Church, Women Bishops and Provision

The Latimer Trust has released a draft version of a forthcoming book, “Church, Women Bishops and Provision” – for the information of members of the Church of England General Synod.

Roger Beckwith, Sarah Finch, Michael Ovey, Charles Raven, Vinay Samuel, Chris Sugden and Anthony Thiselton are the contributors.

The draft book is available here – but please note: “This Draft is being released for the information of members of General Synod and will be removed from circulation as soon as the final printed version is available, which will also be made available for download. Any persons downloading this draft are kindly requested to refrain from circulating it and to delete it once the final version is available, as in all respects the latter will be the approved version.”

Lambeth Palace on the formation of The Anglican Mission in England

Yesterday, Lambeth Palace issued a statement on the formation of The Anglican Mission in England and AMiE has now responded.

Lambeth: “There needs to be some further discussion of this development between those involved and the diocesan bishops of the Church of England.”

AMIE: “AMIE … is grateful for the statement … Discussions on these issues have taken place with Lambeth Palace and its representatives over a period of four and half years. … We warmly welcome the invitation to meet to clarify the goals of AMIE which are to preach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Both statements in full below:  Read more

When the bishops don’t want you to ask

What questions should parish representatives in the Church of England ask of prospective clergy?

“parish reps are being discouraged or prevented from asking questions about sexuality… This is a clear instance where parish reps must obey the Lord whatever an Archdeacon or Bishop may say to them.”

David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society, writes about the Church of England’s ‘Common Application Form’ and the situation in England. –

“Clergy applying for posts or laity acting as Parish Reps may well have encountered the Church of England’s Common Application Form. A revised version has been issued and there are a couple of notable omissions.

The first is that in early drafts a question was proposed for candidates to state that they comply with the Bishops guidelines “Issues in Human Sexuality”. What they were trying to avoid was some clergy being asked about their sexuality whilst others are not. This question has not been included but more importantly we know that parish reps are being discouraged or prevented from asking questions about sexuality. Given that clergy can now be in Civil Partnerships and some Bishops seem unwilling to ask clergy if they abide by the guidelines this is a serious problem. It is essential to be sure that clergy are modelling Biblical standards in their own lives, that is a requirement not only of Scripture but also of our Canons and Ordination services. This is a clear instance where parish reps must obey the Lord whatever an Archdeacon or Bishop may say to them.   Read more

The Anglican Mission in England – Seeing the Church of England again for the first time

Charles Raven provides insights into the launch of the Anglican Mission in England –

“Revisionists will no doubt express various degrees of outrage at the emergence of the AMiE, but it is in fact a godly and gracious initiative which offers some hope that the Church of England may yet avoid the same fate as TEC.”

“Yesterday afternoon I was privileged to be present at the inaugural event of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) at St Peter’s Cornhill. Today the AMiE was introduced to a wider audience at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly meeting in St Helen’s Bishopsgate with fulsome support from The Revd Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform. In these two churches, at the heart of the City of London, English church leaders launched a mission society unlike any others the Church of England has seen in its long history.

The AMiE is not only committed to adventurous church planting and the re-conversion of England, but is also prepared to provide alternative episcopal oversight in cases where it is clear that diocesan bishops are failing in their canonical duty to uphold sound teaching. The key institutional innovation is a panel of bishops formed by Bishops Michael Nazir Ali, John Ball, Colin Bazley, Wallace Benn and John Ellison which enjoys the support and encouragement of the GAFCON Primates’ Council…”

– This is a major development and Charles’ article is worth reading in full.

New Anglican Mission Society announced

“The Anglican Mission in England (AMIE) held its inaugural event on Wednesday June 22 during an evangelical ministers’ conference in central London.

AMIE has been established as a society within the Church of England dedicated to the conversion of England and biblical church planting. …

The AMIE has been encouraged in this development by the Primates’ Council of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) who said in a communiqué from Nairobi in May 2011: ‘We remain convinced that from within the Provinces which we represent there are creative ways by which we can support those who have been alienated so that they can remain within the Anglican family.’ …”

– Read the full news release on the GAFCON website. More background here.

When the Church bows to the State: Gay bishops in the Church of England

“As if the Church of England does not have enough troubles, word is leaking out of Lambeth Palace that the church is about to allow the appointment of openly gay bishops, so long as those bishops remain celibate.

The news has emerged in the form of a leaked internal memorandum prepared for the Archbishop of Canterbury by the church’s highest legal adviser…”

– Albert Mohler looks at the latest controversy facing the Church of England.

Reform calls for legal advice on Bishops’ Appointments to be withdrawn

“The legal advice from Church House on whether clergy in civil partnerships can be appointed as bishops should never have been published and should now be withdrawn. This is the view of General Synod member and chairman of Reform, the Revd Rod Thomas. …”

– Reform responds to the highly publicised release of ‘legal advice’ on Church of England bishops in civil partnerships.

(Peter Ould takes apart the story at An Exercise in the fundamentals of orthodoxy.)

Revising the C of E Baptism services (again)

“When the Common Worship services were produced in 1995 the problems about baptism within the wider church came to the fore. The Liturgical Commission set about the service with a particular rationale but this did not find favour with the General Synod, as a result a Revision Committee, and the Synod itself… changed the services significantly. The resulting service, authorised in 1997, was unsatisfactory to many people and is confused theologically. …

The discontent surfaced again in 2005 when further changes were made. Now, another six years on a third attempt is being made to revise the services…”

– in this article (PDF file) for Cross†Way, Church Society General Secretary David Phillips provides several glimpses into the state of liturgical reform in the Church of England.

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