Ecclesiology: Unity, Authority, Doctrine

The articles and booklets listed have been written by Reform members or are based on talks given at a Reform conference. The views expressed are not necessarily the 'Reform position' on a particular issue. Discussion papers are written by individual members for the council of Reform and the wider church. The author alone is responsible for the paper. All the papers may be copied freely.

  1. Unity That Helps and Unity That Hinders John Woodhouse
    Understanding unity according to scripture is important for our effectiveness in gospel ministry.  This in-depth study tackles the subject in three categories- One God: What unity is, how it is part of the history of God’s involvement in the world, how the gospel brings unity and division; One Church: What and where is the church, what is the nature of its unity? and Denominations: What is a denomination, and how to apply godly principles of unity in our relationships with evangelicals within the denomination and without, and with other Anglicans.   

  2. Observations from a Friend David Jackman
    A non-Anglican makes the case for inter-denominational unity amongst evangelicals, putting our denominational differences second to the gospel priorities of evangelism and contending for the faith, and exploring some implications of this in the areas of evangelism, ministry, and cooperation.

  3. An Oversight? What Bishops think about Bishops and how Evangelicals reply
    This paper examines current thinking on the role of the bishop by looking at the 1990 report of the Archbishop’s Group on the Episcopate, which seeks to ‘find the contemporary role of the diocesan bishop in the developing ministry pattern in the first two centuries of the church’, and shows how evangelicals can respond to the kind of arguments it puts forward.  The aim is to encourage evangelicals to develop a clearer idea of what bishops should be and do, given the current tendency to focus the unity of the church in its organisational structure and the centralisation of control.

  4. Evangelicals, flying bishops, and the future R.T. Beckwith, Reform Conference 2000.
    A short article on the importance of the role of a bishop for the local church, and looking at ways to improve the current system of extended oversight by Provincial Episcopal Visitors for evangelicals.

  5. The Reform of the Episcopate and Alternative Oversight David Holloway, 1996 rev. 1998.
    An in-depth article explaining the need for the reform of the episcopate, which has become too full of those teaching “erroneous and strange doctrine”.  It describes the role of the bishop in the early church, in classical Anglican doctrine, and the different reality today.  It discusses the problems of inertia and the limitations of canon law for enabling reform. It proposes possible ways of establishing parallel networks for congregations and ministries where there is “impaired communion” with a bishop and this includes making arrangements for alternative episcopal oversight.

  6. The Bible and the Church Wallace Benn, 1996.
    A short article looking firstly at four ways in Nehemiah in which the church is revitalised and reconstituted around God’s Word.  It then notes four obstacles to a similar Word-driven reform today.
     
  7. A short history of the Church of England in South Africa Stephen Hofmeyr
    The historical background and reasons for the exclusion of the Church of England in South Africa from the Anglican Communion from the point of view of someone who believes it should be included.

  8. Bishops, Presbyters and Women Gerald Bray (from www.theologian.org.uk)
    A scholarly essay examining the distinctions between the episcopate and the presbyterate and how they relate to the apostolic ministry of Paul and the Twelve, utilising opinions of scholars from Clement to Lightfoot, and examining the question of women as bishops and/or presbyters from a historical and doctrinal perspective. 

Truth Matters Leaflets

  1. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader The Babylonian Unity of the Church
    This leaflet explains the differences between God-given and man-made unity and between divisiveness stemming from the nature of the gospel and from human sin.  With suggestions for further reading.

  2. Authority in the Church
    This leaflet examines the nature of authority in the church by unpacking two propositions: final authority in the church resides in Jesus Christ; church government must therefore reflect and safeguard Christ’s authority With suggestions for further reading.