church of England so they don’t upset other faiths
“Priests have been told to edit popular carols this Christmas to avoid upsetting other religions.
The Church of England has been accused of ‘losing the plot’ after it urged clergy to alter Advent hymns so that congregations can celebrate the festive season ‘without causing unnecessary offence’.
Christian hymns such as O Come, O Come, Emmanuel have been singled out for depicting other faiths as being ‘outside of God’s grace’. …”
– Story from The Daily Mail.
Image from the Diocese of Birmingham website.
William Taylor: What to do when the denomination around you is imploding?
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“It is difficult times in the Church of England.
Having previously publicly betrayed his ordination and consecration vows – the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – has now resigned over his handling of a safeguarding matter, following the release of the Makin report.
The Church of England is tearing itself apart over sexuality.
There are more apostate bishops than faithful bishops in the English House of Bishops.
And there is now a massive group within the Church of England called The Alliance, representing 42% of the denomination’s attendance, basically pleading to the house of bishops to repent.
William Taylor has served since 1998 as the senior pastor of St Helen’s London. Taylor is paralleling the difficult times faced by Evangelicals today to those faced by the Apostle Paul at the time of writing the Pastorals.”
Related:
Rico Tice comments on the Makin Report
“My heart aches for all the victims of John Smyth, some of whom I know personally. I remember them as people who were enormously kind to me as a schoolboy, at a difficult time in my life. It’s devastating to discover that people who showed me such compassion were victims of Smyth’s cruel abuse.
These victims have a right to the truth about what happened. I also know that media attention on this issue will be intensely painful to some, and that in speaking about it I have a responsibility to consider both of these things. I hope that in sharing what I know with The Times earlier this week, and again here, I am honouring them. That is certainly my intention. …”
– Rico Tice writes at Honest Evangelism.
See also:
‘I didn’t leave the Church of England. It left me’ – Premier Christianity.
(Thanks to Anglican Mainstream for the links.)
150 at meeting in Oxford Diocese to consider Alliance Agenda
“Contrary to the views of some, there are far more than a minority of clergy and congregations in Oxford Diocese who hold to a clearly biblical view of the Christian doctrine of marriage and the limitations of sexual relations to a man and woman in lifelong marriage. The attendance bore out the editorial in this week’s Church of England Newspaper that ‘the episcopate is liberal, the flock is not’.
Over 150 clergy and senior lay people gathered at St Andrew’s Church Oxford to hear Rev Dr Andrew Goddard give a masterly and detailed narrative of the current state of the debate on sexuality in the Church of England and why we are where we are at the moment. The slides of his talk are attached.
Rev John Dunnett spoke on behalf of ‘the Alliance’ of orthodox Anglicans who are firmly requesting a parallel province, a de facto structure, not a formal one, for those who adhere to the classical Church of England doctrine. When he is asked about a ‘third province’ he responds ‘you mean for those with liberal views’.…”
– Report at Anglican Mainstream.
Statement from Lambeth Palace about the Archbishop of Canterbury
“Today (November 20), Lambeth Palace have issued a statement that following his resignation announcement, the Archbishop of Canterbury intends to complete his official duties by the upcoming Feast of Epiphany (6th January).
It reads: ‘Following the announcement last week of his resignation as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin intends to complete his official duties by the upcoming Feast of Epiphany (6th January). Archbishop Justin intends very little public-facing activity between now and Epiphany, but plans to honour a small number of remaining commitments. At Epiphany, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official functions will be delegated to the Archbishop of York – more details will be provided on this in due course. The date on which Archbishop Justin formally ceases to hold office will be set in agreement with the Privy Council.’ ”
– From The Anglican Communion News Service.
Commitment to Christ
Bishop Keith Sinclair opened Church Society’s 2024 Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference in August. His topic? “Commitment to Christ”.
– Listen here. Most encouraging.
What is the JAEC?
“Established by John Richardson in 2011, Church Society has hosted this conference since 2014. It is specifically for those who are ‘junior’, that is anyone considering ministry in the Church of England, lay or ordained, through training, curacy and the first few years of incumbency or the equivalent. The conference aims to help anyone in that category be more effective as an Anglican Evangelical, making the most of every opportunity to reach the lost for Jesus, build up the church through his word, and send workers into God’s harvest field.”
Photo: Church Society.
Gafcon responds to the resignation of Archbishop Welby
A Statement from Gafcon:
“We were saddened by the news of the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the reasons for his decision. While the Gafcon Primates have been critical of the Archbishop’s leadership, the circumstances of his resignation is not an occasion for rejoicing, but for grief and self-reflection.
The presence of child sexual abuse in the church of God is a pernicious evil, which has brought devastating, long-term effects upon survivors and their families. Yet their trauma is only exacerbated by negligence or inaction in pursuing and prosecuting perpetrators for their crimes. Such failures to act also grieve the heart of God and bring shame upon his church.
We appreciate Archbishop Justin’s willingness to resign from his office, as it shows evidence of his desire to take responsibility for his own lack of action in investigating the allegations against John Smyth, which came to light in 2013. While his own admission of regret and remorse is welcome, the past cannot be undone.
Leadership in any sphere of life is challenging, and no less so in the church of God. Christian leaders are called to be shepherds of the flock. Yet, none of us is perfect, as we all make mistakes, but owning our failures is also the mark of good leadership. While some errors of judgment have greater consequences than others, the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows our frailty and forgives all who are truly penitent. He also cares for the downcast and broken, as he cares for those who have been abused.
We pray for Archbishop Justin, his wife Caroline, and his family as the days ahead will not be without difficulty. We also pray for all those who have experienced sexual abuse by false shepherds in the church of God. May they know the peace of God that passes understanding and that heals all our infirmities.
The Most Revd. Dr. Laurent Mbanda
Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council
Archbishop & Primate of Rwanda (EAR)
Bishop of Gasabo.”
– Source: Gafcon.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…