Archbishop Ben Kwashi GAFCON IV

Archbishop Ben Kwashi has this brief message of encouragement for all who are going to GAFCON IV – a great reminder for us all to pray for the gathering.

A Celtic Blessing — Bishop Stuart Bell consecrated for Anglican Convocation in Europe

In a service with a distinctive Welsh flavour, including harpists, songs, prayers and Bible readings in Welsh, Stuart Bell was consecrated on Saturday 18 March as bishop to serve within the Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE).

Led by Archbishop Foley Beach representing the Gafcon Primates, and Bishop Andy Lines, the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe, the service marked a significant moment in the history of the Principality.

Stuart will assist Bishop Andy Lines in providing support and encouragement, oversight and accountability for ACE clergy and congregations within Wales. His consecration represents the continuing provision by the global Anglican family of a home for those seeking to remain faithful to the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ and uphold historic, orthodox, biblical, confessional Anglicanism.

In his sermon, Archbishop Foley emphasised that the ministry of a bishop is to ensure the message of the church remains the message of Jesus, by teaching the Word of God, defending the faith and proclaiming Jesus boldly and unashamedly.

Asked about Stuart’s consecration, Archbishop Foley said, “It will now give the people of Wales a godly and faithful bishop who upholds the theology and moral teaching of the Bible and our Anglican tradition.”

Stuart himself reflected, “It seems to me that this a twofold testimony. A testimony as orthodox Anglicans in Wales to the Biblical gospel of Jesus Christ which is our responsibility to faithfully present to all who will receive it; and, sadly, a testimony specifically against the Church in Wales which has stepped away from that Biblical gospel.”

In his greeting to the congregation Stuart publicly re-affirmed three life-time commitments: “Firstly to Jesus Christ as my Lord and myself as his disciple. Secondly to the Scriptures as recorded in the Bible, to believe them, to trust them, to seek to live them, and to preach them faithfully. Thirdly, I re-affirm my commitment to Wales, to commend Christ to Wales and to seek to bring Wales to Christ… until my last breath.”

– Source: The Anglican Convocation in Europe.

Praying for GAFCON IV preparations

Today’s prayer request from GAFCON:

“GAFCON IV, April 17-21, Kigali, Rwanda is taking place at a very significant moment in the Anglican Communion.

Pray for all the contributors to be able to prepare well in their area of the programme.”

Why we are compelled to resist — CEEC

The Church of England Evangelical Council has released a declaration and invites members of the Church of England to signify their assent:

“The Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process and resources have enabled us, as the Church of England, to explore our different understandings of sex, marriage and relationships and, assisted by the Pastoral Principles, become better at the “good disagreement” that many have called for.  …

While we recognise and respect the desire of the bishops to find a way forward, which will hold the Church together, we believe that their proposed draft Prayers of Love and Faith cannot do this. This is because they – and further changes some are calling for in the bishops’ revised pastoral guidance to replace Issues in Human Sexuality – do not keep faith with our biblical inheritance and the doctrine of the Church of England on marriage shared with the wider Anglican Communion as expressed in Lambeth 1.10. …”

– Read it all here.

Bill to allow same-sex marriage in Church of England to be tabled

“An MP will seek to introduce a bill next week to permit same-sex marriages to be performed by willing Church of England clergy.

UK law currently prevents its clergy from carrying out same-sex marriages even if they wish to. …”

– More pressure on the Church of England. Story from The National Secular Society.

Key English churches take action as C of E ‘walks away’

“Some of the largest churches in London and Oxford have announced estrangement from the Church of England, including a pause on paying financial contributions.

St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, a large evangelical church with an outreach in London’s financial quarter, was the first to react to the decision by the General Synod to approve a report by the House of Bishops that introduces prayers of blessing for same-sex couples. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell summarises the response of key evangelical churches in the Church of England – including the news that St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford is also pausing financial contributions to their diocese.

See also:

A response from Vaughan Roberts – Anglican Ink.

Hold your horses

“A few days ago I was at Wycliffe Hall, speaking to some Anglican ordinands about why everyone should do rural ministry. Unsurprisingly the conversation soon turned to LLF, and that General Synod vote. Since I am a member of Synod, I was quizzed about what had happened. After a bit, one student asked me, “Given what’s happened, how can you be so upbeat”? …

I don’t think I have seen such a strong, broad and deep evangelical unity in the Church of England as I see now. It often takes an emergency to bring a group together, and that is precisely what has happened.”

– At Church Society’s blog, Church Society Regional Director the Rev Dr Chris Moore argues that ‘this is the time to stand up, not to walk away’.

Photo: Diocese of Hereford.

Related:

Thirty years ago, the Rev John Richardson travelled from the UK to study short-term at Moore College. (This was before the rejuvenation of Oak Hill College in London.)

While in Sydney, he wrote an article which was published in the ACL’s newsletter. (UK Evangelicalism: Optimistic? – PDF version)

At the time, he was not optimistic about the future of Evangelicalism in the Church of England, and argued that strong evangelical leadership was needed –

“You cannot head off a stampede by calling the cows to come back. If the present debacle in English Evangelicalism is to be arrested it will require people of courage and vision who are prepared to go out ahead of the herd, to kick, to shout and to make a noise, so that those who are genuinely Christian, but who are so much like sheep without a shepherd, may be brought back to the good pastures.”

Do continue to pray for evangelical clergy in the Church of England, that they would be given great wisdom by the Lord.

And do pray that the new evangelical unity of which Dr Moore speaks will be effective for the gospel.

Has the listening process of LLF now broken down?

In a letter to Church Times, The Rev James Paice (pictured) asks, “One wonders: has the listening process of LLF now broken down?”

He writes in response to a Church Times report (‘London conservatives look for support from breakaway Anglicans’), published on 1st March 2023, regarding the Bishop of London’s response to a large gathering with clergy –

“The Church Times understands that the London bishops held a two-hour meeting on Thursday evening of last week in St James Garlickhythe, which was attended by between 150 and 200 members of the clergy, many of whom were concerned about the Bishops’ proposals on same-sex blessings. …”

The report references a statement from the Diocese of London, effectively claiming that nothing has really changed.

Anglican Mainstream has published the letter by James Paice – read it here.

Earlier:

GAFCON press release 9th March 2023

Press release, 09 March 2023

“Many Anglicans across the world are deeply distressed by the Church of England’s recent decision to separate from the historic faith through the creation and implementation of prayers of blessing for same-sex marriages.

Several churches and Provinces within the Anglican Communion are considering their future with respect to the Church of England. The Primates of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (who represent the majority of the world’s worshipping Anglicans) have already declared that they are in impaired communion with the Church of England and said that they do not recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury as the “first among equals” leader of the global Anglican Communion.

The Gafcon Movement is a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to proclaim the unchanging truth of the Bible in a changing world, and to support those who wish to remain Anglican but feel they are no longer able to sit under the authority of their Bishop or Diocese.

On 20 February 2023 the Gafcon Primates endorsed the statement released by the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans pointing to Paragraph 13 of the Jerusalem Declaration (2008) which says: ‘We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed’.

In a number of countries around the world (including Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, the United States, and Wales), Gafcon has supported the establishment of alternative episcopal oversight for those Anglicans who in good conscience cannot remain part of their provincial Anglican Church.

Presently, the Gafcon Primates are meeting regularly with the Primates of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches and other Orthodox Primates across the world to discern the path forward. The outcome of these meetings will affect the majority of the 85 million Anglicans worldwide.

Gafcon will not be commenting on the content of these meetings while they are ongoing but will be releasing a statement at the end of the upcoming GAFCON IV Conference to be held from 17-21 April in Kigali, Rwanda.”

When is a wedding not a wedding

“A woman in a white wedding dress laughs as she looks up into a cloud of rainbow confetti. She stands at the entrance to a church, holding hands with her partner, surrounded by friends, family and photographers. The photo is shared on Twitter with the notice that they are now Revd and Mrs X.

But this is not a wedding. It cannot legally be a wedding…”

– At Church Society’s blog, Ros Clarke highlights the mess caused by the internal contradictions in Justin Welby’s ‘radical inclusion’.

“No wonder that what is being proposed does not satisfy anyone.”

Would John Stott have continued on as an Anglican?

“One of the largest evangelical Anglican churches in the UK, St Helen’s Bishopsgate, recently announced that it will no longer accept episcopal oversight from the Church of England’s House of Bishops.

This comes as a result of the General Synod’s decision to bless couples who are in a same-sex marriage or civil partnership. …

The current context raises the question of whether the late John Stott, the famous Anglican evangelical stalwart, would have himself continued to remained.

In 1966 Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones had a confrontation which many regarded as a dispute over whether it was time for evangelicals to withdraw from the Anglican communion. For Lloyd-Jones the time was now, but for the Stott the response was not yet. …”

– Presbyterian Mark Powell asks the question. We suspect the answer to the hypothetical question in the title would be, “Yes. And aligned with GAFCON.”

Rev. Calvin Robinson: a crisis of faith for the Anglican Church?

“What follows is one of the most articulate and powerful speeches you are likely to view this year. It is by Rev. Calvin Robinson, who recently argued at the Oxford Union as to why Christianity should not allow gay marriage, or even the blessing of same-sex unions.

Robinson’s twelve-minute talk is a model of graciousness, fidelity to historic Christian doctrine, and personal courage. …”

– You may already have seen the speech by Calvin Robinson. If not, take a look – and also see Mark Powell’s summary in Spectator Australia.

Image: Oxford Union.

Chaplain who was sacked for identity politics sermon to appeal ruling

“An ordained Church of England (CofE) chaplain, who was sacked and secretly reported to the government’s terrorist watchdog for a moderate sermon in a school chapel on identity politics, will appeal an employment tribunal ruling handed down this week.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Rev. Dr Bernard Randall had taken his employer, Trent College in Nottingham, to court for discrimination, harassment, victimisation and unfair dismissal.

He has described the ruling against him as a ‘blow for free speech and Christian freedoms.‘…”

– Christian Concern in the UK has this report on the sacking of the Rev. Dr Bernard Randall.

This story is quite an eye-opener to what is happening in the UK and in the Church of England.

You can hear his redelivery of the offending sermon below – do take the time to watch and listen.

Also read the transcript, courtesy of Christian Concern.

This case is also a reminder of why Australia needs robust freedom of religion legislation.

See also:

School chaplain loses unfair dismissal case over LGBT sermon – BBC News.

“Employment judge Victoria Butler, who heard evidence from Rev Randall and senior school staff during a three-week hearing, dismissed the clergyman’s claim he was ‘sacked’ by the school after he twice delivered a sermon called Competing Ideologies in chapel services. …”

Class and the evangelical church in England

“I have been asked to write some observations on class in the evangelical church in England.

Those who asked me apparently think that my Australian background gives me an advantage; I am not embedded in the British class system myself, so can be more objective. I’m not sure that this is all that much an advantage: class in Britain is a very complicated and deeply-entrenched matter, not at all easy to understand. It still surprises me that even after 17 years living and working in Britain, I find certain aspects of the class system entirely foreign. Reading and researching on class issues has demonstrated that there is a lot that even now I had never realised, in particular the how powerful are the emotions and attitudes involved. The classes are different, in significant ways, and it really matters to people.

What has struck me most, and what will be the main point of this series of articles, is that running middle-class churches will not reach the working classes. …”

– Kirsten Birkett begins a series of articles at Church Society.

William Taylor: The Bishops have chosen to walk apart – but others stand with us

William Taylor, Rector of St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, has made an important announcement – and he speaks with the support of Anglican bishops worldwide including

Kanishka Raffel, Archbishop of Sydney;
Foley Beach, Primate of North America and GAFCON Primates Council Chairman;
Jay Behan, Bishop of the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand;
Glenn Lyons, Presiding Bishop of REACH South Africa.

– See William Taylor’s announcement and the messages of support from these Anglican leaders.

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