Sea changes on euthanasia, conversion therapy and religious freedom – with Mike Southon and Monica Doumit
A “Must-Watch” episode of The Pastor’s Heart:
“It’s going to be an especially bumpy six months for religious freedom issues in New South Wales.
Legalised Euthansia will be rolled out in just a few weeks. But what about faith based aged care institutions, where organizations and staff are conscientious objectors to euthanasia?
Then there’s the Law Reform Commission inquiry into religious schooling and whether the religious exemptions to anti discrimination law should be removed.
And the debate over conversion therapy will come to a head in the parliament.
Monica Doumit is Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Catholic Church in Sydney… and was one of the presenters at the Freedom for Faith Conference in Sydney.
Mike Southon is executive director of Freedom for Faith.”
– Watch or listen here. A hugely important topic.
Time to contact Members of Parliament!
The Gafcon Primates are meeting today
A prayer request from GAFCON:
“The Gafcon Primates are meeting today and over the next four days [i.e. November 6th to 10th] in London.
Pray for: good fellowship; wise counsel; that the Holy Spirit may direct and rule in all things.”
Archbishop of Canterbury invites representatives of “progressive organisations and networks” to Lambeth Palace
“On Friday afternoon, forty one people gathered forming a huge rectangle in the room on the top floor of the Lambeth Palace library. Thirty four were representatives of progressive organisations and networks seeking the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church of England.
I think the meeting represents a turning point in the decades-long movement in the Church of England towards achieving the full and equal inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in our church – but although progress may now be made, the future is still very uncertain. …
Archbishop Justin said he was totally and unequivocally committed to the goal of a radical new Christian inclusion that embraced LBTQIA+ people and he was surprised and shocked that we ever doubted that. A number of people said they had never heard him say that before. If only he had said this loud and clear before now, it would have made a huge difference. Indeed it would, but it has until now clearly been too difficult to say. He was surprised that people didn’t know this is his position. He compared himself with all other bishops saying he was making the most diverse appointments.…”
– This article by Colin Coward, long-time campaigner for ‘LGBTQIA+ rights’ in the Church of England, gives an insight into what is happening behind the scenes with regards to LLF.
Link via Anglican.ink. Photo: Jacqui J. Sze, archbishopofcanterbury.org.
Unpacking the CofE’s plan to bless same sex couples
From Christian Concern:
“The Church of England will shortly continue its muddle on marriage as the bishops intend to ‘commend’ prayers of blessing for same-sex couples.
Today’s Round the Table saw Tim, Andrea and Ben joined by Rev Dr Ian Paul to clear up the confusion and explain why this matters to Christians who go to other churches in England and beyond.
The Church of England has a disproportionate witness in our culture as the leaders speak – or fail to speak – of Jesus’ teaching to the wider culture.
And its orthodox doctrine on marriage also gives some legal protection to other Christians – if the Church of England gives in to the sexual revolution it will make things harder for all Christians.
Please pray, particularly ahead of the upcoming General Synod, that the faithful Christians would influence the church for good, so that the church would speak boldly of the goodness of God’s call for our lives as his redeemed, sanctified people.”
– With thanks to Anglican Mainstream for the link to the video.
Podcast: The Doctrine of the Church of England
The latest from Church Society:
“The podcast miniseries on the Church of England continues with an exploration of the Church of England’s doctrine. Ros Clarke, Kirsten Birkett and Lee Gatiss explain what doctrine is, how Anglican doctrine was established, what constitutes heresy, and how false teaching is supposed to be dealt with in the church.
Previous episodes in this series examine what the Church of England is, what the current crisis entails, and how the church can change.”
– Listen here.
Rolling out the Global Anglican rescue – with Archbishop Justin Badi Arama
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Slowly, carefully, but quite deliberately, a new locus of leadership is emerging within the global Anglican Communion, a locus that significantly is intentionally focussed on Christ and biblical authority and not focussed on London, England or the Archbishop of Canterbury.
An important meeting of the Primates of the Global South and other leader of the Anglican Community has just wrapped up in Cairo.
Significantly and surprisingly the 13 orthodox Primates were joined at their meeting by Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of the Alpha Course and London’s Holy Trinity Brompton’s massive UK church planting network.”
Communique from GSFA leaders meeting in Cairo
Leaders of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches have just released this Communique after their meeting in Cairo last week –
“Anglican orthodox leaders met at All Saints’ Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt from 17th – 19th October 2023. The theme for the meeting was ‘I will make you as a light to the nations’ (Isaiah49: 6b). This resonates deeply with the essence of our faith and the mission of the Church.
In his opening address, the chairman of GSFA, Archbishop Justin Badi encouraged us as followers of Jesus to be bearers of God’s light by living and proclaiming His Truth in a sin-ruined and broken world. …”
Also see this summary of the meeting:
GSFA brings hope and builds orthodox unity in the Anglican Communion
Update:
Historic meeting backs world mission and a ‘firewall’ against false teaching – Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net
Young clergy and ordinands push back against gay blessings proposals
“Over one hundred men and women training for ordination in the Church of England have written a public letter warning the church was set to ‘fracture’ should the House of Bishops’ Living in Love and Faith (LLF) proposals on same-sex blessings be adopted.…”
– George Conger writes at Anglican.ink.
The letter begins:
“Dear Bishops and Archbishops,
We write to you from a broad coalition of those who share a call to ordained ministry in the Church of England. We include people within the discernment process, in training, and those in their diaconate year. At the time of writing we span ten training institutions and twenty-six dioceses. This group draws men and women from varied backgrounds including the HTB and New Wine networks, conservative evangelicals and traditional Anglicans, all of whom care deeply for and are heavily invested in the Church of England.
As those in whom you have invested, who you are preparing for decades of ministry, we need to convey our grief in seeing the current direction of travel concerning the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF). …”
– Read it all here. (PDF file)
Also in the Church of England:
Racial justice pilgrims [from London] visit Anglican Communion Office during tour of London – Anglican Communion News Service.
Who is Noticing?
Posted last week at the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches website, Bishop Keith Sinclair reflects on Ephesians 6 and asks who is noticing what is happening in the churches –
“It turns out that the ones who are noticing what is happening in the church are not disinterested observers, but those opposed to all that God has established in the gospel and made manifest in the life of the church.
What happens in the church matters not only to those in the church, but also in the cosmic struggle with the rulers of darkness and the powers of evil.”
Photo: Bishop Keith Sinclair at GAFCON IV in Kigali in April 2023.
(See his remarks here.)
“To know and love the indigenous people of this land”
In his response to the Voice Referendum result, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel says there should be renewed effort towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ministry.
“The people of Australia have now spoken on the Voice to Parliament,” the Archbishop said in a statement. “Whatever your reaction to the outcome it is timely to remember what the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples Ministry Committee affirmed this year – it is God’s voice that is sovereign over all peoples and lands.”…
– Read Russell Powell’s report at SydneyAnglicans.net – complete with a brief video message from the Archbishop.
Full statement below:
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney Public Statement
The people of Australia have now spoken on the Voice to Parliament.
Whatever your reaction to the outcome it is timely to remember what the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples Ministry Committee affirmed this year – it is God’s voice that is sovereign over all peoples and lands.
The conversation around the referendum highlights the need for reconciliation with the indigenous people of this land and should spur us on to the true work of reconciliation through Jesus.
Our ministries of care and education for and by indigenous people, through Anglicare and our schools, are an important part of this.
I was encouraged by our last Synod warmly welcoming and listening to the voices of our indigenous brothers and sisters. I recall the words of the Rev Michael Duckett who challenged us to spend as much time as we have spent talking about the Voice, talking about the spread of the gospel among first nations people.
“Put your efforts and your prayers,” he said “into the spread of the gospel among my people here so the Sydney Diocese can showcase to the world what it means to be reconciled to the First Nations peoples through Christ Jesus.”
What a wonderful and humbling vision! To know and love the indigenous people of this land. To direct our prayers and our efforts into helping to raise up the next generation of ministry leaders. To pray for First Nations people, young and old, to know the Lord.
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us, so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. PS 67:1,2
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel
15 October 2023.
Bishop of Rochester and Bishop of Ebbsfleet speak about the House of Bishops meeting and press statement
Two Bishops in the Church of England have issued their own statements in addition to the joint statement of dissenting bishops of 12 October 2023.
Statement from Bishop Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Rochester:
“I have always prayed that God would surprise us and open avenues that we have never conceived, in ways that would honour and affirm people with a wide diversity of views on these hugely important and sensitive issues, while remaining faithful to our inheritance of faith.
It is therefore with great sadness and reluctance that I have felt compelled to join with others in indicating that I cannot endorse the decisions taken at the meeting of the House of Bishops on Monday 9 October, or the press statement issued afterwards, which I believe does not adequately reflect the decisions made or the depth of disagreement within the House. …”
See also this statement from Bishop Rob Munro, Bishop of Ebbsfleet:
“The press release does not make clear the depth of disagreement within the House about these proposals. …
I am deeply concerned that the approach that is being proposed will ultimately harm our unity, sanctity, catholicity and apostolicity as a Church, and seriously impact our mission. I believe it is necessary, in commitment to my consecration vows- to uphold God’s Word, to teach the doctrine of Christ and refute error- to publicly raise these concerns, that I have been expressing in the House.
When the fuller details of the proposals are published, I hope to address specific concerns in more detail. I continue to be supportive of the approach of the CEEC and encourage you to keep in step with their collective response.”
– Read his full statement – via Anglican.ink.
Image: Bishop Jonathan Gibbs (left) and Bishop Rob Munro.
Letter in Church Times on the present crisis from an incumbent: “unity has already broken down”
A Letter published in Church Times:
“Sir, – For the first time in more than 20 years of ordained ministry, I have declined to give permission for a child of my parish to be baptised in a neighbouring parish where the parents have begun attending. The reason is that I have heard from several sources that the priest of that parish is teaching publicly that same-sex relationships can be blessed in church. This is contrary to scripture and 2000 years of Christian teaching and pastoral practice.
The Bishops of the Church of England have decided this week that they will put revised prayers to the General Synod in November, after a long and heated debate in July. So far, they have declined any appeal by the Church of England Evangelical Council and other bodies for a separate province for either revisionists or conservatives, claiming that they ‘want to maintain unity’.
I have to tell them now: unity has already broken down, when we cannot commend the ministry of a fellow Anglican minister (or indeed bishop). ‘Good separation’ has to be better than years of the breakdown of structures.”
– At Anglican Mainstream.
See also:
Dissenting bishops statement on LLF process.
Church Society Editorial: Good Lord!
“There’s been a lot of talk about the doctrine of the Church of England of late. The doctrine of the Church of England is clearly stated in Canon Law. Canon A5 says:
“The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures.
In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal.”
I have devoted my life and ministry to these things. …”
– In this important editorial, Church Society’s Director, the Rev Dr Lee Gatiss, wonders what we can do when we are exasperated by bishops and the direction of the Church of England.
He goes on to say this about ‘canonical obedience’ to bishops –
“if bishops now require obedience or acquiescence in something neither lawful nor honest, and against the plain and public definition of Anglican doctrine, it is clearly not just a matter of conscience but my duty to the truth to say no. They should expect resistance.”
(Emphasis added.)
CofE conservatives cannot stop same-sex blessings from becoming facts on the ground
“Despite appearances, Church of England conservatives have not won a victory after the bishops announced that new services of blessing for same-sex couples now require two-thirds majorities in General Synod. The services are set to come into use anyway after November’s Synod.
The announcement from Church House Westminster on October 9, after the bishops made their decision on the legal route they are now pursuing, certainly highlighted the bishops’ commitment to get the new services into use. …”
– Julian Mann writes at Christian Today.
Update:
See also Lee Gatiss’ Church Society Editorial.
“Not fit for office” — The Anglican Network in Europe calls on the C of E House of Bishops to repent
Here’s a Press Release from The Anglican Network in Europe, 11th October 2023:
A response to the statement of the House of Bishops of the Church of England 9th October 2023
Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture! (Jeremiah 23:1)
We grieve with millions of faithful Anglicans around the world at the disastrous decision by the House of Bishops in the Church of England to agree in principle to commend Prayers of Love and Faith for same-sex couples. This action is offensive to the God of love. It replaces his wonderful gospel of grace with a distorted message, blessing what God calls sin. This is heart-breaking, wicked and outrageously arrogant.
Together the House of Bishops have embraced heresy by departing from the clear teaching of Scripture on matters of sexual conduct. As a result, they have betrayed their office. At their consecration service, each bishop was instructed to “be to the flock of Christ a shepherd, not a wolf; feed them, devour them not.” However, by introducing, and not banishing “erroneous and strange doctrine”, they have become wolves. Together they have demonstrated they are not fit for office. They stand under judgement as did the shepherds of Israel in Jeremiah’s day.
Their shame is further compounded by a seriously misleading and distorted appeal to reconciliation. In the House of Bishops’ statement, the Bishop of London asserts “the heart of the gospel is reconciliation.” However that reconciliation is first and foremost with our heavenly Father through the atoning death of Christ upon the cross, and only then, on that basis, to one another as forgiven sinners who serve Jesus as their Lord. To appeal to the cross as the grounds to “remain together as one Church in our uncertainty”, and, as a reason for embracing sin and failing to call for repentance, is an astonishing and blasphemous corruption of the grace of Christ and an entirely different gospel.
We call on the House of Bishops to repent.
We urge orthodox bishops, who have courageously fought for the truth, now to publicly dissent and distance themselves from their episcopal colleagues who are promoting these dangerous prayers.
We continue to pray for our faithful brothers and sisters in the Church of England as they weep, resist this apostasy and trust our Sovereign Lord.
With God’s help, we remain committed to the unchanging Biblical gospel which brings light, life and love to all who repent and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit compel us to preach Christ faithfully to the nations.
Rt. Rev. Andy Lines (Presiding Bishop of ANiE)
Rt. Rev. Stuart Bell (Assistant Bishop of ACE)
Rt. Rev. Tim Davies (Assistant Bishop of AMiE)
Rt. Rev. Ian Ferguson (Assistant Bishop of ACE)
Rt. Rev. Lee McMunn (Assistant Bishop of AMiE)
11th October 2023
The Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE) is the provision of the Primates’ Council of Gafcon to provide a faithful ecclesial structure for Anglicans within Europe. It currently comprises two dioceses: The Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) and The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE).
(Received via e-mail.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…