Reform News November 2008

 

From Rod Thomas, Chairman of the Reform Council

(This is an abridged newsletter of the one sent to Reform members)

At last month’s Reform Conference, I said that our strategy for the future had to embrace ‘alternative’ Episcopal oversight. This attracted some public comment – with one or two people questioning how committed we are to the Church of England. In this newsletter, therefore, I want to describe the nature of our commitment as I see it.


Word Ministry in the Church of England


What makes us part of the Church of England is our co mmon commitment to the doctrine of the Church, not our institutional structure. The doctrine of the Church is encapsulated in Canon A5 which says:

 

“The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal”.


Happily, the essence of this is now also in the GAFCON statement.


There are a number of consequences for our present circumstances:

  1. We need to continue to rely on the power of the Word of God to change lives – and encourage incumbents to continue making exposition their first priority.

  2. If the Church of England makes a decision which is inconsistent with the Bible’s teaching or if a Diocesan bishop teaches error, the question that arises is not ‘should we leave the Church of England?’ but ‘as loyal members of the Church of England, how best can we demonstrate to others what is biblically faithful?’ We may end up taking principled irregular action in order to express our desire to confront error and promote the gospel, but that is completely consistent with remaining a part of the Church of England.

  3. We should continue to encourage people into the ordained ministry, but recognise that the shape of that ministry may, at times, be unpredictable.


Conference Resolutions


The 2008 conference voted overwhelmingly to pass three resolutions:


  1. This conference welcomes the outcome of GAFCON, pledges the support of Reform for the resulting initiatives and calls on evangelicals in the Church of England to show more courage in promoting the gospel and resisting heretical teaching.

  2. This conference recognizes that when bishops accommodate themselves to heretical teaching they deny the faith and therefore abandon their sees. In these circumstances it is vital that alternative oversight should be provided.

  3. This conference calls on the House of Bishops to recognize that pursuing the General Synod resolution on the preparation of legislation to allow the consecration of women bishops will permanently damage and narrow the Church of England. We urge the house to prevent this by presenting alternative proposals to the General Synod to preserve the ministry of those who maintain a Biblically orthodox position.


The conference also pledged its unanimous support to the parishes in Vancouver who are facing legal battles with the Diocese of New Westminster as follows:

We the undersigned as active clergy and lay members of the Church of England stand with those parishes in Vancouver that are part of the Anglican Network in Canada, affirming that they are authentically Anglican.


An on-line petition has been established for those who wish to support this:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/cofe-supporters-of-vancouver-parishes.html


Publications


We will shortly be sending members a new discussion paper on Reforming the Episcopacy. A further paper outlining an evangelical understanding of the church is also in preparation. Other titles being planned for next year include General Synod: Time for a Change; Interpreting the Bible; Anglican Identity; and The Reforming Role of Smaller Churches.


Prayer


Reform is a network committed to action. This does not mean that we act on behalf of others nor does it mean that we tell churches what to do. Responsibility for action rests with local church congregations. However, Reform can help shape what happens: it can help churches see the wider picture; and it can help the local decision-making process by exploring issues that others aren’t prepared to address and suggesting ways forward. Please pray that the Council will be given wisdom as we do this.