Chris Sugden, of the conservative group Anglican Mainstream, told Christian Today: "Nothing in the letter gives any reason for departing from the historic and time-tested teaching of the church on man-woman marriage. What the church and its mission needs now is an evidence-based approach to the actual pastoral care afforded to those with same-sex attraction in the church.

"Any adaptation to 'pastoral accommodation' in practice that contradicts the church's teaching on man-woman marriage will in due time lead to an abandonment of that teaching. The common good of faithful, lifelong, exclusive man-woman marriage is a very positive counter-cultural prescription for the current social malaise in providing boundaries as on a sports field for astonishing creativity.

"The church and its mission is wider than a subsection of the wider issue of man-woman marriage, family life and sexuality as the church seeks to address the growing instability and injustice of the current world order in faithfulness to the biblical Gospel of and from Jesus."

Ed Shaw, part of the editorial team at Living Out, an influential organisation for same-sex attracted people who take a traditional biblical view on the issue, and also a General Synod member from Bristol, told Christian Today that the synod members were right to call for greater clarity.

More than 130 lay and clergy members of the governing body of the Church of England appealed in the letter this week for bishops to recognise that lesbian and gay people are essential to the health and future of the Church.

The letter, organised by Jayne Ozanne, a gay member of the General Synod, says: "In particular, we are keen that the College of Bishops is unequivocal in its acknowledgement that all, including those who identify as LGBTI, are essential to the health and future of our church and mission to the wider world."

General Synod members from 40 of the 42 dioceses in the Church of England have now signed the letter. The two exceptions are Truro, and Sodor and Man.

Shaw, associate pastor at Emmanuel Bristol, said: "This letter's call for clarity and consistency in the church's teaching and pastoral care - alongside welcome of all sexual minority groups - is to be commended.

"Further ambiguity that can be interpreted in different ways by different groups might just about preserve unity but will damage LGBTI members of the church like myself and Jayne.

"It's time for the Church of England to clearly articulate where it stands on these issues. I hope and pray that will be in a way that affirms the two great gifts of heterosexual marriage and communal singleness but am also increasingly praying for a clear and final decision at the end of such a painful and costly listening process."

He was referring to two years of private "shared conversations" where people from both sides of the debate have shared their stories at diocesan and synod level.

A cautious welcome also came from theologian Ian Paul, a member of the Archbishops' Council, but he also had criticisms.

He told Christian Today it is important to take it seriously, given the support it has from a good number of those in synod. "There is clearly a feeling for the need of change of some sort."

But it was also worth looking at what the letter failed to say.

"I would agree with the need for 'greater consistency' in our approach to this issue. But up until now, the House of Bishops have been very clear on the Church's teaching and its implications. If that has been implemented inconsistently, then changing our position at this moment will hardly remedy that.

"I would heartily endorse the notion that 'all are essential to the health and future of the church and its mission'--but this completely sidesteps the key issue at hand: what does it mean for all of us to live in holiness of life in accordance with the teachings of the apostolic faith?"

He said the letter sets a "low bar" on signing up. "Despite that, I could find very few names on the list who would call themselves 'evangelical'--so it does not appear to have gained the breadth of support that is claimed."

END

This doesn't seem to apply to Christian gay rights campaigner Jayne Ozanne, who talks an awful lot about Good Disagreement, but for whom, in truth, no dissent from her views can be good. Since her overriding theology is that of inclusion, any reasoned proposition for exclusion logically becomes 'hate', which constitutes a crime, which must be reported to the police. She'll probably consider this article to be a 'hate crime', too. It's hard to tell. She blocks on Twitter anyone who disagrees with her, even if they've never actually disagreed with her on Twitter. No dialogue at all. Just blocked. Isn't that just Totally Brilliant Disagreement (© Rev'd Peter Ould) among professing Christians?

According to Jayne Ozanne, the post on Vicky Beeching and vocation was 'hate', pure and simple. Vicky Beeching herself called it an "attack", which is odd, because reasoned argument about an issue isn't personal attack at all. But perhaps even that observation constitutes an attack? Maybe to disagree with a deeply-held view is to attack? So all must now agree, or else it's 'hate'?

"It took a lot of vulnerability to talk about why I've never become a priest," Vicky Beeching explained. To be clear, then, she was feeling fragile and vulnerable, so she wrote an op-ed piece for the Guardian? So a few hundred quid mitigated her fragility and vulnerability? Is it 'hate' to ask these questions? Do they constitute an "attack"?

Why should a provocative piece purposely placed in the Guardian -- in which the Church of England is maligned as damaging to people's well-being, and the Archbishop of Canterbury smeared with duplicity -- be considered immune from critique? Is it that Good Disagreement can only happen when "attack" is not perceived? Whose threshold of feeling should then obtain? What if no personal attack was intended, but one is felt?

Why should Vicky Beeching feel free to attack the Church of England, which is people, but feel "sad" when her attack on them is met with counter defence? Why should she feel free to attack Justin Welby for issuing a statement which is "less progressive than it first sounds", but object to a counter affirmation of moral orthodoxy, or the mere questioning of why the Archbishop should need to be progressive on this matter at all? Or is it that not to be progressive is to 'hate'? So all conservative/traditionalists become "abusive and vile"?

As the College of Bishops meets this week to contemplate the way forward after 'Shared Conversations', what if they determine there will be no change in the church's liturgy to accommodate same-sex unions? Would that constitute an omission of 'hate'? What if they decide to uphold the essential catholicity of church teaching on marriage, thereby excluding Vicky Beeching from fulfilling her vocation? Would that assertion of orthodoxy be 'hate'? What if they just meet to pray, explore, meditate and reflect, and not issue any great gay-equality proclamation at all? Would that inaction perpetuate inequality and injustice, and so 'hate'?

What if the Bishops of the Church of England, as they meet this week, change absolutely nothing on the doctrine or definition of Christian marriage? What if they meet again in February and nothing changes? And again next July and nothing changes? What if the Bishops collectively determine that this is not simply a controversy about one theological anthropology over another, but a matter of Church catholicity, God's pattern for humanity in creation, the authority of Scripture, and the weight of the experience of the reading of Scripture? What if they decide to place salvation and the Godhead above gender identity and inclusion? Can we not then agree to disagree without hyperbolic screeches of 'hate' and the wasting of police time?

END

Reactions to this recent event were indeed diverse. Affirming voices within the Church expressed support for The Rt Revd Chamberlain, while conservative voices made known their disapproval. The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a major international body within the conservative Anglican movement, went so far as to call Chamberlain's consecration a "major error". For their part, the voices of officialdom in the form of statements by Archbishop Justin Welby and the diocesan Bishop of Lincoln (Chamberlain's own senior bishop) stressed that the celibate nature of the relationship in question meant that it fit within the current guidelines for clerical relationships. Not quite a ringing endorsement of the place LGBTQ people have within the Church of England. But given the Archbishop's desire to be conciliatory towards conservative elements within the Church as well, perhaps this is the most that could have been hoped for at present.

One does not need to be too deeply immersed in the internal activity of the Church to know that this really is just another stage in a battle that has raged since, if not before, 2003. In that most eventful of years, the Reverend Jeffrey John became the first priest openly in a same-sex relationship to be nominated as a bishop. This coincided with the appointment of Gene Robinson as the first openly-gay bishop in the Anglican Communion as part of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Conservative backlash (and an archbishop with an eye on the unity of the Communion as a whole) led to the Revd John withdrawing his nomination. However, any hope that such a move would quell the disputes about human sexuality died in the following years as what could be described (with a poetic flourish) as a war for the Anglican soul developed.

But it is not a war whose battles are confined solely to ecclesiastical palaces and whose combatants are drawn from the clerical ranks. It is instead an ongoing discussion that reaches right into the heart of many Christian communities, including those in Cambridge. In his official capacity as Bishop of Grantham, The Rt Revd Chamberlain has a tangential relationship to Cambridge. As a symbol of the ongoing disputes within the Church, however, he could not be more relevant. The Christian community in Cambridge is diverse, and with that diversity comes a range of views on sexuality. Accusations of homophobia, transphobia and other hostile opinions of LGBTQ people have been made against one of the most vocal Christian voices in Cambridge, the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU). At the same time, there are many LGBTQ-affirming voices within Cambridge's Christian community. For example, leading Cambridge theologians made a sustained case for the Church to accept same-sex marriage ahead of the General Synod earlier this summer.

In such a divided atmosphere, the events surrounding The Rt Revd Grantham could have a multitude of effects. On one hand, it could alienate parts of the Evangelical movement that already view Church authorities with distrust. (There has recently been talk about some parishes, albeit none in Cambridge specifically, considering separation from the Church if blessings for same-sex marriage are approved.) At the same time, it could give hope and assurance to LGBTQ Christians that there is most definitely a space for them within the Church; a multitude of spaces reaching from the laity right up to the heights of the episcopacy.

Moreover, that someone within the Church's leadership is able to reconcile his sexuality with his faith should at least give pause to the old, tired narrative that sees any non-heterosexuality as irreconcilable with an active place in the Church. And it is only when the narrative is laid to rest that the Church can begin the real task of working towards the radical inclusiveness to which it publicly aspires.

END

Discussions on issues of sexuality took place as part of a new process of episcopal discernment which will continue during the meetings of the House of Bishops in November and December of this year and in January next year at the next meeting of the College of Bishops. These discussions were undertaken by the College of Bishops alone.

Whilst the process of episcopal discernment is in the public domain the Bishops agreed that the contents of their discussion should not be shared in public during the process so as to enable those discussions to be conducted freely and in a spirit of full collegiality. Consequently the contents of the conversations will remain private and participants have agreed not to comment on the contents of the discussions beyond their own views.

Following the conclusion of the shared conversations process the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have invited some bishops to take forward work on sexuality to assist the episcopal discernment process. The Bishops' Reflection Group on Sexuality will be chaired by Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich. The full membership of the group and its terms of reference will be published in due course.

END

A statement from the College of Bishops said: "Following the conclusion of the shared conversations process the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have invited some bishops to take forward work on sexuality to assist the episcopal discernment process. The Bishops' Reflection Group on Sexuality will be chaired by Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich."

The full membership of the group and its terms of reference have yet to be published.

The statement added: "Discussions on issues of sexuality took place as part of a new process of episcopal discernment which will continue during the meetings of the House of Bishops in November and December of this year and in January next year at the next meeting of the College of Bishops."

It said that the bishops discussed a "wide ranging agenda" including "presentations and discussions on Safeguarding, the Renewal and Reform programme, the post-Brexit political landscape, clergywomen in leadership, clergy wellbeing and issues of sexuality."

Bishop James, widely seen as a 'safe pair of hands' by Church officials, was tipped to succeed Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013, before Justin Welby was appointed. James had said that he was hoping and praying not to get the job.

Last month, Welby said he was "constantly consumed with horror" at the way in which the Church had treated gay people.

But the Archbishop said he did not know when the Church would be in a position to bless same-sex partnerships. "Do I know when there will be a point when the blessing [of the civil partnership] will happen? No," he said. "I don't and I can't see the road ahead".

*****

Bishops' Reflection Group on Human Sexuality

Following the statement from the College of Bishops issued on 15 September 2016, the Church of England has published the terms of reference of the Bishops' Reflection Group on Human Sexuality and the membership of the group.

Bishops' Reflection Group on Human Sexuality
Terms of Reference

To assist the Bishops of the Church of England in their reflection on issues relating to human sexuality, in the light of theological, biblical, ecumenical, Anglican Communion, pastoral, missiological, historical and societal considerations bearing on these issues, and following experiences of the shared conversations held around the Church between 2014 and 2016.
To assist the House of Bishops in identifying questions in relation to human sexuality, with particular reference to same sex relationships. It will also develop possible answers to those questions for the House to consider, as a contribution to the leadership which the House provides to the Church on such issues.
To provide material to assist the House of Bishops in its reflections in November 2016, and subsequently as requested, and to assist the House in its development of any statements on these matters which it may provide to the wider Church.
To consider any matter which the Archbishops request that the group should have on its agenda.

Membership of Group:

Rt Revd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich (Chair)
Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden (Vice-Chair)
Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford
Rt Revd Jonathan Goodall, Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Rt Revd Julian Henderson, Bishop of Blackburn
Rt Revd Libby Lane, Bishop of Stockport
Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of Crediton
Rt Revd Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich
Rt Revd Rod Thomas, Bishop of Maidstone
Rt Revd Jo Bailey Wells, Bishop of Dorking

Staff support:

Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, Director Mission & Public Affairs Division
Jonathan Neil-Smith, Central Secretariat (Secretary)
William Nye LVO, Secretary General
Canon David Porter, Chief of Staff and Strategy to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Revd Dr Jeremy Worthen, Theological Secretary and Secretary to the Council for Christian Unity

The statement from the College of Bishops published on 15th September can be found here:
https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2016/09/statement-from-the-college-of-bishops.aspx

They sketched out a classic 'churchy' looking building. There were spires and old stone structures, surrounded by graveyards - generally places that looked like churches. I sketched out a 1960s concrete and glass structure. At the time, the church we attended was meeting in a Further Education College so that was the building I drew. I was secretly feeling pretty pleased with myself. As the discussion in the class moved forward and some others described the worship in their services as boring, I was able proudly to proclaim that we had electric guitars, and doughnuts before the service (meeting as we called it).

This small incident was a microcosm of the relationship I had to tradition when I was growing up. I saw it as pretty irrelevant to the practice of faith. What could those old, cold buildings possibly have to offer? By extension, what could the kind of Christianity that happened in these places ever offer me? In my mind it was stale, repetitive and irrelevant to the late 20th Century world in which I was growing up.

Fast forward to 2016 and while I haven't lost my love for electric guitars in worship (and I'm always happy to be offered a doughnut) I realise that my youthful view was far too reductive. The tradition of the Church, liturgy, the creeds, apostolic succession, the Eucharist and much more all play an important role in my expression of faith. It seems many others are on a similar journey -- especially younger people.

Across the US and the UK there is a movement of younger people from an evangelical background who are reconnecting with the heritage and tradition of the Church.

This takes many forms, but it caught my eye this week that the Prayer Book Society -- a group dedicated to promoting the Book of Common Prayer -- is proclaiming a "National resurgence" in its use. The Book, which forms the basis of Anglican liturgy and theology was first written in the mid 16th Century and revised in 1662. Although some parishes have continued to use it since then, many have moved away from it, either using Common Worship -- the more contemporary liturgical style, or doing away with liturgical worship altogether.

However, the Society now says that many younger people are expressing an interest in the Prayer Book. "Many young people... are coming across The Book of Common Prayer for the first time," said spokesperson John Service. "They are struck by the beauty and relevance of the language which has inspired writers like Shakespeare as well as churchgoers down the ages."

24-year-old Fergus Butler-Gallie who's training to be an Anglican priest says he's noticed a pattern with younger people who are keen to have more substantive expressions of worship. "The words... found in The Book of Common Prayer satisfy that hunger as they rediscover past patterns of worship and understand their significance," he said.

It isn't just the Prayer Book, though. Younger people seem to be rediscovering more traditional, liturgical expressions of worship across the board.

The Rev Erik Parker has blogged about the phenomenon of being a 'high church millenial' -- in the Lutheran tradition. Rachel Held Evans has written a book about her journey from evangelicalism to Episcopalianism. It isn't just Protestant denominations either. Some young evangelicals are becoming Roman Catholics, with one writer suggesting, "college [is] a ripe breeding ground for interest in Roman Catholicism. Among the traits of the Catholic Church that attract... students - and indeed many young evangelicals at large - are its history, emphasis on liturgy, and tradition of intellectualism."

Indeed, there seems to be a thirst for Orthodox Christian faith as well. The most popular piece I've ever written for Christian Today was about the Jesus Prayer -- an ancient prayer of the Orthodox Church.

Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, itself now plays host to a community of young people from around the world, who live under a rule of regular prayer, meditation and worship.

This trend towards tradition may tell us many things. The sociological, historical and political factors in all of this can't be ignored, but there isn't space to examine them here -- in fact whole doctorates could be written on the phenomenon. One thing is for sure though -- embracing a more traditional, liturgical style of worship doesn't mean abandoning more informal, evangelical practices.

The old can (and probably should) be held in positive tension with the new. If we as believers and our churches were open to embracing a broader range of styles, it would surely deepen our spiritual experience.

Pastor Brian Zahnd describes his journey as a charismatic evangelical like this: "As far as I was concerned, most Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and mainline Protestants needed to 'get saved' -- which is to say, they needed to become my 'style' of Christian... [But now] This much I'm sure of: Orthodox mystery, Catholic beauty, Anglican liturgy, Protestant audacity, Evangelical energy, Charismatic reality -- I need it all!"

So what does the future hold? It's hard to say, but the search for tradition and structure alongside the energy and dynamism of evangelicalism is a potent mix. Some churches are investigating a 'cross-tradition' approach which seeks to blend these different elements. In an article entitled, 'Why Millennials Long for Liturgy', Gracy Olmstead writes, "The millennial generation is seeking a holistic, honest, yet mysterious truth... Protestant churches that want to preserve their youth membership may have to develop a greater openness toward the treasures of the past. One thing seems certain: this 'sacramental yearning' will not go away."

In his address he singled out the MU's formal aim of "supporting family life" at a time of rapid social change with attitudes to marriage and sex almost unrecognisable within little more than a generation. But he said that the "myth" of stable Victorian values was "just that -- mythology".

"Family life in Victorian times was under great pressure, especially in the poorest parts of the country," he said.

"Mary Sumner acted out of concern not only for her own family but for a country in a terrible situation in which children were not nurtured, women were at risk, households were not stable and the church was not doing very much about it other than preaching."

The Archbishop, whose parents divorced when he was a young boy and who recently learnt that his alcoholic father was not his biological father, said he had seen the importance of strong family in his own life from both sides.

"I know from myself that there is nowhere I can take my failures as safely as around the table in the family," he said.

"And I know having grown up in a different environment, a different sort of household, what a gift of grace that is."

He emphasised that change was "not always bad" but said the pace of the transformation had left many groups including churches "living in a culture that they have not yet begun to come to terms with".

But he added: "It is not less nor more challenging now to have strong families in the 21st century than it was for Mary Sumner and the need for reliance on God is the same."

*****

The Church of England now has no place for believers in the traditional family

COMENTARY

By JANE KELLY
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
Sept. 23, 2016

Being a member of the Church of England is to belong to a strange club, or so it seems to me. All the rules have changed since I joined as an infant, or rather since my parents imposed their religion onto me (something which is now discouraged). There is no escape from the new ethos of the place and even the flannely Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is zealous in his mission to drag us all, no matter how recalcitrant, into the modern, post-Christian age.

Like most persons of the liberal Left he is keen to eradicate the last vestiges of the evil Victorian age. Growing up in the 1960s I continually heard, particularly from the BBC, that the era of unparalleled prosperity which followed the Battle of Waterloo was in fact a shameful time of destructive imperialism, racism, misogyny, hypocrisy, poverty, ugly architecture, repression and stodgy food. Welby has now returned to that well-worn theme, this time seeking out perhaps the last bastion of the old ways.

In a sermon to the Mother's Union in Winchester Cathedral, to celebrate 140 years of their support for motherhood, apple pie and Christian family life, he told them that gay marriage is now a reality "whether we like it or not." He argued in the Lords against gay marriage, but has now decided to settle with it. His message to the women was really all about accommodation of one kind or another. His intellectual tool was a crosier rather than a crowbar, but it had the same effect: to remind them that a Victorian golden age of traditional family values was only a sad "myth."

What are those Victorian family values? One can hardly remember, but if they were anything to do with the marriage of a man and a woman, and if the man had any particular authority in the home, they are best buried and forgotten. He didn't need to say any of that but advised them to face up to the, "reality of divorce, cohabitation and gay marriage in the 21st century."

The Mother's Union was founded by Mary Sumner, a rector's wife, in 1876. In the rural parish where I grew up members who gathered in the church on a Wednesday morning were lower down the social scale than the women who joined the WI. My own mother fell between two cassocks on that one, being too well educated for the MU who were seen as stuffy and rather quaint, but she felt, not posh enough for the WI. Like many sensible women she avoided both and got up with her own version of Christian home life without their help.

But forty years on, the MU has surely become a more valuable group, at least in the UK. As rare and precious as white rhino, they somehow still manage to believe in the sanctity of Christian marriage and the home. As such they are perhaps the last bastion of traditional church thinking and, like Mensheviks after the October Revolution or a beast with an ivory horn, they surely can't have long to go. It is rather sad, if only from a conservationist point of view, that this church mopping-up exercise by Welby has finally reached them, and on their own anniversary.

The Archbishop told them that Mary Sumner "acted out of concern not only for her own family but for a country in a terrible situation in which children were not nurtured, women were at risk, households were not stable and the church was not doing very much about it other than preaching."

The Anglo-Catholic church was highly active from the 1830s onwards. Their re-found religious priorities of striving for heaven through prayer, sacrament and the Christian virtues brought them into direct contact with the social and evangelistic problems of the industrial working class, the very people the current CofE would love to cultivate and fails to attract.

Christian influence led to the abolition of slavery and large amounts of reforming legislation throughout the 19th century, but the facts of Christian history do not fit in well with the "Welby Accommodation."

In his sermon to the MU he singled out "preaching" by Victorian clerics as some kind of empty signalling. Fearing the charge of hypocrisy and worse, lack of inclusivity, Welby's church no longer preaches anything that might be considered moral instruction. Its words encourage accommodation of the state, as it is, and left-wing social policy.

Justin Welby is of course a moderate man, displaying the kind of balance which was once considered the great virtue of Anglicanism. He voted to remain in the EU but said it was "absolutely outrageous" for people's fears about immigration to be dismissed as racist. He spoke gently and some would say wisely about the recent Islamist murder of a French priest, tweeting in English and French:

Evil attacks the weakest, denies truth & love, is defeated through Jesus Christ. Pray for France, for victims, for their communities.

For some of us stick-in-the-muds, tweeting was perhaps not the best way to respond to a situation which we insist on seeing as a looming crisis with Islam. We were reminded that his words followed those of a previous Archbishop who said we should learn to accept the parallel rule of Sharia Law. Moderation is not the virtue it once was because it now floats in a sea of radicalism.

Although the current Archbishop pretends to moderation in all things, when he suggested to the Mother's Union that, instead of aspiring to live up to Victorian "myths," they should get with the human rights act, I suspect he is not very moderate at all. He is leading a church which is rapidly and absurdly losing its way.

I realised the extent of this blind alley when I attended a debate in the University Church in Oxford two years ago, entitled, "the future of the church of England." I thought this would be about tackling the the drastic decline in church numbers, the number of UK Anglicans having fallen by two fifths from around 13 million church goers to about eight and a half million in the last ten year. This "Whither the Church" gathering turned out to be all about gay rights, or what was perceived to be the lack of them. In July 2015, it was revealed that the church had decided to spend over a quarter of a million pounds on retreats to discuss homosexuality using "conflict resolution experts."

At the same time a church think-tank called Women and the Church (WATCH) decided that God is in fact a woman; has been all along. Forget the God of our fathers strong to save; the Almighty was now reconfigured into a cross between Harriet Harperson and Oprah Winfrey. Those are the movements currently articulated in the church, and the pews are ever emptier.

In its insistence on acceptance of all things at all times, the church is becoming invisible and abolishing itself. Recently working as a visitor with a hospital chaplaincy I found that exaggerated desire to please others had led them to remove the word chapel and replace it with "sanctuary." I was told that this was to include everyone including Muslims. On the wards, none of the patients knew what the Chaplaincy was, and the chaplains liked it like that.

To belong to the CofE now is to dwell among readers of the Guardian and well-meaning secular people. It's a lonely place if you are a conservative. If you are obscurantist enough to belong to something called The Mother's Union, you had perhaps better go off and found your own church, because there is no place for you in this club here.

Jane Kelly is a contributing editor and writer for The Salisbury Review

With the leadership of the Church of England now seemingly unwilling to defend the biblical teaching that the only right context for the expression of sexual love is heterosexual marriage, are English conservative Anglicans capable of forming their own equivalent of the break-out Anglican Church in North America if faithfulness to the gospel so requires?

It is to be prayerfully hoped that all would be but it must not be assumed that every one of the large conservative suburban and university churches would be in the vanguard. The reason for this is perhaps difficult for overseas readers to understand. But it is to do with the institutional proclivities of the suburban English middle classes fuelled by boarding school education and the liberal Oxbridge ethos of the established professions.

Such institutionalism inclines to the status quo and could be why some of the sincerely Christian, courageous ministers currently leading these large churches might find it difficult to take their congregations with them out of the Church of England. Many of these churches have invested heavily in their buildings and have built up large staff teams. The cost of leaving could well be perceived as too high by the pillars of some of these larger churches.

So, such churches could well remain in the institutional Church of England even if services of same-sex blessing become widespread, continuing publicly to hold to conservative Christianity with the collusion of the liberal diocesan authorities. But this collusion itself carries a price tag. That is because the longer these churches stay in a corrupted denomination, the more susceptible they are to becoming like the institutional Church of England is now - officially holding to biblical teaching but abandoning it in practice.

Under this scenario, the established churches more likely to form a new orthodox Anglican Province in England could be the smaller, less affluent, less middle class congregations because they are less hampered by culturally stifling English institutionalism. If these small, financially strapped churches left the Church of England, many of their ministers could well have to go self-supporting, probably in low-paid work and would have to rent cheap living accommodation in their communities, finding local halls for their church meetings.

Under these circumstances, these ministers would be foolish to presume on the support of the large flagship churches. Such support could be unlikely for the institutional reasons suggested above but if so tempted the words of Psalm 146v3 would be crucial for these beleaguered ministers: 'Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help' (AV).

These ministers would need to look to the Lord Jesus Christ to sustain them, use the resources God has lovingly provided them with and ensure that they are properly and humbly accountable within their new Anglican Province.

Julian Mann is vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire -www.oughtibridgechurch.org.uk

His memorial plaque at the top of the main staircase of the Church Army's headquarters in Sheffield, the Wilson Carlile Centre, shows the evangelical measure of the man: 'He loved all men, especially the most lost, a true knight-errant of the gospel. He brought its light into a world darkened by sin, ignorance and want.'

But now in the early 21st Century the Church Army seems to be becoming less than clear that the gospel it is called by God to proclaim involves repentance from sin as the Bible defines it. It seems to be moving from the evangelical understanding of the gospel so wonderfully expressed in the BCP's Absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer. This affirms that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 'pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel' and exhorts worshippers to beseech Almighty God 'to grant us true repentance and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do at this present, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy'.

At a recent development day for an English diocese about fresh expressions of church, one of Church Army's national leaders was on the question time panel. Asked why there were relatively few liberal fresh expressions of church, he rightly pointed out that the few that there are tend to be aimed at the LGBT communities, adding: 'And that's fine.'

Because of the context of his remark, it is surely far-fetched to interpret it as meaning that 'seeker services' aimed at LGBT people are a good way of showing God's love in evangelism and leading them by God's grace to repent of their active sexual life-styles. Wilson Carlile would no doubt boom out a gladsome 'Amen' to that. We all need the transforming grace of God in the gospel, whatever our sexual inclinations.

But the question was about fresh expressions from the liberal wing of the Church. It is no secret that liberal churches in, for example, the Inclusive Church network are actively campaigning for a change in the Church of England's official teaching on human sexuality, as expressed in Canon B30, Of Holy Matrimony:

'The Church of England affirms, according to our Lord's teaching, that marriage is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong, for better for worse, till death them do part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.'

These liberal churches want to see the Church of England publicly teaching that sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage is acceptable among Christians. That is why the 'that's fine' from this Church Army leader would appear to be an affirmation of what these new liberal churches are teaching about sexual morals.

The most charitable thing that could be said about his remark is that it was unclear. But what is becoming clear is that Wilson Carlile, influenced as he was by the robustly evangelical American evangelist, Dwight Moody, would be something of a spiritual exile in the Church Army of today.

Julian Mann is vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire.

"Thank you enormously for the invitation to us as evangelical bishops in the Church of England where we are wrestling with some critical issues," said Dakin, spokesman for the group.

"Please keep praying for the Church of England at [this] critical time. The Church of England is like an oil tanker which is slow and hard to turn; it does not make decisions in a hurry and sometimes that is a good thing."

Bishop Dakin said the bishops were present with the full knowledge of the Archbishop of Canterbury and also that not everyone has bowed the knee in the Church of England. "Many of us intend to remain faithful," he said.

Dakin praised Bishop Sinclair, who served on the Pilling Commission on Human Sexuality, of which the bishop said it was a "tough time. He bore a great deal of pain and went through tough times for his stand."

Dakin said Bishop Henderson, who is part of a Bishops' working group on Human Sexuality to bring proposals to the House of Bishops, is doing so "[because] we are not scuppered by people bringing antagonistic things to General Synod. We are determined that this issue shall be episcopally led."

Another notable English attendee was the Rev. Dr. Chris Sugden, of Anglican Mainstream. "We have also brought greetings from Renew and GAFCONUK who are praying for your time here.

The Rt. Rev. Glenn Davies Archbishop of Sydney brought greetings from the Anglican Church of Australia and the Diocese of Sydney, and said, "We have been following the Global South as a very significant part of the Anglican Communion. It has been very instructive to see the significance of North Africa for the whole of Christendom. Pray for us all that we be found faithful."

END

The Church of England is at a crossroads in her calling to bring hope and transformation to our nation. The presenting issue is that of human sexuality, in particular whether or not the Church is able to affirm sexual relationships beyond opposite sex marriage. But the tectonic issues beneath, and driving, this specific question include what it means to be faithful to our apostolic inheritance, the Church's relationship with wider culture, and the nature of the biblical call to holiness in the 21st Century.

As culture and attitudes continue to change, the Church faces a range of new social realities. These include the rise in cohabitation and the wide scale acceptance of divorce with its negative impact on children, the explosion of diverse types of family relationships, the emergence of gender fluidity and bisexuality, and the recognition of same-sex unions. These far-reaching social changes raise questions and -- in some quarters -- undermine confidence in our inherited teaching.

The Church has not always navigated these social realities well. We recognise the damage caused by judgmental attitudes. We have sometimes failed to recognise acts of great kindness and humanity. We have elevated some sins above others. We have ignored the plank in our own eye. There is much work ahead, not least in ensuring that our communities offer sacrificial hospitality and service to all, regardless of background, family structure or sexuality.

At the same time, we remain convinced of the essential goodness of the Christian moral vision. The Bible is clear that God has given the marriage of one man with one woman as the only context in which physical expression is to be given to our sexuality. We believe that we flourish, whether single or married, as our lives are brought into harmony with God's intended design.

Any change in the Church's teaching or practice -- such as the introduction of provisions that celebrate or bless sexual relationships outside of a marriage between one man and one woman -- would represent a significant departure from our apostolic inheritance and the authority of the Bible in matters of faith and doctrine. It would also, inevitably, be a further step on a trajectory towards the full acceptance of same-sex sexual partnerships as equivalent to male-female marriage.

There are substantive issues at stake here about the Christian understanding of what it means to be human. We do not believe that God has left us alone in the confusion and uncertainty of constructing our own identity. The gift of male and female sexual differentiation, and its unique and fundamental mutuality, is part of God's good creation and a mirror to His own nature, and the boundaries it brings are for our flourishing and preservation.

We do not believe therefore that it is within our gift to consider human sexual relationships and what constitutes and enables our flourishing as sexual beings to be of 'secondary importance'. What is at stake goes far beyond the immediate pastoral challenges of human bisexual and same-sex sexual behaviour: it is a choice between alternative and radically different visions of what it means to be human, to honour God in our bodies, and to order our lives in line with God's holy will.

At this crucial juncture, as our bishops pray and discern together regarding how the Church of England should walk forward at this time, we urge them not to depart from the apostolic inheritance with which they have been entrusted.

Any further changes to practice or doctrine in these important areas will set the Church on a path of fundamental disunity. It would cause a break not only with the majority of the Anglican Communion, but with the consistent mind of the worldwide Church down many centuries. It will trigger a process of division and fragmentation among faithful Anglicans in England. Responses would vary, but the consequences for the life and mission of the Church will be far-reaching, both nationally and globally.

We ask our bishops to commit to a renewed vision of a welcoming Church in which all hear the good news of the Gospel, all are invited to repent and receive the grace of God, and all are called as followers of Jesus to live out the Christian moral vision-- in lives of self-sacrifice and mutual care -- for the common good.

Those signing below do so in a purely personal capacity. They are evangelical leaders from a variety of backgrounds, churches and organisations and indicative of the breadth and depth of support for this letter. Some could be labelled as LGBTI but are living in conformity with the historic teachings of the church.

Revd Canon Dr Peter Ackroyd, Vicar, St Marys Wootton, Chair St Albans Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Sam Allberry, Trustee and co-founder of Living Out, apologist for the Zacharias Trust, editor for The Gospel Coalition.
Revd Steve Allen, Chair of CPAS Patronage Trustees.
Mrs Lorna Ashworth, member of Archbishops' Council.
Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone, Wycliffe Hall and General Synod.
Revd Simon Austen, Rector, St. Leonard's Exeter.
Revd David Banting, Vicar, St Peter's Harold Wood, Trustee of Reform, and General Synod.
Revd Mark Burkill, Chair of Reform and Chair Latimer Trust.
Revd Nathan Buttery, Associate Vicar, St Andrew the Great, Cambridge.
Revd Tim Chapman, Minister, Christ Church South Cambs, Sawston.
Revd Charlie Cleverly, Rector, St Aldates, Oxford.
Revd John Coles, Missional Community Leader, London.
Canon Andrew Cornes, Sussex Gospel Partnership and General Synod.
Revd Alyson Davie, Chair of the House of Clergy for Rochester Diocese.
Revd C J Davis, Rector, St Nicholas, Tooting.
Revd Joe Dent, Rector, Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth.
Revd Dr Sean Doherty, St Mellitus College, member of the Living Out team and General Synod.
Revd Will Donaldson, Director of Pastoral Care at St Aldates, Oxford and Area Dean of Oxford.
Revd James Dudley-Smith, Rector and Rural Dean of Yeovil, Member of General Synod.
Revd John Dunnett, Chair of Evangelical Group General Synod (EGGS).
Revd Jonny Elvin, Vicar, Trinity Church, Exeter and Chair of Exeter Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Anthony Everett Chair of Canterbury Diocese Evangelical Network, Vicar, Christ Church and St Andrew's Herne Bay.
Revd Lee Gatiss, Director, Church Society.
Dr Philip Giddings, former Chair, General Synod House of Laity and member of Archbishops' Council.
Revd Dr Andrew Goddard, Fulcrum leadership team.
Revd Lis Goddard, Vicar St James the Less, Pimlico and Chair of Awesome.
Revd Chris Green, Vicar, St James, Muswell Hill.
Revd Tim Grew, Acting Lead Pastor, Trinity Cheltenham.
Revd Paul Harcourt, Vicar, All Saints Woodford Wells.
Prof Glynn Harrison, formerly General Synod and Crown Nominations Commission.
Revd Canon Clive Hawkins, Rector, St Mary's Basingstoke, formerly General Synod.
Revd Dr David Hilborn, Principal, St John's School of Mission, Nottingham
Mr Stephen Hofmeyr, QC, Secretary Church England Evangelical Council.
Revd David Holloway, Vicar, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, Chair of Anglican International Development.
Mr Carl Hughes, General Synod and EGGS Committee.
Revd Dr Emma Ineson, Trinity College, Bristol and General Synod
Revd Steve James, Rector, Holy Trinity, Platt, Manchester.
Revd Henry Kendal, Vicar, St Barnabas, Woodside Park.
Revd Paul Langham, Vicar, Christ Church Clifton, Bristol and General Synod.
Mrs Susie Leafe, Director, Reform.
Mr James Lee, House of Laity, General Synod and EGGS Committee.
Revd Canon Andy Lines, Mission Director of Crosslinks, General Secretary of AMiE, Chairman of GAFCON UK Task Force.
Revd Chris Lowe, Mission Initiative Leader, St John's Orchard Park, Cambridge.
Revd Angus MacLeay, Rector, St Nicholas, Sevenoaks, Reform Trustee, General Synod.
Revd Preb Charles Marnham, Vicar, St Michael's, Chester Square, London.
Revd Rachel Marszalek, General Secretary of Fulcrum.
Revd John McGinley, Vicar, Holy Trinity, Leicester.
Revd Jane Morris, Vicar St Gabriel's, Cricklewood.
Revd Barry Morrison, Chair of Peterborough DEF.
Revd Justin Mote, Chair of AMiE exec, and Chair of North West Gospel Partnership.
Revd Rob Munro, Chair Fellowship of Word and Spirit, Chair of House of Clergy for Chester Diocese.
Revd Dr Mike Ovey, Principal, Oak Hill College, London
Revd James Paice, Vicar, St Luke's Wimbledon Park and Trustee of GAFCON and Trustee of Southwark Good Stewards Trust.
Revd Alasdair Paine, Vicar, St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge.
Revd Hugh Palmer, Rector All Souls Langham Place, Chair of Church of England Evangelical Council.
Revd Canon Ian Parkinson, Leadership Specialist, CPAS.
Miss Jane Patterson, General Synod and Crown Nominations Commission.
Revd Dr Ian Paul, member of Archbishops' Council.
Revd Paul Perkin, Vicar, St Mark's Battersea Rise.
Revd Canon Andrew Perry, Vicar, St Mary's Longfleet, Poole.
Revd David Phillips, Vicar, St James, Chorley, Chair of Blackburn Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Simon Ponsonby, Pastor of Theology, St Aldates, Oxford.
Revd Matthew Porter, Vicar, St Michael le Belfrey, York.
Revd Frank Price, Vicar, St Matthew's Cambridge and Chair of Ely Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Esther Prior, Chair, Guildford Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Jonathan Pryke, Jesmond Parish Church.
Revd Martin Reakes-Williams, Leipzig English Church.
Revd Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford.
Revd David Rowe, Priest in Charge, Christ Church, Winchester.
Revd Canon Roger Salisbury, Secretary of the Peache Trustees.
Revd John Samways, Trustee Church Patronage Trust.
Revd Dr. Peter Sanlon, Vicar, St. Mark's, Tunbridge Wells.
Mr Ed Shaw, Trustee of Living Out, Pastor, Emmanuel City Centre, Bristol & General Synod.
Revd Charlie Skrine, Associate Rector, St Helen's Bishopsgate, London and EGGS Committee.
Revd Tim Stilwell, Vicar, St Dionis, Parsons Green, London.
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Convenor Anglican Mainstream, and former member General Synod.
Revd Andrew Symes, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream.
Revd Canon Martyn Taylor, Rector, Rector, St George's, Stamford and General Synod.
Revd William Taylor, Rector, St Helens, Bishopsgate and Chairman of ReNew.
Canon Professor Anthony C. Thiselton, FBA, former member of Crown Nominations Commission and Doctrine Commission.
Revd Rico Tice, All Souls Church & Christianity Explored Ministries.
Revd Melvin Tinker, Vicar, St John, Newland, Hull.
Revd Andrew Towner, Vicar Houghton & Kingmoor, Carlisle and Trustee, Diocesan Board of Finance.
Revd Gary Tubbs, Chair of Carlisle Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Revd Jon Tuckwell, Associate Minister, Christ Church, Cambridge.
The Revd Dr Simon Vibert, Vice Principal Wycliffe Hall & Director of the School of Preaching.
Mr Jacob Vince, General Synod
Revd Robin Weekes, Vicar, Emmanuel Church Wimbledon.
Revd Paul Williams, Vicar, Christ Church Fullwood and honorary Canon Sheffield Cathedral

www. http://www.psephizo.com/sexuality-2/letter-to-the-college-of-bishops/

*****

Evangelical Anglicans Warn Bishops Of 'Fundamental Disunity' If Church Changes Teaching On Gay Relationships

By Harry Farley
CHRISTIAN TODAY
http://www.christiantoday.com/
October 12, 2016

Nearly a hundred evangelical leaders have written to Church of England bishops warning that any change in teaching or practice over same-sex relationships would cause "fundamental disunity".

The letter was sent to every bishop including the Archbishop of Canterbury on Tuesday as they consider whether to introduce some form of acceptance or blessing for gay couples. It warns the smallest change would "trigger a process of division and fragmentation among faithful Anglicans".

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has to try and hold the Anglican churches around the world together amid deep divisions over sexuality.

The signatories include major church leaders as well as heads of Anglican networks and some of the Church's largest theological colleges. Any shift in teaching that sex should only be within marriage between one man and one woman would "cause a break not only with the majority of the Anglican Communion, but with the consistent mind of the worldwide Church down many centuries," they warn.

"Responses would vary, but the consequences for the life and mission of the Church will be far-reaching, both nationally and globally."

Beneath the question of same-sex relationships were deeper "tectonic issues" including the authority of the Bible, the Church's "apostolic inheritance" and how it relates to wider culture, the letter said.

"Any change in the Church's teaching or practice -- such as the introduction of provisions that celebrate or bless sexual relationships outside of a marriage between one man and one woman -- would represent a significant departure from our apostolic inheritance and the authority of the Bible in matters of faith and doctrine," the letter read.

"It would also, inevitably, be a further step on a trajectory towards the full acceptance of same-sex sexual partnerships as equivalent to male-female marriage."

The 88 signatories include representatives from four major Anglican theological colleges, which train new vicars for the Church. Although signing in a "purely personal capacity" the figures cover Wycliffe Hall, St Mellitus College, St John's School of Mission and Oak Hill College.

Also among the signatories are members of the Living Out group who describe themselves as "same-sex attracted" but follow the Church's demand of abstinence. Ed Shaw, a trustee of the charity, said that any change would leave him "and thousands of other same-sex attracted Christians high and dry".

He told Christian Today: "It [the Church] has told us for thousands of years we should remain celibate.

"If there is any change they will have told us very cruelly that we needn't have bothered.

"I think there will be a sense of deep betrayal among those of us who are sticking to the Church's teaching and have found it painful but worthwhile if the Church says, 'sorry we got it wrong,' for no better reason than the culture finds it unacceptable."

But Anthony Archer, an LGBT ally on the Church's synod who also describes himself as an evangelical, told Christian Today the letter was "fairly disingenuous".

He doubted it would have much impact on bishops and said they have a "drawer-full of letters" from both sides.

"Conservative evangelicals are clearly hanging onto the view this is a first order issue. I am afraid that train has left the station," Archer said.

"The traditionalists are showing themselves to be on the back foot."

Rev John Dunnett, chair of the influential Evangelical Group on General Synod (EGGS), coordinated the letter and told Christian Today none of the group wanted a split.

"We would love to see a restatement of the biblical vision for identity and human flourishing that we have inherited," he said.

"This is about something much bigger than same-sex relationships".

Dunnett said the Church was at a "crossroads" and many "will have no option than to reconsider their position in the CofE" if the bishops suggest anything that even gives the perception the Church has changed its position.

"It is important that whatever the bishops propose it does not sow confusion about the teaching of the Church."

The letter is similiar to one sent to the bishops shortly after the Church's last synod meeting, which was signed by 72 conservatives. It comes as the latest in a line of lobbying efforts from both sides of the debate ahead of the synod's next meeting in February.

END

"Here's the castle with the bells, a world of merriment their melody foretells!" visitors to the happy land would sing as their carriages crossed the River Ouse and entered the gates of Eboracum. "How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, while the stars that oversprinkle, all the heavens, seem to twinkle," lovers in the happy land would croon while they nestled amid the gardens of Eboracum. "Hear the loud alarm bells, what a tale of terror, now, their tolling tells," soldiers would shout in victory as invaders were repulsed and fled from the walls of Eboracum.

But Vicious Viv was a tone-deaf witch. She hated music and detested that merry band of bell-ringers. One day in the holy season of Trinity, she summoned her Coven of Chapter Canons, and shrieked before them in agony. 'Hell's bells! The bongs of the gongs are as piercing prongs to my ears. How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour. They are neither man nor woman; they are neither brute nor human. They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; and he rolls, rolls, rolls. I can bear no longer the sound of their songs; take from me their dings and their dongs. Find me a spell that will make ye merry band of bell-ringing minstrels disappear forever. Cleanse my castle of these creeps, let them be as chimney sweeps.'

The Coven of Canons trembled with terror in the presence of their Head Witch. Then, shivering with fear, Canon Pretender Peter Mugger rose to suggest a solution. 'We know the Grand Wizard of Eboracum Johannes Sent-to-moo who rules this castle from his palace in Misanthrope has a great and wondrous spell. It is said that Grand Wizard Sent-to-moo has a magic white collar. When he takes a pair of scissors and cuts his collar on the national witches box called television, evil giants in Africa known as Mugabes surrender in fear and stop oppressing their people.''Never!' screeched Vicious Viv. 'Sent-to-moo's spells don't work. His crosier wand has lost its power. His collar is not worth a dollar.'

The Coven of Canons sank deeper in their stalls. Finally, Canon Christopher "Zen" Collingwood stood to his feet. 'Om, Shanti, Om! Praise Buddha! As you were speaking, I was in deep meditation. Our new practice of chanting mantras in our castle is working. I have a solution. Bring out the great cauldron. Bring in our Book of Spells. Pick the scroll labelled Elf' and Safety Spells and the scroll labelled Management Spells for the Church edited by Grand Wizard Justin Wobbly and Reform and Renewal Under-Wizard Mike Eastwood.'

'Here's a recipe. Pour in four litres of liquid obfuscation and boil for four hours. Add 500 grams of fair trade alphabet pasta of Jargon and Gobbledegook to the boiling soup. While stirring, chant this spell: Mumbo jumbo, bumbo rumbo, arise and render the bell-ringers dumbo.' Vicious Viv and her Coven of Chapter Canons applauded in approval. They gathered around the cauldron of foul-smelling liquid obfuscation that had been brought in by the castle serfs. They threw in the pasta of Jargon and Gobbledegook. They stirred the magic potion and chanted the magic spells. Then they watched in wonder. For the alphabets had begun to rearrange themselves and spell out the solution they needed to sack the bell-ringers. Canon Pretender Peter Mugger pulled out his I-Scroll and began to copy the magic message that the Coven would use to get rid of the bell-ringers.

"It is critically important to ensure that there is a consistent approach to health and safety, governance and risk management across all of our volunteer teams. In order to make these changes, we sometimes need to close existing volunteering roles so that we can move forward with the new processes. This is what has happened with our bellringers."

(Apologies to Edgar Allan Poe)

*****

I was a bellringer at York Minster. We want to know why we were sacked

OPINION

By James Sanderson
https://www.theguardian.com/
October 15, 2106

Are health and safety concerns being used as an excuse to get rid of us? And does the dean really understand the importance of bellringing at the minster?

'I was one of the 30 members of the York Minster Society of Change Ringers who were told this week that our volunteer agreements had been terminated.' Photograph: Humphreys Owen Humphreys/PA

When I'm asked about my hobbies, I answer with all the normal things -- meeting friends, maybe going for a walk or shopping -- but also that I am a bellringer. "Where do you do that?" is a common response. And until this week, I was proud to answer: York Minster.

On Tuesday, I was one of the 30 members of the York Minster Society of Change Ringers who were told that our volunteer agreements had been terminated, and that ringing at the minster had been suspended with immediate effect.

To give some context, York Minster isn't just any tower, and it isn't easy for our happy and vibrant band to just go elsewhere. York Minster is widely considered to have one of the finest rings of bells in the world, and its team of ringers are well known across the country for the high standard of our Sunday service ringing. Our ringing peal is the fourth heaviest in the country, with the biggest bell weighing in at three tonnes. They require a great deal of skill to ring and are not suitable for new learners, with many of us honing our craft elsewhere before joining the minster band. So why have the dean and chapter suddenly decided to dismiss us? What's the problem?

Is it that our ringing is not good enough? No, we were told by Canon Peter Moger, the minster's precentor, that the minster knows our ringing is world class. Was there a problem with our ringing master's leadership? No, this was not the case.

At Tuesday's meeting, we were told that the minster had commissioned an external report on ringing which had identified health and safety risks. As a result of this -- and without any warning -- the decision was taken that ringing must stop immediately. This was a complete surprise as none of the ringers had been involved in any report, nor were we aware that it was being carried out. Most frustratingly, the minster will not share this report with us or tell us what the supposed risks were.

The minster will not share the external report with us or tell us what the supposed risks were

Ringing at the minster is carried out in much the same way as it is throughout the country. We have a particularly experienced band with years of specialist knowledge. Furthermore, the minster is a showcase tower, and maintained to a very high standard. If there was such a great risk, would it not have been preferable for the dean and chapter to work with us to resolve these issues?

The letter we received inviting us to Tuesday's meeting was dated Thursday 6 October, and so evidently these risks had already been identified; however ringing was still allowed to continue as normal on Sunday 9 October. This raises the question as to why the dean and chapter would have knowingly put us at risk on Sunday. Are health and safety concerns being used as an excuse to get rid of the ringers? And if so, why?

While we are volunteers, we are not amateurs, nor are we stuck in the past. Our highly skilled band ranges in age from 11 to 70+, and earlier this year a quarter-peal was rung by 12 members of the band under the age of 30. Our committee is made up of professionals (our treasurer is a chartered accountant, and our secretary a professional administrator). Over the past year we have won several trophies for the quality of our ringing, including the White Rose 12-bell tournament and the Sunday Service Competition for ringing teams across Yorkshire. We regularly travel together to visit other bell towers, and are planning a tour in the US and Canada in 2017. It is a tragedy that this shining example of how a ringing team should be run is now being destroyed by the actions of our own dean and chapter.

We feel that our dean, the Very Rev Vivienne Faull, has demonstrated time and again a wilful lack of understanding of bellringing at the minster. Since her arrival in York in 2012, we have invited her to meet us on several occasions, but she has repeatedly not attended. We are used to having a good relationship with dean and chapter, and in the past they have joined us for dinners and social events.

The minster has 35 bells in a carillon -- a set of bells played from an organ or similar instrument. It is the first cathedral in England to have this system.

But this is a dean who, to our knowledge, has never ascended the bell tower or seen us ring, yet was willing to speak to the press on Thursday about the risks of operating in "far-flung parts of the minster" and "working at height". As any of the ringers could have told her, no part of our ringing involves working at height: our ringing chamber is walled in on all sides and reached by a well-maintained staircase, just like the majority of bell towers across the UK.

The ringing team would welcome the opportunity to work with the dean and chapter to resolve this sorry situation, and are happy to work collaboratively towards change, as long as this is carried out in a reasonable manner and with consultation. Hopefully the people of York will hear the glorious minster bells ring out again soon, and we're optimistic this can happen. We have been overwhelmed by the support from across the world since our sacking. A petition calling for our reinstatement has so far received more than 5,000 signatures -- not bad for a supposedly quaint English tradition.

END

It includes a replica checkpoint and features photographs by Peter Morgan, along with accounts of Palestinians' experiences. It was organised by Katherine Fox, who has recently returned from monitoring human rights in Bethlehem with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, which is supported by the Methodist Church. She said: "Londoners know what it is like to be constantly late for work, miss hospital appointments and get crushed on a lengthy commute through no fault of their own. But most are shocked when I tell them the extent of what I witnessed daily at the checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem."

Lord Carey backed criticisms of the exhibition, saying yesterday: "Jewish people across Europe are increasingly being targeted and killed by terrorists, who often attempt to justify their actions by demonising Israel. It is therefore particularly sad to see a church in London demonising and singling out Israel's defensive actions against terrorism."

He added: "Checkpoints in Israel are sadly needed in order to save lives. The methods used by democracies to defend their civilians should not be undermined by religious leaders in places of worship and brotherhood."

However, Jeremy Moodey, the chief executive of Embrace the Middle East, told Christian Today: "Having visited this exhibition myself, I can't really see what all the fuss is about. It is very low-key and simply highlights the daily humiliations and indignities inflicted on the Palestinians by the checkpoints, which incidentally are, along with the separation barrier of which they are part, illegal under international law. This is a matter of fact. It says nothing about the Jewish people, so is certainly not antisemitic."

In a statement, the church said the exhibition had been "carefully curated to reflect the issues of divided communities within Israel and Palestine and to promote reflection and prayers for peace".

It said the display "seeks to explore aspects of human rights and dignity. It has been put together on the basis of principled impartiality, putting concern for human rights above support of any particular group by referring to international law. There is no criticism or judgement of the Jewish community or faith."

Hinde St had informed a local synagogue about the exhibition but the letter was not received. The church said this was "deeply regrettable, as it would have allowed earlier conversation and dialogue which was the church's intention".

After representations by the BOD and the Zionist Federation, the church agreed to include a table of information prepared by the Federation. In a statement, the two organisations said it was talking to the church about a panel discussion including a pro-Israel speaker.

It said: "The church has expressed regret that a letter about the exhibition sent to a local rabbi did not get through, and in future we would hope to see more rigorous consultation around such sensitive events, for the sake of good interfaith relations.

"The Jewish community is now seeking volunteers, as well as those who have already signed up over the weekend, to hand out leaflets outside the church explaining the reasons why Israel feels the need for such security measures.

"We hope that the event will be conducted in a constructive spirit of genuine dialogue by organisers and visitors alike."

The Methodist Church has had a fraught relationship with the Jewish community over its stance on the occupation and Israel's Palestine policy, which it has frequently criticised. It called for a boycott of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in 2010 and considered extending its position on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions to the rest of Israel at its 2014 Conference, but resolved to postpone consideration of the issue for two years.

The ReNew warning was timely because shortly after the conference the 9:38 Network, which runs conferences for people considering church leadership, circulated a booklet called Mind the Gap: Raising up the Next Generation of Gospel Workers.

This booklet directly applied 2 Timothy 2v2 to local church leaders: 'What you (Timothy) have heard from me (the Apostle Paul) entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also' (RSV).

The booklet concluded: 'When we seek to appoint ministers to a local church we must be clear that we expect them to engage in training people for ministry...The future of our churches and the growth of the gospel demand that we ministers make identifying the right men, and entrusting gospel ministry to them, an urgent priority.'

Certainly, given the profound Apostolic concern for the continuation of authentic gospel proclamation, local church leaders should be on the look-out for men who may have a vocation to ordained ministry. But not being Timothys they are not authorised to ordain them. They have a responsibility to refer these men to the senior pastors who are. In the Reformed Anglican tradition such senior pastors are bishops.

This distinction is clearly reflected in the Book of Common Prayer Ordinal. The presbyter makes no promise that he will ordain men for Word ministry, but the Bishop does: 'Will you be faithful in ordaining, sending, or laying hands upon others?'

The benefit of this distinction in connectional churches is that the man being ordained is not the sole property of the local church minister. If he were, that would make ministers of our Lord Jesus Christ's Word vulnerable to cloning and personality cult-following.

Thank the good Lord, the Ordinal is so biblically faithfully, steers clear of presenting the local church presbyter as Timothy in every respect and thus safeguards pastoral ministry from becoming ego-trip ministry.

Julian Mann is vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire, UK - http://www.oughtibridgechurch.org.uk/our_prayers.html

It is a saga of scripted dishonesty, cover-up, lying, obfuscation, and nepotism of the most distasteful variety. It stinks. But there is no confession, no repentance and no reconciliation. What the world sees is only more scripted dishonesty, damage control, digging in of heels, and closing of ranks among the hierarchy of the Church of England.

It began when Dean and Chapter sacked 30 bell-ringers on October 11, 2016. The sacking order began with a sanctimonious note of nauseating spiritual bile: "York Minster invites everyone to discover God's love."

The bell-ringers were given no warning. They were not told why they were being punished. The punishment was so disproportionate that it would impact the entire community of the Cathedral and the city of York. The Dean and Chapter would silence the bells until the New Year--yes, even on Remembrance Sunday, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Not even the Luftwaffe had managed to inflict such a punishment on York Minster.

The bell-ringing Resistance Movement fought back with an online petition. In a couple of days the petition was deluged with thousands of signatures.

The Dean and Chapter spun a health and safety story for the media. Good heavens, I thought to myself! Have the rats in the belfry been gnawing through the ropes? Is subsidence causing the bell tower to lean like the Tower of Pisa? Bell-ringers have been bonging the bells for centuries before Dean Vivienne Faull and the invention of Health and Safety.

The bell-ringers kept clamouring for a meeting with the Dean but Lady Macbeth refused to entertain their pleas. She had never read the conflict resolution strategy from Matthew 18: 15-17 urging Christians to talk with their brother or sister in private before calling for Rupert Murdoch and his media operatives.

As the British broadsheets and tabloids rang out the story and the Twittersphere exploded with the dings and dongs of York Minster's doings the heavy artillery arrived in the person of John Sentamu, Archbishop of York.

That's when the story developed a new angle and the noses of the Dean, Chapter and Archbishop began to take on a Pinocchio-like extended elongation. Sentamu went at the bell-ringers with his double-barrelled shotgun mouth. 'Safeguarding!' he yelled. 'Shut it down, sort it out,' he shouted. Thinking Anglicans shot back. 'The ABY seems in his loose-tongued way, to say that there are multiple "survivors" and that they are vulnerable adults. He also made it unclear as to whether the investigation was ongoing. And continues to bundle Safeguarding in with Health & Safety which has been a hallmark of the statements made,' quipped Nicholas Elder, a Thinking Anglican.

Another Thinking Anglican called Jeremy nailed Sentamu's scaremongering to the mast. 'On reviewing the Archbishop of York's public statement, I am increasingly concerned that his references to an ongoing investigation may be completely inaccurate. One of the basic principles of law enforcement is that if there is a criminal investigation going on, then law enforcement does not inform the targets of the investigation. Yet here we have the Archbishop of York announcing to the entire world that there is an ongoing investigation. Did the Archbishop of York just violate the confidentiality of a police investigation? Or is the "investigation" he keeps referring to merely an internal investigation by the Minster itself? Or is there no real investigation by anyone at all?' thoughtful Jeremy asked the world of Thinking Anglicans.

By the way, for those who are fortunate to live across the Atlantic or the Pacific, "safeguarding" is Church of England code for protecting/abusing children. It works better than cyanide. To destroy your opposition all you have to do is raise your eyebrows, look suspiciously at the target, and whisper the word "safeguarding". Your opponent is out before the referee can count ten. "Safeguarding" is the most recent mega-obsession in the Church of England. Jesus says 'let the little children come to me' and the safeguarding Tsars say 'if you even pat a child on the head for a good round of bell-ringing and if we don't like you because you threaten our authority we'll get you for safeguarding.'

I'll give you a plum example. Mrs Betty Jones, one of the most gracious, elegant, and warm welcomers at my previous parish of St Mary's on the Harbour, who is an octogenarian and worked as a policewoman--a lady whose family worked in the police for the last 100 years--was asked to stop giving out hymnbooks to visitors at the beginning of the service in a church the size of a broom-cupboard because she hadn't done a course in Safeguarding Training in the Diocese of Sodor and Man. Betty now worships at another church.

Finally, the bedraggled cat was dragged out of the bag. It emerged that one bell-ringer, not 30 bell-ringers, 66-year old David Potter was arrested in 1999 after a young girl accused him of indecent assault. In 2000, all charges against him were dropped and in the same year Mr Potter was awarded an MBE for his services to bell ringing. However, last year the police applied for a Sexual Risk Order (SRO) against him, which was initially granted and then refused by the court.

So what? Has Mr Potter been proved guilty? Did the 29 other bell-ringers surround him as he allegedly carried out an 'indecent assault' on a young girl? Did the 29 other bell-ringers bong their bells to drown out the cries of children being assaulted by Mr Potter? Or is this something out of Harry Potter and the Wicked Witch of York Minster?

With its blessing of Gay Pride Parades, its Zen Buddhist meditation sessions and the turbulence in the cathedral, heads should be rolling at York Minster--not in the bell-tower but in the Deanery. But when the Archbishop of York backs you--you are the winning horse because the entire race is rigged.

York Minster has turned into a den of thieves. Jesus needs to enter with his whip and overturn the tables of the moneychangers. Meanwhile, though the bells are silent, the petition continues to snowball with over 17,500 signatures at the time of writing with more rolling in by the minute.

END

Before arriving at Lambeth Palace today, Patriarch Kirill had an audience with Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace, at which the Archbishop and the Bishop of London were present.

The visit represents the first time that Archbishop Justin and Patriarch Kirill have met, but it is the second time a Patriarch of Moscow and an Archbishop of Canterbury have met at Lambeth Palace in recent times. The first meeting was that of Archbishop Michael Ramsey with His Holiness Alexey I in 1964.

The relationship between the two churches has endured for more than three centuries, through some very difficult times as well periods when the two countries have stood side by side. This relationship has been cemented through many personal contacts and through the spiritual and cultural interchange which has enriched both churches.

After welcoming Patriarch Kirill and his delegation to Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Justin had a personal conversation with Patriarch Kirill. Uppermost in the conversation was their shared compassion for Christian, and other, minorities in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, where they have been systematically targeted and persecuted and their communities decimated.

Conversation also touched upon the concerns and challenges that their two churches face in the present time in their different contexts; including the challenge of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in a secular culture; the witness of the Church in serving the poor and marginalised in our societies and addressing the needs of migrants and refugees.

They also spoke of the importance of the Church as the keeper of tradition -- that is, the wisdom of the past, living in the present.

It was acknowledged that tensions currently exist between the Governments of their two countries. Archbishop Justin and Patriarch Kirill agreed that the first loyalty of the Christian Church is to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they affirmed that reconciliation was the key ministry of the Church in situations of conflict.

In faith, hope and love, founded on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Churches have been a bridge of friendship between the two countries for more than three centuries. The meeting today, and indeed the whole visit of Patriarch Kirill, is a historic event in the development of that relationship, which they pray will be nurtured and sustained through continued spiritual, cultural and personal interchange between their churches.

The two delegations met together over lunch for informal conversation. The Patriarch presented to the Archbishop an icon of the protective veil of the Blessed Mother of God. Patriarch Kirill was presented with a specially bound album of the Treasures of Lambeth Palace Library.

The visit to Lambeth Palace was the final engagement of Patriarch Kirill's visit to the UK.

On Sunday 16th October, Patriarch Kirill reconsecrated the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition in Ennismore Gardens, which was attended by Archbishop Justin and the Bishop of London.

*****

Patriarch Kirill's discussion with Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury

DECR Communication Service
October 19, 2016

On October 18, 2016, His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, met with Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury at the Lambeth Palace in London.

Participating in the meeting from the Russian Orthodox Church were also Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh, and Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman. From the side of the Church of England, there was also Bishop Richard Chartres of London.

During the discussion on the bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England, an agreement was reached on cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.

Patriarch Kirill drew Archbishop Justin Welby's attention to the Russian Orthodox Church's concern over the liberalization of the Church of England's teaching on church order, particularly, the ordination of women as priests and bishops and on the family and morality. His Holiness Kirill expressed hope that the Church of England will oppose challenges of the modern world and seek to preserve the Gospel's teaching.

The participants in the talk also pointed to the importance of joint efforts for protecting Christians in the Middle East.

Patriarch Kirill and Archbishop Welby stressed the significance of the role played by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England in supporting and strengthening relations between the peoples of Russia and Great Britain.

In conclusion of the meeting the sides exchanges souvenirs.

In recognition of the work to strengthen bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England, Patriarch Kirill awarded Bishop Richard Chartres of London a high decoration of the Russian Orthodox Church -- the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Degree II.

END

The lawyer for David Potter, who has been banned for life from ringing the famous bells, claimed the move by church officials amounted to a "breach of natural justice" and called on Sentamu to explain his claim that there was an ongoing inquiry into "safeguarding" issues at the cathedral.

Colin Byrne, of the law firm Howard & Byrne, said Sentamu's assertion contradicted a letter he received in September from a minster canon saying: "The matter is closed."

The row comes after Potter and his 30-strong bellringing team were dismissed at short notice over safeguarding concerns, causing an outcry in York where the bells will be silent until the new year.

The mass dismissal has brought to the surface a 17-year-old saga that centres on Potter, a leading figure in the bellringing team who was the subject of two police investigations following allegations made in 1999 and 2015. On neither occasion were charges brought.

In January 2000, days after Potter had been awarded an MBE for bellringing services over three decades, he was suspended as ringing master at York Minster and from his job as a teacher after claims of indecent assault. The following month, the police said he would not be charged.

But in June last year, North Yorkshire police applied for a sexual risk order following concerns raised over his contact with children. An interim order was granted but quashed by York crown court a month later. Magistrates dismissed the application last December.

York Minster banned Potter permanently from its bell tower in July, prompting protests from fellow bellringers. Byrne said Potter was not given the opportunity to make legal representations before he was dismissed.

"The bellringers were not very happy and voiced their concerns and because of this they were all sacked, which itself is a further breach of natural justice," he told the York Press. "I was shocked by the lack of due process and natural justice -- the right to a fair hearing."

A Bishopthorpe Palace spokesman said Sentamu was away and there was no way to immediately clarify whether there was an ongoing inquiry.

END

The Church of England has been suffering from a conflict of values with its members, especially the under 25s. Recent debates around same-sex marriage, abortion and female bishops, have threatened to split the church and alienate a significant proportion of its congregation. Throughout ongoing controversies, including the lack of support for policies on women, the Church of England has come across as outdated.

The situation has been exacerbated by the comments of senior church figures such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who lamented earlier this year that "the culture [is] becoming anti-Christian, whether it is on matters of sexual morality, or the care for people at the beginning or end of life. It is easy to paint a very gloomy picture."

At the same time, the Church of England -- as well as the Catholic Church -- is still reeling from allegations and legal settlements related to accusations of sexual abuse. Indeed, many have abandoned Catholicism as a result of what many perceive to be the church's inadequate response to that systemic problem.

God is no longer 'in our image'

As Church of England congregations age and young people reject organized religion, the atrophy of traditional parish churches seems to be unremitting.

In contrast, attendance at Evangelical and Pentecostal churches has increased over the last several decades. Between 2015 and 2013, attendance in London Pentecostal churches increased by 50 percent. This is at odds with Church of England attendance, which has gone down by 9 percent over the same period. While many Anglican churches have made an effort to welcome new immigrants and support refugees, the message has not been unequivocally supportive; evangelical churches are more highly regarded by Christians who have recently arrived in the UK.

Prominent Conservative Party leaders, including Theresa May and David Cameron, and most recently, the aptly named Tory councillor Christian Holliday, whose policies have been criticized as not welcoming of new arrivals to the UK, are perhaps some of the more visible representatives of traditional churchgoers. In contrast, the rise of charismatic church attendance by recent arrivals to the UK illustrates that these communities offer something the Church of England does not.

While the demographics of church attendance have shifted over the past few decades, as indeed they have since Christianity first emerged as a religion in its own right, interest in religion itself has increased sharply. For instance, religion is the fastest-growing A-level subject in all of the humanities, social sciences and arts, increasing a whopping 110 percent since 2003.

This is despite growing anxiety about how to teach religion in schools, some of which has resulted in backward curriculum redesign or ineffective teaching that may be discouraging students from learning more about the subject.

'Believing without belonging'

It's not quite true to say, then, that young people are becoming more secular -- interest in faith, belief and spirituality seems to be on the increase. Grace Davie's concept of "believing without belonging" might be a more useful way to understand young people's apparent rejection of the church.

In the '90s, Davie, a sociologist of religion, coined the phrase to describe the shifting nature of religiosity from communal and active to individual and inactive. She argued that religious believing in the UK has become detached from religious belonging, which reflects a wider social shift to individualism. Young people's "rejection" of the church, then, could be both a political response to the misogyny and homophobia displayed during church debates over the last few years, and a reflection of the "implicit religion of the British people" by which belief in a Christian God doesn't equate to church attendance.

The idea of the UK as a Christian nation has been challenged in recent years. What is clear, however, is that religion is even more a factor in public life and personal interest than it ever has been.

More people than ever are choosing to learn about religion and what it means for a world that increasingly believes itself to be secular. This challenges society to reflect on how it defines religious literacy -- and that is a good thing. God, then, isn't dead. People are just looking for him in a different way.

As culture and attitudes continue to change, the Church faces a range of new social realities. These include the rise in cohabitation and the wide scale acceptance of divorce with its negative impact on children, the explosion of diverse types of family relationships, the emergence of gender fluidity and bisexuality, and the recognition of same-sex unions. These far-reaching social changes raise questions and -- in some quarters -- undermine confidence in our inherited teaching.

The Church has not always navigated these social realities well. We recognise the damage caused by judgmental attitudes. We have sometimes failed to recognise acts of great kindness and humanity. We have elevated some sins above others. We have ignored the plank in our own eye. There is much work ahead, not least in ensuring that our communities offer sacrificial hospitality and service to all, regardless of background, family structure or sexuality.

At the same time, we remain convinced of the essential goodness of the Christian moral vision. The Bible is clear that God has given the marriage of one man with one woman as the only context in which physical expression is to be given to our sexuality. We believe that we flourish, whether single or married, as our lives are brought into harmony with God's intended design.

Any change in the Church's teaching or practice -- such as the introduction of provisions that celebrate or bless sexual relationships outside of a marriage between one man and one woman -- would represent a significant departure from our apostolic inheritance and the authority of the Bible in matters of faith and doctrine. It would also, inevitably, be a further step on a trajectory towards the full acceptance of same-sex sexual partnerships as equivalent to male-female marriage.

There are substantive issues at stake here about the Christian understanding of what it means to be human. We do not believe that God has left us alone in the confusion and uncertainty of constructing our own identity. The gift of male and female sexual differentiation, and its unique and fundamental mutuality, is part of God's good creation and a mirror to His own nature, and the boundaries it brings are for our flourishing and preservation.

We do not believe therefore that it is within our gift to consider human sexual relationships and what constitutes and enables our flourishing as sexual beings to be of 'secondary importance'. What is at stake goes far beyond the immediate pastoral challenges of human bisexual and same-sex sexual behaviour: it is a choice between alternative and radically different visions of what it means to be human, to honour God in our bodies, and to order our lives in line with God's holy will.

At this crucial juncture, as our bishops pray and discern together regarding how the Church of England should walk forward at this time, we urge them not to depart from the apostolic inheritance with which they have been entrusted.

Any further changes to practice or doctrine in these important areas will set the Church on a path of fundamental disunity. It would cause a break not only with the majority of the Anglican Communion, but with the consistent mind of the worldwide Church down many centuries. It will trigger a process of division and fragmentation among faithful Anglicans in England. Responses would vary, but the consequences for the life and mission of the Church will be far-reaching, both nationally and globally.

We ask our bishops to commit to a renewed vision of a welcoming Church in which all hear the good news of the Gospel, all are invited to repent and receive the grace of God, and all are called as followers of Jesus to live out the Christian moral vision-- in lives of self-sacrifice and mutual care -- for the common good.

...........................................................................................................................

Those signing below do so in a purely personal capacity. They are evangelical leaders from a variety of backgrounds, churches and organisations and indicative of the breadth and depth of support for this letter. Some could be labelled as LGBTI but are living in conformity with the historic teachings of the church.

Revd Canon Dr Peter Ackroyd, Vicar, St Marys Wootton, Chair St Albans Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Sam Allberry, Trustee and co-founder of Living Out, apologist for the Zacharias Trust, editor for The Gospel Coalition.

Revd Steve Allen, Chair of CPAS Patronage Trustees.

Mrs Lorna Ashworth, member of Archbishops' Council.

Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone, Wycliffe Hall and General Synod.

Revd Simon Austen, Rector, St. Leonard's Exeter.

Revd David Banting, Vicar, St Peter's Harold Wood, Trustee of Reform, and General Synod.

Revd Mark Burkill, Chair of Reform and Chair Latimer Trust.

Revd Nathan Buttery, Associate Vicar, St Andrew the Great, Cambridge.

Revd Tim Chapman, Minister, Christ Church South Cambs, Sawston.

Revd Charlie Cleverly, Rector, St Aldates, Oxford.

Revd John Coles, Missional Community Leader, London.

Canon Andrew Cornes, Sussex Gospel Partnership and General Synod.

Revd Alyson Davie, Chair of the House of Clergy for Rochester Diocese.

Revd C J Davis, Rector, St Nicholas, Tooting.

Revd Joe Dent, Rector, Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth.

Revd Dr Sean Doherty, St Mellitus College, member of the Living Out team and General Synod.

Revd Will Donaldson, Director of Pastoral Care at St Aldates, Oxford and Area Dean of Oxford.

Revd James Dudley-Smith, Rector and Rural Dean of Yeovil, Member of General Synod.

Revd John Dunnett, Chair of Evangelical Group General Synod (EGGS).

Revd Jonny Elvin, Vicar, Trinity Church, Exeter and Chair of Exeter Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Anthony Everett, Chair of Canterbury Diocese Evangelical Network, Vicar, Christ Church and St Andrew's Herne Bay.

Revd Lee Gatiss, Director, Church Society.

Dr Philip Giddings, former Chair, General Synod House of Laity and member of Archbishops' Council.

Revd Dr Andrew Goddard, Fulcrum leadership team.

Revd Lis Goddard, Vicar St James the Less, Pimlico and Chair of Awesome.

Revd Chris Green, Vicar, St James, Muswell Hill.

Revd Tim Grew, Acting Lead Pastor, Trinity Cheltenham.

Revd Paul Harcourt, Vicar, All Saints Woodford Wells.

Prof Glynn Harrison, formerly General Synod and Crown Nominations Commission.

Revd Canon Clive Hawkins, Rector, St Mary's Basingstoke, formerly General Synod.

Revd Dr David Hilborn, Principal, St John's School of Mission, Nottingham

Mr Stephen Hofmeyr, QC, Secretary Church England Evangelical Council.

Revd David Holloway, Vicar, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, Chair of Anglican International Development.

Mr Carl Hughes, General Synod and EGGS Committee.

Revd Dr Emma Ineson, Trinity College, Bristol and General Synod

Revd Steve James, Rector, Holy Trinity, Platt, Manchester.

Revd Henry Kendal, Vicar, St Barnabas, Woodside Park.

Revd Paul Langham, Vicar, Christ Church Clifton, Bristol and General Synod.

Mrs Susie Leafe, Director, Reform.

Mr James Lee, House of Laity, General Synod and EGGS Committee.

Revd Canon Andy Lines, Mission Director of Crosslinks, General Secretary of AMiE, Chairman of GAFCON UK Task Force.

Revd Chris Lowe, Mission Initiative Leader, St John's Orchard Park, Cambridge.

Revd Angus MacLeay, Rector, St Nicholas, Sevenoaks, Reform Trustee, General Synod.

Revd Preb Charles Marnham, Vicar, St Michael's, Chester Square, London.

Revd Rachel Marszalek, General Secretary of Fulcrum.

Revd John McGinley, Vicar, Holy Trinity, Leicester.

Revd Jane Morris, Vicar St Gabriel's, Cricklewood.

Revd Barry Morrison, Chair of Peterborough DEF.

Revd Justin Mote, Chair of AMiE exec, and Chair of North West Gospel Partnership.

Revd Rob Munro, Chair Fellowship of Word and Spirit, Chair of House of Clergy for Chester Diocese.

Revd Dr Mike Ovey, Principal, Oak Hill College, London

Revd James Paice, Vicar, St Luke's Wimbledon Park and Trustee of GAFCON and Trustee of Southwark Good Stewards Trust.

Revd Alasdair Paine, Vicar, St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge.

Revd Hugh Palmer, Rector All Souls Langham Place, Chair of Church of England Evangelical Council.

Revd Canon Ian Parkinson, Leadership Specialist, CPAS.

Miss Jane Patterson, General Synod and Crown Nominations Commission.

Revd Dr Ian Paul, member of Archbishops' Council.

Revd Paul Perkin, Vicar, St Mark's Battersea Rise.

Revd Canon Andrew Perry, Vicar, St Mary's Longfleet, Poole.

Revd David Phillips, Vicar, St James, Chorley, Chair of Blackburn Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Simon Ponsonby, Pastor of Theology, St Aldates, Oxford.

Revd Matthew Porter, Vicar, St Michael le Belfrey, York.

Revd Frank Price, Vicar, St Matthew's Cambridge and Chair of Ely Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Esther Prior, Chair, Guildford Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Jonathan Pryke, Jesmond Parish Church.

Revd Martin Reakes-Williams, Leipzig English Church.

Revd Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford.

Revd David Rowe, Priest in Charge, Christ Church, Winchester.

Revd Canon Roger Salisbury, Secretary of the Peache Trustees.

Revd John Samways, Trustee Church Patronage Trust.

Revd Dr. Peter Sanlon, Vicar, St. Mark's, Tunbridge Wells.

Mr Ed Shaw, Trustee of Living Out, Pastor, Emmanuel City Centre, Bristol & General Synod.

Revd Charlie Skrine, Associate Rector, St Helen's Bishopsgate, London and EGGS Committee.

Revd Tim Stilwell, Vicar, St Dionis, Parsons Green, London.

Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Convenor Anglican Mainstream, and former member General Synod.

Revd Andrew Symes, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream.

Revd Canon Martyn Taylor, Rector, Rector, St George's, Stamford and General Synod.

Revd William Taylor, Rector, St Helens, Bishopsgate and Chairman of ReNew.

Canon Professor Anthony C. Thiselton, FBA, former member of Crown Nominations Commission and Doctrine Commission.

Revd Rico Tice, All Souls Church & Christianity Explored Ministries.

Revd Melvin Tinker, Vicar, St John, Newland, Hull.

Revd Andrew Towner, Vicar Houghton & Kingmoor, Carlisle and Trustee, Diocesan Board of Finance.

Revd Gary Tubbs, Chair of Carlisle Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.

Revd Jon Tuckwell, Associate Minister, Christ Church, Cambridge.

The Revd Dr Simon Vibert, Vice Principal Wycliffe Hall & Director of the School of Preaching.

Mr Jacob Vince, General Synod

Revd Robin Weekes, Vicar, Emmanuel Church Wimbledon.

Revd Paul Williams, Vicar, Christ Church Fullwood and honorary Canon Sheffield Cathedral.

END

The situation on the ground is serious. So why not hop onto the politically correct bandwagon to get in some more punters?

Two problems:

1) That was part of the motivation in the CofE leadership for pushing for the ordination of women in the 1990s. We've got to catch up with societal trends in order to reduce our numerical decline. The Church needs to 'get up the programme', to use a later Conservative Prime Minister's phrase about women bishops.

Twenty years on, the ideological accommodation strategy has manifestly not worked. The downward trajectory has continued.

2) A church can be full of people every week but that is no guarantee that the Person whose opinion really counts, namely the Lord God Almighty, is pleased with it.

The Revelation to John in the New Testament is a powerful antidote to the 'cut the price so more will buy' approach to church growth. At the end of the book, the Lord Jesus Christ issued this warning to the seven churches of 1st Century Roman Asia in the light of the Day of Judgement, which his Second Coming will bring about:

'Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city (that is, in Revelation's terms, the New Jerusalem where the living God will dwell eternally with his redeemed Christian people in his renewed creation). Outside are the dogs, those who practise magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practises falsehood' (Revelation 22v14-15 - NIV).

So a church can be full to bursting with people contributing financially and volunteering enthusiastically but if they have not 'washed their robes' - that is, if they have not repudiated human rebellion against God in its various manifestations - then they will be on the outside after Judgement Day.

God's is the verdict that really counts. 'Cut the price so more will buy' even if it succeeds as a temporal church growth stratagem will not cut it in eternity.

END