Church of England General Synod votes to move forward with the House of Bishops’ proposals

Just before adjourning for lunch on Thursday, the Church of England’s General Synod voted to move forward with the House of Bishops’ proposals for the blessing of same-sex relationships.

The vote was –

Screenshot: The livestream as the vote result was announced. (We note that the rainbow flag graphic which appeared briefly at 3:17:47 has been blurred out in the archived version on YouTube.

Update: Archbishop of Canterbury apologises for LGBT flag livestream appearance at Synod. )

New Beginnings Church, Lakelands — latest to join Diocese of the Southern Cross

Today’s prayer request from GAFCON:

“The Diocese of the Southern Cross (Australia) welcomed another new church recently: New Beginnings Church, Lakelands, Western Australia.

Thank God for the courage and conviction of the congregation. Their rented building is already too small: please pray for a suitable space that will enable growth and service in the community.”

Hard to believe the Anglican Communion would survive — Vaughan Roberts

In his words to the Church of England General Synod on Wednesday afternoon UK time, Vaughan Roberts warned the chamber of the massive implications of following the lead of the House of Bishops in blessing same-sex marriages (among other relationships).

Watch his address from 25 minutes, 53 seconds into the video.

(Please note that the links will take you to the correct spot in the video if viewed on a desktop / laptop computer, but on the mobile browsers we tested, they default to the start of the video. In that case, just scrub to the correct time.)

Other notable speeches in favour of amendments includes those by Dr Ian Paul – from 4 hours, 18 minutes, 20 seconds – he asks the bishops to show the theological and Scriptural basis for their recommendations –

And many of our readers will be heartened by the impassioned plea from Ben John. He was appealing to the Synod to decline to welcome the House of Bishops’ proposals for the blessing of same-sex relationships.

See it from 4 hours, 38 minutes and 50 seconds –

This was after his concerns had been been dismissed earlier by the Bishop of York.

His father, evangelist J. John, reflects on that incident at Christian Today. –

“Ben was speaking at General Synod, doing no more than justifying the historic position of the Church of England and, indeed, of the majority of churches within the Anglican Communion and asking the question, ‘What measures are in place if bishops fail to believe, teach or uphold doctrine?’ Now, I should say that I’m not concerned about defending Ben; he is perfectly capable of standing up for himself, and that is a good and pertinent question.

The question was met with a response from no less than the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who, I remind you, is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England. Normally, the speech of senior Anglican clerics overflows with bland politeness, seeks to reassure questioners that their views are being heard and offers some measure of a reasoned answer. Today, all this was forgotten and what we got instead, with remarkable frankness, were the archbishop’s own views. There was no answer to the question posed, although the superior and frankly condescending tone adopted clearly implied that the rank of archbishop put you above accountability on doctrinal matters.”

Here’s what was being debated:

The debates on the House of Bishops’ proposals will continue on Thursday (night, Australian time).

Do pray for all the members of General Synod who seek to hold the Church of England to the revealed truth of the Bible.

This is the Make-or-Break time for Christian schooling

Steve McAlpine is alarmed at the recently-published recommendations from The Australian Law Reform Commission:

“If anyone was under any illusions that there would be a ‘live and let live’ attitude from the purveyors of the Sexular Age, then the recommendations of The Australian Law Reform Commission, in terms of how Christian schools should be able to staff themselves, will dispel such illusions. It’s quite a depressing first-up read.

Make no mistake, the ALRC has faith-based schools in its sights. And it’s only a matter of time before schools have to decide whether they will simply allow their identity to die the death of a thousand cuts.

And I’m not sure most staff in Christian schools get it. The ALRC, and state governments around this country are implacably determined to push the gospel of sexual diversity not only as something that schools must teach, but that must supplant the biblical framework. And not just in what they teach, but in who they employ to teach it.

This is a gospel issue. A rival gospel issue. There is a good news story wrapped up in sexual identity that the secular evangelists are promoting. And they have the time, resources, evangelists, and currently, the power, to ensure their gospel rings out across the land. …”

In his conclusions, he warns –

“Folks, this is the make-or-break time for Christian schooling. I don’t mean whether those schools whose shingle out the front claims allegiance to a denomination or has the word ‘Christian’ in it. I mean those schools that seek to offer an alternative vision to the Sexular Age’s vision of what life is about. If Christian schools don’t take a stand on what is the single-most hostile assault on biblical distinctives, then why bother?…”

– Read it all at The Gospel Coalition Australia,

 See also Neil Foster’s earlier post at Law and Religion Australia.

How could you make your views known?

Associate Professor Neil Foster points out –

“The ALRC has invited responses to this consultation paper, which should be provided by 24 February 2023.

In addition to formal responses, it has set up a web portal for ‘individual views and experiences’, and is especially interested in hearing from ‘those connected with religious educational institutions (including schools, early learning centres, colleges, and universities)’, although any interested parties can make their views known. It would be a good idea, I think, for those who support the work of religious schools and colleges to provide comments on this portal.” (Emphasis added.)

C of E General Synod: The argument of the Bishop of London

Martin Davie looks at the approach taken by the Bishop of London (an approach which is very popular among members of the House of Bishops, it seems) –

“If you read carefully the transcript of the Bishop of London’s presentation to the General Synod yesterday on the House of Bishops’ response to Living in Love and Faith you will find that that the heart of her argument for what the House of Bishops is proposing lies in the following passage in her speech:

‘Our call is and always will be to seek the face of Christ – yes, in each other, but above all in searching the Scriptures, examining the Church’s tradition, and exercising our reason as we strive to make sense of how truth is to be lived out with grace in our 21st century context.‘…”

– Read his analysis here.

And compare the bishop’s approach with that of the Letter of Jude. (See also St. Helen’s Bishopsgate’s sermon series on that letter.)

You can see the Bishop of London’s complete address to the General Synod on Monday 06 February 2023 here. (The link should take you to the 2 hour 16 minute point.)

(Image from the Church of England livestream.)

The Church of England faces a huge week

“One thing worse than Sam Smith’s performance at the Grammys is the revisionist Bishops in the Church of England who are this week gaslighting both the sheep under their care and deceiving the general public.

Presumably, Sam Smith thinks that dressing up in a satan costume and performing a song called ‘unholy’ is making some kind of loud and shocking creative statement. Perhaps someone could tell him, he’s doing nothing more than copying a longish line of musicians. It is all rather boorish, except that mimicking the very personification of evil isn’t a particularly bright idea.

Over in old England land, ecclesiastical leaders have taken up that ancient inquisition of the Devil, by suggesting, ‘Did God really say?”…”

– Murray Campbell in Melbourne summarises what’s happening in the Church of England and argues it has lessons for Australian churches.

All Souls Langham Place Letter to the Bishop of London

Anglican Ink has published a letter from the PCC of All Souls’ Langham Place to the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullaly.

Here is the text.

“Friday 3rd February 2023

Dear Bishop Sarah,

We are writing to you as the PCC of All Souls, Langham Place to express our concern and sadness at the response that has been presented by the House of Bishops as the outcome of Living in Love and Faith.

Both the response and the draft prayers abandon confidence in the goodness and authority of God’s Word and in doing so they move the Church of England away from her historic formularies, which are foundational to our life together in London, England and as part of the global Anglican Communion. While the response states that there is to be no change in the Biblical doctrine of marriage, in practice they are that.

At a very practical level these materials undermine the Biblical call to discipleship: a call to put aside one’s self in a desire to live in response to all that our Lord Jesus has done for us. This is particularly true for many in our church family who have chosen to abstain from sex outside marriage, regardless of their sexuality. We are deeply saddened that these prayers devalue the difficult road they have travelled by communicating that sex outside of marriage is not sinful but actually something they can receive a blessing for. This is wrong.

We particularly grieve for those members of our congregation and the wider Church who are same sex attracted and whose Biblical convictions mean they are single and abstinent against a culture that encourages them to be otherwise. Their daily battle of faithfulness is intense yet their voice is absent from the Bishops’ response to Living in Love and Faith. This is incredibly sad.

We share in the Bishops’ apology expressed in the pastoral letter for homophobia in the Church and acknowledge that we have not loved LGBTQI+ individuals always in the ways that we should have.

Church has too often been a place where people feel unable even to say they are same sex attracted or struggling with their gender identity and we need to work harder so that is no longer the case. But church has also been a place where people find freedom through finding their identity in Christ, joy in knowing unconditional love and peace in the forgiveness of Jesus. All of us are fallen and sinful and we all are called to repent before the Lord Jesus. As drafted, the prayers of Love and Faith now teach every sexually active unmarried couple that repentance is not needed. If believed, this denies people the joy of stepping away from those things God has called sinful into new life in him. We cannot participate in such a departure from Biblical Christianity.

These proposals leave us in a very difficult position with regard to episcopal oversight. This is a further point of particular sadness – we have greatly valued your ministry to us, your support and your commitment to mutual flourishing. We would like to be clear that we will continue to maintain the strong partnership we have with the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.

In considering our position, we are also mindful of our partnership with the global Anglican church and also with smaller orthodox churches within the London diocese and across England and our desire to stand with them in upholding historic Anglican theology.

We ask that you encourage the London bishops to clarify their personal position shortly by stating whether they intend to endorse or otherwise use the Prayers of Love and Faith. We presume that your proposing of the motion at General Synod is an endorsement of the prayers and signals your intention to authorise them for use within the diocese – please correct us if that assumption is wrong. Clarity on this will help our PCC discussions over the coming months as we seek to work out what this means for our relationship with the London diocese.

Given the current proposals, the PCC voted this week to pause all Common Fund payments until we know the outcome of General Synod and have taken the time necessary to work through the implications of any decisions coming from it. Please know that this decision was not taken lightly or with any joy but is a reflection of the degree of concern we have with the response and draft text that have been presented by the House of Bishops.

We will of course continue to pray for you and for the Church of England as a whole.

Your sincerely,

The All Souls Langham Place PCC.”

See it here.

Image: All Souls Langham Place.

Church Society Podcast: This week at General Synod

The latest Church Society podcast:

“General Synod is meeting from 6th – 9th February 2023 to discuss, amongst other things, the bishops’ proposals for blessing same-sex relationships and covenanted friendships in church.

In this episode of the podcast, Ros Clarke explains to Lee Gatiss what will be happening on each day of the Synod and how you can pray for those who will be participating.”

– A bit of background to this week’s Church of England General Synod.

British Muslims express ‘Deep Concern’ over Church of England ‘Gay Blessing’ proposals – and ‘Identity Politics’ in Church Schools

“Muslim leaders have expressed their “deep concern” that their convictions that marriage can only be between one man and one woman, and over ‘identity politics’ in CofE schools were not sought by Church of England bishops ahead of next week’s General Synod crunch debate on ‘gay blessings’ in the ‘Established church’.

The leader of the oldest representative group of British Muslims has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury expressing frustration that the proposals have not been discussed with leaders of the other main faiths in Britain – despite many joint meetings of faith leaders on other topics at Lambeth Palace these past six years – when the church has been considering changes to marriage and sexual ethics via the Living in Love & Faith (LLF) project. …”

– News via Anglican Mainstream.

MPs plan to put pressure on the C of E after Welby’s disestablishment remarks

“Lambeth Palace has expressed dismay at reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury told MPs that he would rather see the Church of England disestablished than split the Anglican Communion over the issue of same-sex marriage.

Archbishop Welby made the remarks in a private meeting with parliamentarians on Monday. …”

– Full story at The Church Times.

A Call to Pray for the Church of England General Synod

Please pray for the crucial Church of England’s General Synod meeting Monday to Thursday (6th – 9th February) this week.

A key issue facing the Synod will be the blessing of same-sex unions.

A pre-synod statement issued by the Church of England House of Bishops, while claiming to leave the Church’s doctrine of marriage intact, has recommended a decisive move towards the blessing of same-sex unions.

This is of serious concern for all those seeking to follow the teaching of Scripture.

Please pray:

Related news on the Church of England is available here on our website.

See also:

General Synod web page.

Sessions will be streamed live here.

 

For your own further edification, or if you are discussing these issues with friends or fellow believers, you may be helped by several chapters in our book The Line in the Sand – available for free download.

This book was produced last year by the Anglican Church League in partnership with the Australian Church Record.

Our aims were:

Of particular relevance are the following chapters:

To download the book and to hear or read the author interviews, please visit this link.

Top image: Church of England General Synod.

Faithful [C of E general] synod member reported by bishop for ‘hate crime’

“A faithful member of the Church of England’s General Synod was reported by his bishop to the police for allegedly causing ‘offence’ over promoting a Biblical view of sex and gender.

The Bishop of Coventry capitulated to pressure from LGBT campaigners by reporting lay member of Synod, Sam Margrave, to the police for an alleged ‘hate crime’ after Mr Margrave campaigned online against Queer Theory and the sexualisation and grooming of children.

It is believed to be the first time that such action has been taken against a general synod member for activity on their Twitter account. …”

– Story from Christian Concern in the UK.

Photo: Christian Concern.

St. Helen’s Bishopsgate Letter to the Bishop of London

St. Helen’s Bishopsgate has sent this letter to the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullaly –

“In light of St Helen’s prior letters and discussions, it will not surprise you that we regard both the House of Bishops’ Report and the Draft Worship Resources as unbiblical, contrary to the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England, and therefore entirely inappropriate.”

Here is the full text:

Monday 30 January 2023
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullaly DBE
The Old Deanery
Dean’s Court
London EC4V 5AA

By email and post

Dear Bishop Sarah,

Bishops’ response to Living in Love and Faith

As the members of the PCC’s standing committee, we are writing on behalf of the St Helen Bishopsgate PCC, and our various congregations, to express our grave disappointment and concern at the House of Bishops’ response to Living in Love and Faith.

In light of St Helen’s prior letters and discussions, it will not surprise you that we regard both the House of Bishops’ Report and the Draft Worship Resources as unbiblical, contrary to the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England, and therefore entirely inappropriate.

Three aspects cause us particular concern.

First, as you know, for many years the St Helen’s Church family has been a safe place for a significant number who live with same sex attraction, but who seek to live a celibate life in accordance with God’s commands. They are greatly encouraged by knowing that they are loved and included within the body of Christ at St Helen’s. The pastoral damage from the House of Bishops decisions for these members of Christ’s flock is very significant. We have been hearing since the announcement about how they are being affected personally by it.

Secondly, we find the House of Bishops’ Report to be disingenuous. It pays lip service to the Church of England’s doctrine of marriage, while commending a means by which, in practical terms, the doctrine of marriage may be circumvented and undermined. It is a pretence to suggest that these prayers neither equate with the blessing of same sex marriage, nor contravene the Church of England’s doctrine of marriage. Even within the press conference last Friday, the bishops on the panel, including yourself, contradicted many of the claims made in the Report.

Thirdly, the autocratic nature of the process appears to have bypassed the elected clergy and laity of the General Synod.

We find it deeply disturbing that, as the diocesan bishop, you made clear in your answers to questions that you expect that same sex, sexual, relationships will be blessed by clergy in the Church of England.

We wrote to you prior to the completion of this process to indicate that steps such as you have taken will inevitably further affect our already broken partnership with the House of Bishops. We shall await the conclusion of the General Synod in February before seeking a conversation about the provision which will be necessary for those forced by your decision into having no acceptable episcopal oversight.

Whilst we await developments and give prayerful consideration to our response, the PCC has asked us to pause our current contributions to Common Fund.

Yours sincerely,

Revd William Taylor, pp Jeremy Anderson CBE, pp Andrew Ross, pp Paul Simpkin, pp Andrew Wales.

Source: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.

Photo of Bishop Sarah Mullaly: Bishop of London’s website.

“We Cannot Bless what is contrary to God’s revealed will”: Former Bishop of Maidstone

“January 27, 2023

Dear brothers and sisters,

I thought I should follow up last week’s letter about the post-LLF proposals from the House of Bishops because of all that has been written since, and in the light of a recent residential meeting of the CEEC Council. First, I am conscious of the question put by my good friend Lee Gatiss in a recent blog about the position of evangelical bishops. I want to start therefore by reassuring you that in the College of Bishops I voted against the draft material on which the views of General Synod are now being sought, and I remain opposed to it.

After the College meeting ended, I felt both grief and shame. My firm desire is that all who treasure the Church’s existing position on marriage, including bishops, will vote against the motion which the House of Bishops is putting to Synod.

The reasons for this are threefold …”

– Bishop Rod Thomas, recently-retired Bishop of Maidstone, shares his stance on the proposals from the Church of England’s House of Bishops.

See also:

Church Society podcast recorded at last week’s CEEC residential gathering.

Glen Scrivener on the ‘Secular Sermon to Archbishop Justin Welby‘

Glen Scrivener at Speak Life responds to ‘a secular sermon’ open letter directed to the Archbishop of Canterbury by high profile UK TV presenter Sandi Toksvig.

Can we love people and disagree? Very helpful in thinking about how to respond to those with whom we disagree.

Watch here.

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