Idolatry and the Church of England

“The Archbishop of Canterbury recently commented about his changing views, admitting that he no longer believes the doctrine of the Church of England on sexuality.…

These comments have rightly been met with a wide backlash from evangelicals in the Church of England. This is an Archbishop leading his people astray. This is an Archbishop saying ‘Enter through the wide gate to destruction’ (Matthew 7:13-14).

But the reality is that Justin Welby and the Bishops have been saying this for years. …

All false religions ultimately destroy us. We are promised salvation by the things in the world, but they will never satisfy, they will never deliver. They will never save.”

– Strong words from Benjamin John, writing at Christian Concern.

Image: Ben John speaking at the Church of England’s General Synod in February 2023.

Gafcon rebukes Archbishop Welby and affirms orthodox Anglicans in England

Here is a Communique from the Gafcon Primates’ Council:

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

We, the Gafcon Primates, meeting in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, to celebrate the investiture of Archbishop Steve Wood as the third Primate of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and to welcome him as a Primate of the Anglican Communion, send greetings to the faithful.

We wish we could write to you about our great joy for mission, evangelism, and church planting, but recent statements by the Archbishop of Canterbury require us to yet again address an urgent matter surrounding biblical ethics confronting our beloved Anglican church.

The recent actions of the General Synod of the Church of England, where Archbishop Justin Welby has championed the introduction of same-sex blessings into the life of the Church of England, has galvanised the Gafcon movement in the ongoing reset of the Anglican Communion. However, Archbishop Welby’s recent explicit repudiation of Christian doctrine in his interview on Britain’s podcast, ‘The Rest is Politics,’ has brought us to repeat our serious call for his personal repentance.

In this interview, he publicly states that:

“all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship and whether it’s straight or gay. In other words, we’re not giving up on the idea that sex is within marriage or civil partnership. We’ve put forward a proposal that where people have been through a civil partnership or a same-sex marriage, equal marriage under the 2014 Act, they should be able to come along to their local, to a church, and have a service of prayer and blessing for them in their lives together.”

While he may claim not to have changed the doctrine of marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury has demonstrably changed the doctrine of sin, by promoting the sanctification of sin by means of a divine blessing.

This is in clear breach of Holy Scripture, which unequivocally teaches that the only proper context for sexual intimacy is in the relationship of a man and woman who have been joined together in marriage. All forms of sexual intimacy outside of this context are condemned as immorality and are behaviors from which the people of God are regularly called to repent (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

It is also in clear breach of Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which rejected, “homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture,” and which the Archbishop as recently as 2022 declared to be the teaching of the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England.

We are guided by Jesus’ solemn words of warning to the Church of Thyatira, because, “they tolerate the teaching of Jezebel,” which endorses sexual immorality. Only judgment awaits Jezebel and all who follow her, unless they repent (Revelation 2:21-22; 22:15). Any toleration, let alone endorsement, of immorality is liable to God’s judgment.

For this reason, in response to his public comments, we solemnly repeat our call for Archbishop Justin Welby to personally and publicly repent of this denial of his ordination and consecration vows, where he promised to, “teach the doctrine of Christ as the Church of England has received it.”

Gafcon supports all faithful Anglicans, both those who have chosen to leave established provinces where the authority of Scripture has been compromised, as well as those who choose to remain as they seek to reform their province from within.

Therefore, we continue to champion The Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE) as Gafcon’s authentically-Anglican structural provision for those who cannot by conscience remain within the historic, revisionist structures.

Additionally, we express our support for The Alliance as they seek to stand firm in defense of biblical marriage within the Church of England, and we stand ready to defend, authenticate, and support them.

Finally, we declare afresh to all those in England who, “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to all the saints,” that you are not alone.

Gafcon Primates’ Council.
Reformation Day,
31 October 2024.

– Also published on the GAFCON website.

Justin Welby and the Continued Erosion of the Faith in the Church of England

“The Australian Church Record (ACR) is deeply grieved by the recent remarks made by the Archbishop of Canterbury in ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast episode released on 21 October 2024.

In the context of the current turbulence in the Church of England over matters related to human sexuality, Archbishop Justin Welby stated that ‘All sexual activity should be within a committed relationship and whether its straight or gay.’ (51:49).

Despite the subsequent Lambeth Palace statement issued on 22 October 2024 which defended this interview as merely Archbishop Welby’s ‘personal view’, this remark represents a serious and public breach of biblical orthodoxy from the most senior representative of world Anglicanism.…”

— Read the full statement just released by The Australian Church Record.

Archbishop Steve Wood — A Primate of Prayer

From GAFCON:

“Meet Archbishop Steve Wood, who will be invested this week as Primate of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a province established and celebrated by Gafcon.

In this extended interview, Archbishop Steve shares intimate insights into his daily devotional life, his emotional journey through his near-fatal COVID-19 illness, and his personal experience of leaving The Episcopal Church to join the ACNA.

General Secretary Paul Donison speaks with Archbishop Steve, as he candidly describes his deep fellowship within Gafcon, and his personal experiences of becoming Primate.”

– Listen here – or direct link to Spotify.

Very encouraging – and a reminder of what a belessing the Gafcon movement has been to so many.

Related:

One of Archbishop Foley Beach’s Christmas messages (this one from December 2022).

Vaughan Roberts on Justin Welby’s rejection of Church of England teaching on sex

“In a significant interview on the Rest is Politics Podcast England’s Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has denied the teaching of the Bible, and the teaching of his church.

It is Archbishop Welby’s most public betrayal of his ordination and consecration vow to ‘banish error and to uphold and defend the truth taught in Scripture.’

Archbishop Welby’s comments came on the eve of an important House of Bishops meeting in the UK, which considered a request from a group called The Alliance, consisting of 2360 clergy whose churches represent 42% of the Church of England’s Sunday attendance, and who hold to the Bible’s teaching on sexuality.

They are asking for a separate orthodox province to be created within the Church of England.

Vaughan Roberts is the senior minister of St. Ebbe’s in Oxford, and is one of the signatories of the request from The Alliance.”

– Watch or listen here.

Church of England accused of ‘virtue-signalling’ after laying into small parish for not meeting ‘bureaucratic’ Net Zero demands

“The Church of England has been blasted after it reprimanded a small Newcastle parish for buying gas heaters rather than a Net Zero-compliant boiler.

The Consistory Court of the Diocese of Newcastle said the Holy Cross church in Fenham, in the city’s West End, was ‘embarrassing’ over the eco-fracas – with the CofE pushing for net zero carbon emissions by 2030. …”

– Story from GB News, via Anglican Mainstream.

Related:

Going net zero by 2023 – video from the Church of England. (It would be nice to preach the cross of Christ too.)

Justin Welby claims ‘Gay sex is not sinful’

Justin Welby Credit: Jacqui J. Sze

“The Archbishop of Canterbury has shocked evangelicals in the Church of England by publicly abandoning the Church’s historic teaching on sexual ethics.

While the CofE officially maintains that sexual activity should only take place within marriage, and that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, Justin Welby has now said sexual activity is permissible within ‘committed relationships’, and that the ‘majority’ of bishops are in agreement.

The remark has deepened fractures in an already divided CofE, with some suggesting he is no longer fit to lead it if he is not prepared to uphold its doctrine. …

Lambeth Palace said the Archbishop’s views are his own, and are not the official stance of the Church of England.”

– from The Christian Institute in the UK.

See also:

Welby’s comments on gay sex will only deepen divisions in the Church of England and Anglican Communion – Julian Mann at Christian Today.

Lambeth Palace statement – 22 October 2024.

Photo: Justin Welby, via The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.  Credit: Jacqui J. Sze

Welby and Wambunya : a Warning for the Alliance

“This week the Alliance published the eighth letter in their campaign to persuade the bishops and General Synod to create a permanent, structural space in the Church of England for orthodox Anglicans.

As this blog sets out, the events of the past few weeks show that despite their best efforts, the Alliance is being undermined and thwarted at every end and turn and some serious rethinking is required. …”

– Anglican Futures has this commentary on the increasingly bleak future for evangelicals in the Church of England.

It would be good to continue to pray for wisdom for all in the Church of England who are committed to ‘contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 1:3)

J. C. Ryle’s Revival Lessons — Andrew Atherstone

From Church Society’s Fellowship of Word and Spirit Conference –

“Andrew Atherstone examines the lessons on revival to be learned from J. C. Ryle’s writings and ministry–  at the 2024 FWS Conference.”

Fascinating, encouraging and well worth hearing as we seek to reach Sydney for Christ.

– Listen here.

Archbishop of Canterbury: an arresting admission

From The Church of England Evangelical Council:

“In a staggering set of statements recorded by The Rest is Politics podcast, the Archbishop of Canterbury has laid his cards on the table with regards to sexual ethics in the Church of England.

In a wide-ranging interview where the Archbishop of Canterbury courageously discusses his own struggles with mental health, his upbringing, and his view on religion and politics, among other things, he also publicly admitted:

“What the Archbishop of York and I, and the bishops, by a majority, by no means unanimous…Where we’ve come to is to say that all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship and whether it’s straight or gay.”

Provoking widespread disbelief, the Archbishop of Canterbury has used this interview to indicate his view that:

– Read Dr Andrew Goddard’s post here.

Latest letter from The Alliance

On Tuesday, The Alliance sent this letter to the House of Bishops of the Church of England, prior to their meeting yesterday:

“Dear Archbishops and Bishops,

Thank you so much for the generous invitation to pre circulate a letter to the House of Bishops ahead of your meeting on Wednesday.

We continue to lament the pastoral pain and division the current LLF debate and its subsequent direction of travel is causing to the fabric of the Church of England at a local, national and global level, and at deep personal cost to many on all sides of the debate.

We gratefully welcome this opportunity to communicate the scale of pain and confusion felt by those we represent while seeking to bring clarity about who the Alliance represents and what we are prayerfully seeking to achieve for the sake of the future flourishing of the whole church in our nation. We humbly appeal to each of you to seek to understand us and, in your episcopal leadership as focal points of Christ’s unity, to find a way to support those we represent. …”

– Read the full letter here on The Alliance website.

Does the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship have a Better Story?

“The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship is a new and impressive organisation which in its own words is ‘an international community with a vision for a better world where every citizen can prosper, contribute and flourish’. A key member, Os Guinness, argues that we are at a ‘civilisational moment’ in the Western world, and that we need to act, not despair.

It was with some degree of anticipation that I, and 700 other delegates, attended their first Australian conference. …

I loved the whole day – and as I write this on the train home to Newcastle – I am deeply thankful to the Lord for such an inspiring time and the leadership provided by John Anderson and Philippa Stroud. The aim of the day was to tell a better story – or rather to encourage us to tell a better story. Did it succeed? Yes and no. …

– At AP, David Roberston shares his thoughts.

Reaching doubters and sceptics in Cambridge

At The Anglican Convocation in Europe, the Rev. Andrew Fellows writes:

“Three years ago, we began as Panton Street Church, a small group dedicated to creating a welcoming space for honest questions. We felt called to the mission of reaching doubters and sceptics in Cambridge with the truth of the gospel. We also felt the growing need to deepen our discipleship by bringing the Bible into a conversation with cultural trends. We are so grateful to the Lord for the joy of seeing people come to faith, and young Christians growing in the faith. …”

– Read it all here.

John Newton to William Wilberforce, 15th November 1786

At St. Thomas’ North Sydney yesterday, King Charles and Queen Camilla signed the The First Fleet Bible and the Book of Common Prayer which were carried here by the Rev. Richard Johnson, the first Chaplain to the Colony. Those books are tangible reminders of the commitment of Johnson and those who sent him to bring Good News to these distant shores.

Not long before the Fleet sailed, John Newton wrote to his friend William Wilberforce of their hopes in sending a Chaplain –

“Who can tell what important consequences may depend upon Mr Johnson’s going to New Hollands! It may seem but a small event at present. So a foundation stone, when laid, is small compared with the building to be erected upon it; but it is the beginning and the earnest of the whole.

This small beginning, may be like the dawn, which advances to a bright day, and lead on to the happy time, when many nations, which now sit in darkness, and in the region of the shadow of death, shall rejoice in the light of the Sun of Righteousness.” [Referring to Isaiah 9:2 and Malachi 4:2.]

– From a letter from John Newton to William Wilberforce, 15 November 1786.

(With thanks to Marylynn Rouse – who has more here – at The John Newton Project.)

Video screenshot with thanks to St. Thomas’ North Sydney.

Church Society podcast: Interview with Bishop Rob Munro

From Church Society:

“Ros Clarke chats to the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro, about what his role requires and some of the challenges he has been facing. In an increasingly politicised church he speaks of how he tries to follow theological principles, and calls us to pray for revival.”

– Listen here.

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