REFORM WELCOMES FCA COMMITMENT

Rev'd Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical network in the Church of England, has welcomed the recent statement of commitment at the conclusion of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) conference in London. (to see the FCA statement click here)

He said: "Archbishop Wabukala of Kenya hit the nail on the head when he said the crisis at the heart of the Anglican Communion is ‘not only institutional but spiritual'.

"We see a prime example of this here in the UK. Recent statements from some church leaders in England on issues of human sexuality indicate the full-scale departure from traditional Biblical teaching that a tiny minority are seeking to impose on the Church of England. Their gospel of radical ‘inclusion' is undermining the Biblical gospel of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. God welcomes those who come to him knowing they need forgiveness. Those who simply want God to affirm their lifestyles have not understood the gospel.

"It is very encouraging therefore to know that the leaders who represent the vast majority of the world's Anglicans are willing to stand with and support those who wish to hold to the Biblical gospel as being good news from God for a world in desperate need.

"We also agree with Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali's assessment that the Anglican ‘Instruments of Unity' have failed dramatically, and encourage the FCA to model an alternative way forward of working together within our Communion across the globe to fulfill Christ's command to make disciples for Him.

"Here in the UK the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) has been established to do just that - model a new way of working within an Anglican framework and fellowship, with a panel of orthodox Bishops providing oversight to those churches who need it. This solution will not suit all, but it is a much-needed encouragement for some to know that their ministry is recognized and affirmed by a worldwide fellowship of Anglicans."

Ends

For further information contact Rev'd Paul Dawson, 07791 495824, media@reform.org.uk

April 26th 2012

Presented by Bishop John Ellison, Chairman FCA UK Panel of Bishops and Rev Paul Perkin, Chairman FCA (UK and Ireland)

The next few months will increasingly reveal the direction being taken by the Church of England regarding two matters:

• its  position regarding issues of marriage and sexuality, especially in the  light of the church's response to the government consultation and recent  letters from a small group of mainly retired bishops,
• and  secondly the provision or not for the inclusion of those who hold to  traditional understandings of the bible on matters of ministry. 

We  have established, and this week confirmed the principle that orthodox  Anglicans who despite repeated efforts cannot receive oversight in the  Church of England can continue to belong together with other orthodox Anglicans and minister with recognition within the global Anglican  communion.

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in this  region is a fellowship of those anywhere in the UK and Ireland, including the Diocese of Europe, who can affirm the Jerusalem  Declaration. Within it the Anglican Mission in England is not an  institution, but a framework that is taking shape as it responds to  those needing to receive help in their own dioceses. AMiE has two  particular features:

• It is a registered Mission  Society dedicated to support growing and planting churches, and  providing ministers and oversight for those churches, and secondly
• It has a Panel of Bishops authorised by the FCA Primates Council to provide that oversight 

The  Primates of the FCA have assured us that, through instruments now  available in this country, including the panel of bishops of the  Anglican Mission in England and the FCA UK, those who might otherwise  have been under pressure to leave the Church of England can remain  within the family of global Anglicanism and be recognized by that body  as faithful  to the Church of England itself.

At the FCA  Leadership Conference this Monday, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala reported in  his Chairman's keynote address:  ‘Last year, it became clear that provision needs to be made for England too. The Anglican Mission in  England was formed last June after four years of discussion with senior  Anglican leaders in England had failed to find a way in which those  genuinely in need of effective orthodox oversight in the Church of  England could receive it'.

The AMiE has already acted to  provide oversight to churches, including arranging the ordination of  some ministers. For the future it is ready to extend this ministry, and  to expand its panel of bishops accordingly. Parish Incumbents who affirm  the Jerusalem Declaration are invited to meet on Wednesday 27th June to pray and make progress together.

So  we pledge our support for all those who are orthodox in faith, who are  experiencing pressure, and who wish to continue as Anglicans with  international affirmation from the worldwide Anglican church. You have a  clear identity as Anglicans through our common commitment to the faith contained in the Jerusalem Declaration.

See Anglican Mission in England website 

http://anglicanmissioninengland.org/statement-celebration-anglican-communion-emmanuel-centre-westminster

1.  Thursday  April 26^th in Central London 5.00pm to 8.30pm. 

This event is organised by The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland). Amongst other things, it will provide:

• an opportunity to hear from some of the Gafcon Primates about their commitment to partnership with Anglicans in the UK 
• the first occasion where the English FCA panel of bishops can speak about their activities.

Bring colleagues, church wardens, members of the PCC, etc. To find out more details, including how to book, contact administrator@reform.org.uk

2.  Wednesday June 27th, at St Helen’s Bishopsgate, 4.45pm to 6.30pm. 

This is a Reform event held immediately after the first day of the EMA. The purpose is to gather Reform clergy, ordinands, and apprentices; to pray; to hear what action is being taken; to take counsel together. 

Contact administrator@reform.org.uk

3.  September 25 / 26 Reform National Conference at High Leigh Conference Centre.

This conference is the first opportunity after the July General Synod to take stock. The Reform Council will have had an opportunity to consider the views and ideas from the June 27 meeting. They will also have met immediately after the July General Synod. At the conference there will be plenty of opportunity to reflect and discuss, but members of the Council will also be asked to present options as well as recommendations for the way forward.The content of the conference will also include Bible readings on the theme of contending and compromising, conscience and communion. Presentations are also planned on the wider issue of the cultural crisis facing us and the continuing significance of the Reform Covenant twenty years on.

Contact administrator@reform.org.uk

"Many people will have appreciated Rowan's great courtesy in dealing with people of different views within both the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. But his departure opens up the potential for a new leader to heal the deep divisions within the Anglican Communion. What is needed is someone who will hold firm to biblical truth in areas such as human sexuality in order to promote the gospel and unite the church in the face of militant secularism."

For further comment please contact Rev'd Paul Dawson on paul@standrewschelsea.org

Homosexual ‘Marriage’

As many will now be aware, a Coalition for Marriage has been launched in order to defend marriage in the light of the forthcoming Government proposals to introduce homosexual ‘marriage’. Although at the time of writing these proposals have not yet been published, there seems every likelihood that they will seek views on how such ‘marriages’ should be introduced, not on whether they should. It is very important therefore that as many of us as possible (and as many of our non-Reform friends as we  can engage) take action to defend marriage.

I believe this should involve:

• Being clear ourselves about the purposes of marriage and the ways in which these could be undermined by homosexual ‘marriage’. It’s all too easy to assume that evangelical congregations are clear on these things, but in view of the many cultural pressures we should not take this for granted. Click here to see a briefing note designed to summarise the issues.

• Writing to MPs to express our opposition. It’s very important we express ourselves graciously and carefully, avoiding any possible accusation of being intemperate. Nevertheless we do need to be clear so that MPs are left in no doubt about the unpopularity of the proposal.

• Playing our part in national campaigns. If you have not yet signed the Coalition for Marriage petition, then please do so. This can easily be done online at c4m.org.uk It is likely that in due course other petitions will be launched by other bodies. We need to offer practical support to the campaign as well, and it would be helpful therefore if PCCs could allocate even a small amount to help meet the costs of one or other of the organizations involved.

• Responding to the consultative document when it is published. No doubt bodies such as the Christian Institute will alert us with the necessary information at the time.

Quite separately, the House of Bishops has set up a working group under Sir Joseph Pilling to ‘consider the outcomes of the listening process on human sexuality and to develop proposals for how the continuing discussion in the Church of England might be taken forward’. Reform has been invited to submit evidence, as have many other bodies. Please pray that our evidence will be well prepared and presented and that it will be persuasive. Please also pray that this exercise would not lead to any further deterioration in the official position of the House of Bishops, but rather a clearer commitment to the position the Primates took in the Lambeth Statement of 1998.

Reform Panel of Reference 

The Panel of Reference is due to meet in May. For further details contact the Reform office.

The changing nature of the Anglican episcopate in mainland Britain

Click here to read about a book by Reform member Mike Keulemans on the history of bishops in Britain.

MICHAEL KEULEMANS

This book, one of only two major studies on the subject for over sixty years and certainly the first ever written from an Evangelical standpoint, looks at the New Testament and Early Church evidence for the episcopate and traces its development in Britain from Roman times.  It discovers that it became increasingly politicised almost from the start, a process which was not halted by the English Reformation, even though, at least on paper, Cranmer returned it to its original teaching function.

Particular attention is paid to how Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers sought to balance the bench between the Latitudinarians, the Evangelicals and the new Catholic party, while the backgrounds and careers of all diocesan bishops between 1905 and 2005 are examined in detail.  Developments within the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church are also given a chapter each.  The results of a major statistical survey of clergy and churchwardens in the dioceses of Leicester, Bradford, Monmouth and Edinburgh are probed to see how these two groups view the modern functions of a bishop, compared with the opinions of recently retired bishops.

In the final chapter suggestions are made for the reform of the episcopate to make it more Spirit-filled and attuned to the pastoral needs of the parishes.  A practical proposal is also presented to solve the impasse over women bishops in a way that is scrupulously fair and provides opportunities to both sides of the debate.

An invaluable resource for understanding the Anglican episcopate and a mine of useful statistics to help rebuild its usefulness to parish, Church and nation.

About the author:

The Revd. Mike Keulemans is currently Associate Priest in the Llanfyllin Group of parishes with responsibility for Llanwddyn, a village in the Berwyn Mountains of Mid Wales that supplies the city of Liverpool with its drinking water.  He was ordained priest in 1993 and holdsMaster of Theology and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the University of Wales.  He was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in 2005.

He worked for just under a quarter of a century as Warden of the M.V. Loach Project, which gave childen and young people the opportunity to crew a cargo vessel from the Thames Estuary to London and latterly educated inner-city lads in Liverpool for deck and engineer traineeships in the Merchant Navy.

Previously he worked as a research assistant with an international oil journal, spent some time as an operational fireman in the London Fire Brigade and taught in primary and secondary schools in London and Kent.  He served for seven years on the Church of England's Church Assembly and General Synod.

Available from bookshops.   ISBN  978-1-4653-5394-8  paperback  £13.99

                                                         978-1-4653-5393-1  e-book          £3.99

The book may also be purchased direct from the author at The Poplars, Porthywaen, Oswestry, SY10 8LR.   Tel: 01691 830010  at £12.99 inclusive of postage and packing.

Click here to view cover

Reform chairman Rev'd Rod Thomas today called on fellow General Synod members to take a "generous approach" to those opposed to women bishops or risk seeing the legislation being voted down.

"When we come to vote on the Manchester Diocese Motion on Wednesday 8th, we will each have to choose. Do Synod members wish to see the ministry of those who are opposed to women bishops on theological grounds progressively removed from the Church of England, or can we, even at this late stage, encourage a more generous and inclusive approach?" he said.
 
"If the draft legislation comes back to General Synod for final approval next July unchanged, then we will have the unsavoury dilemma of either having to vote for a Measure which will lead to disunity and division, or of voting against it and thus prolonging the debate for another five years. Yet there is still an opportunity, through the amendments previously put forward by the Archbishops, to reach an agreed way forward."

The Manchester Diocese Motion, which will be debated next Wednesday, recognises that the only body which now has legal authority to amend the draft legislation is the House of Bishops. The motion asks the House of Bishops to use their power to amend the draft legislation in line with the amendment put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2010. That amendment provided that where arrangements are made for another bishop to exercise oversight over parishes which cannot accept the ministry of women bishops, such bishops could do so by exercising ‘co-ordinate' rather than ‘delegated' jurisdiction.
 
Ends

For further information contact Revd Paul Dawson, 07791 495824 or Revd Rod Thomas 07906 331110

The following papers were presented. The A in a title refers to it being an Awesome paper and the R refers to it being a Reform paper. 

"I am so glad the papers which were at the core of our discussion and dialogue are able to be read more widely now. I would like to thank  those from Reform and Awesome who took part and made our meetings possible. The conversations show one way in which we in the Church can "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" as we submit to scripture, we listen, we robustly engage and we love, as Ephesians goes on to say "we are members of one another". My prayer is that this publication will spur us to go on seeking to "speak the truth in love" and build up the body of Christ, especially in these days."

Keith Sinclair, Bishop of Birkenhead

1_1A An Exploration of Evangelical Exegetical and Hermeneutical Differences Over Gender Hierarchy

1_1R Does Scripture teach some form of gender-hierarchy/”male headship” as God’s purpose in creation?

1_2A Commissioning of Women in the Gospels, Acts and Paul

1_2R Interpreting the Bible

1_3A Exegesis of 1 Timothy 2: 8-15

1_3R  Discussion Paper on 1 Tim 2:8-15

2_1A What does 1 Corinthians 11 tell us about gender and church order? 

2_1iiA What do the Trinity and marriage have to do with male headship in the church?

2_1R 1 Corinthians 11:3: Headship, Trinity and Gender 

2_3A Does biblical teaching about husbands and wives shed light on the roles of men and women in the church? 

2_3R Ephesians 5.21-33 (with Colossians 3.18 & 1 Peter 3.1-7) 

2_4A Evangelical opponents of women bishops: What is sought and required? 

2_4R Women bishops: Q and A

3_1A The Pastoral Epistles: Ministry, ordination and women

3_1R The Pastoral Epistles

3_2A The Bible and today’s debates – Issues in Human Sexuality and the Ministry of Women

3_3A Hermeneutics and the evangelical debate about women’s ministry 

3_3R Power, Equality, Humility and Suspicion 

3_4A AWESOME Summary Document 

3_4R The need for secure and adequate provision for conservatives 

A final statement was agreed between the two groups, January 2011.

There have been two earlier statements. The first was in January 2010. The other was in July 2010.

The Reform Council commented on the final statement:

"We are thankful for the dialogue that has taken place and welcome the honest but gracious expression of difference that is reflected in the final statement. As the concluding paragraphs state, we continue to respect those who disagree with our view of Scripture. We wish to stress, however, that the security of our respective positions depends on faithfulness to Scripture, rather than on any political need to accommodate one another within the structures of the institutional Church".

The Renewed Pastor - essays in honour of Philip Hacking

A festschrift (literally a "feast of writing") is a book honoring a respected person and presented during his or her lifetime.  Recent years have seen these presented to John Piper, Dick Lucas, Don Carson and others.

Could a festschrift contribute to the dilemma of the "celebrity pastor"? That's a real danger, but in this case, the truth is that the focus is firmly centred on the gospel. These writings are not about Philip but about the role of the pastor that he so valued and to which he gave himself unstintingly.

However, the purpose of this review is not to contribute to the festschrift but to encourage you to read these essays. Personally, this is a form of writing I really enjoy. Too many books have a good idea at heart but run out of steam well before the last page. However, the contributors here use their skill and knowledge to concisely and clearly address "all the major aspects of pastoral ministry".

Each of the contributors knows Philip personally and wisely use the various contexts of his ministry to introduce their subject. There are 12 essays in total, preceded by a four-page foreword by Hugh Palmer that sets the scene well.

This book might well be "a major resource for all pastors" but I think it is far more valuable than that. This is a book for all of us. Here we have an insight into the role and ministry of the pastor that will help us, not just as those who are "pastored", but also as those who must pastor "one another".

It is not just pastors who need to learn valuable lessons on renewal, prayer, worship and the church. We can all learn from this helpful book so that we might be hearers of the word, doers of the word and messengers of the word, "a people that are God's very own, eager to do what is good".

Peter Collier

In this newsletter - 

• Rod Thomas reports on homosexual marriage and women bishops
• other news and events

Rod Thomas writes:

Homosexual Marriage

At our conference in October, I spoke about the real challenge presented by the present Government's desire to legitimise homosexual marriage. If this were to come into law, marriage would be undermined because society's understanding of what marriage is all about would be eroded. Marriage isn't solely a matter of commitment - as though it were just another form of contract, binding two parties. It creates a special bond between a man and a woman which is vital for the health of family life and the raising of children.

Getting Ready to Campaign

The Government plans to start a consultative process in the spring, so we need to be ready to make our views known, and to help others see the issues. In preparation for this we are actively discussing the way forward with a wide range of other Christian organisations - and Paul Dawson, our media officer, is representing us at meetings in London. Soon after the start of the New Year we hope to write to all members with:

• Briefing on why the proposal represents such an attack on marriage
• Suggestions for action by PCCs
• Ways of raising our concerns with MPs
• Details on how individuals can link into a national campaign

We expect to follow this up with further briefing for members once the Government consultations have started.

Defending the Biblical Position in the Church

I recognise that issues of this sort are normally the territory of bodies like the Christian Institute, with whom we are keeping in close touch. However, we know that in 2013 the House of Bishops will itself be starting consultations over issues related to human sexuality. It will be much harder at that stage to hold the Church to a biblically faithful position if the Government has managed to introduce homosexual marriage.

Women Bishops

There's a fair amount to report, much of it to do with what is going on at synods. This isn't because we're obsessed with synodical affairs. I hope that what really excites us is the prospect of more and more people accepting the salvation and lordship of Christ as local churches proclaim the gospel. However, until this issue has been resolved, we're inevitably having to focus on what is, to many of us, an unfamiliar and unattractive area of Church life.

Finding a Fresh Way Forward

It was a great encouragement to see so many members engaging with deanery and diocesan synods over the last few months. For some time our hopes were pinned on diocesan synods passing ‘following motions' calling on the House of Bishops to change the draft legislation to make better provision for those who cannot accept women bishops on grounds of theological conviction. However, as the various debates took place, a fresh initiative was taken which we immediately got behind - as did members of the Catholic Group. This initiative recognised that even if a good number of dioceses passed the following motion, the House of Bishops might still decline to amend the legislation. So an alternative ‘following motion' was devised which was directed at the General Synod rather than the House of Bishops. This promised to have more impact because the Standing Orders of General Synod require its Business Committee to give any motion from a diocesan synod special consideration for inclusion in the agenda.

The alternative ‘following motion' effectively asked the General Synod to put pressure on the House of Bishops to incorporate the amendments the two Archbishops proposed back in 2010 (which at the time were narrowly defeated). Five dioceses passed this motion, quite enough to persuade the Business Committee to put it on the agenda of General Synod next February - although at the time of writing news is still awaited. Since the present General Synod has a different make-up to the one which rejected the Archbishop's 2010 amendment, there seems to be a good chance that the General Synod will vote for this. The House of Bishops would then have every reason to change the draft Measure before the vote on final approval in July 2012.

The Results of the Diocesan Synod Debates

The final results of the diocesan consultations were that two of the forty-four dioceses voted against the draft Measure (London and Chichester). Five dioceses passed the original ‘following motion' (Sheffield, Blackburn, Chichester, Winchester and Bradford). Five dioceses passed the alternative ‘following motion' (Manchester, Exeter, Chichester, York and Wakefield). This means that ten dioceses - nearly a quarter of the total - have registered serious disquiet over the draft Measure one way or the other. There is therefore a strong case for further amendment.

A Reform Proposal

Since there seems every likelihood that the House of Bishops will be privately considering whether, and if so what, specific changes should be made to the draft legislation, we have been keen to feed in some fresh thoughts. To this end we have drafted a modest amendment which has been passed to the two Archbishops. The amendment would remove any reference to a female bishop ‘delegating' her oversight to an alternative bishop and introduce an arrangement whereby diocesan schemes provide for the bishops of a ‘recognised' society to provide alternative oversight. We were particularly keen to register this suggestion before the House of Bishops meets later this month.

On December 14th, Sarah Finch and I will be attending a consultation in Coventry Cathedral attended by members of WATCH (the pro-women bishops campaigning group), the Catholic Group in General Synod and members of the Cathedral staff. This is a Coventry initiative, designed to find out whether there is any possibility, even at this late stage, of agreeing a way forward for the Church of England and thus avoid what has been described as an impending ‘train crash' next July. We are very willing to play our part and would be grateful for your prayers as we do so.

As you'll gather, there's a fair amount of work going on behind the scenes. We've been keen to get the best outcome at diocesan synods, to encourage others to stand with us, and to try to win the ear of bishops. We hope that all this will bear fruit at the next General Synod in February.

Events

Women in Ministry, 23 -26 January 2012. A conference for women involved in local church, Bible teaching ministries. The women who come are a mix of full-time and part-time workers, paid and unpaid, married and single, mums with young children and mums with grown up children. For further details and online booking go to http://www.proctrust.org.uk/conferences

Sex-Proof your Kids:  Lisa Nolland equips and empowers parents and others who are concerned by how kids are being physically and psychologically damaged by their sexual experiences. She believes that kids deserve better and will listen when offered good reasons to be 'good', or sexually smart.  Topics covered include: present youth sex culture; the real dangers of pornography; the oxymoron of 'safe sex'; the innate differences between females and males; the sexual trajectory  - what is next on the horizon; and how to be sex-positive with kids.  Lisa is available for day or evening seminars or events which could suit Christian or secular groups. Please contact Ls.n@talktalk.net;  0117 924 4896 for details. 

The Lepers Among Us. Homosexuality and the Life of the Church with Dr Jim Reynolds. Coming to Belfast (Jan 20 &21, 2012) and London (Friday Jan 27th, 2012). Jim Reynolds - pastor, teacher, author and attorney at law considers compassionate ways of ministering to same-sex-attracted believers and seekers. He also explores neo-paganism, the religious underpinning of 21st century culture and how pastors and their churches can respond in clarity. (See the Core issues web site - http://www.core-issues.org/ or contact Lisa above. For the programme and brochure click here)

Writings in Honour of Philip Hacking

Edited by Melvin Tinker

Philip Hacking celebrated his 80th birthdayin 2011 and this book is a demonstration of our appreciation of his ministry. Philip was presented with the book on Sunday December 11th at Christ Church Fulwood. The Reform Council was very much behind the creation of this book.

Each of the chapters deals with an aspect of the the pastor's ministry: the pastor renewed, the pastor at prayer, the pastor as theologian, preacher and evangelist; the pastor and worship, the pastor and baptism, the pastor and church planting, the pastor and church growth, the pastor and student ministry, the pastor and gospel partnership, the pastor as evangelical and Anglican.

Contributors: Hugh Palmer, Melvin Tinker, Peter Lewis, Tim Chester, Steve Timmis, Peter Adam, Paul Williams, D. A. Carson, J. I. Packer, Frank Retief, David Holloway, John Risbridger, John Stevens, Gerald Bray.

"Here then is a book which I believe touches on so many issues that have been close to Philip's heart throughout his ministry, and which need to be close to the hearts of any pastor today."

Hugh Palmer, Rector, All Souls Langham Place, London

The recommended retail price is £14.99. Reform are able to sell them for £10 plus £1.50 postage and packing. If you wish to order multiple copies please contact the Reform office to discuss the price - administrator@reform.org.uk . At the moment we do not have the means of taking payment online but please place an order via email and I can send the invoice with the book.

To read a review click here

REFORM CALLS ON CHURCH LEADERS PUBLICLY TO BACK MARRIAGE

Church of England clergy need to take "urgent and significant steps" publicly to speak out in support of marriage as being between one man and one woman, said Reform chairman Rev'd Rod Thomas at the network's annual conference this week.

Mr Thomas encouraged church leaders to do "everything within their power" to oppose Government attempts to "redefine marriage" to include relationships between homosexuals. "This is a generation-defining moment," he said. "When the history books are written we will want to be known as those who spoke up publicly for Jesus's teaching on marriage and against any Government attempts to redefine this God-given institution."

"Our churches, our communities and especially our children need us to provide both clarity and compassion in this age of confusion surrounding sexual identity and relationships."

Mr Thomas praised Roman Catholic bishops who have spoken so clearly in support of marriage, and encouraged their Anglican counterparts to be as bold: "Many of our bishops support the Bible's teaching on marriage. Well now we want to hear them say so publicly, loud and clear."

Acknowledging that Reform's own clergy may not have always publicly promoted marriage as clearly as they should, Mr Thomas urged the network's 1,600-strong membership to act now in advance of the Government's consultation on homosexual marriage in March 2012.

He outlined a five point action plan that Reform will be engaged in during the coming months:

1.       Reform will provide a briefing paper explaining the Bible's teaching on marriage as being between one man and one woman, and why redefining marriage to be between homosexuals would be disastrous

2.       Reform clergy to preach publicly on the Biblical view of marriage

3.       Reform members on General Synod to put forward a Private Members Motion calling on diocesean bishops to commence diocese-wide discussions on this issue

4.       Reform clergy to discuss this matter with their church councils, and encourage them and their church members to communicate their concerns to their bishops and local MPs, and to encourage other clergy in the Church of England to do the same, in order to demonstrate the widespread grass-roots opposition to redefining marriage

5.       Reform churches to provide financial support to one of the Christian public affairs groups engaged in this debate

Reform members were encouraged to receive support for their position in a message to the conference from Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Anglican Primate of Kenya,who said: "I thank God for the witness of Reform. It grieves us deeply to observe many Anglican churches in the west yielding to secular pressure to allow unacceptable practices in the name of human rights and equality."

Ends

Editor's notes:

Photographs from the conference and the full text of Archbishop Eliud Wabukala's message are available on request from Rev'd Paul Dawson, 07791 495824, paul@standrewschelsea.org

Church Society also issued a press release in October on this issue. See http://www.evangelicals.org/news.asp?id=1367

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Reform, 

Greetings in the Name of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

The world wide Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans  is a cause of great joy to me because it is bringing together Anglicans around the globe in a common love for each other and the Lord Jesus Christ. This love is the work of the Holy Spirit who is gathering us for clear and confident gospel witness at a time when there is growing confusion and disorder in our beloved Anglican Communion.

I thank God for the witness of Reform as you hold unswervingly to the faith once for all delivered to the saints despite the severe erosion of orthodoxy taking place around you.  As the Global South Primates acknowledged at our recent meeting in China ‘it grieves us deeply to observe many Anglican churches in the west yielding to secular pressure to allow unacceptable practices in the name of human rights and equality'. 

So I would like to assure you of my prayers and necessary support. We are building a truly global fellowship in a partnership inspired by the Holy Spirit, marked by prayer, generosity, sacrifice and genuine love. I long to see the day when faithful Anglicans can feel at home in any part of the world and share the joy of true fellowship in the Holy Spirit.

May the favour of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands.

The Most Revd Dr Eliud Wabukala, Archbishop, the Anglican Church of Kenya  and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council

Clarity in an age of Confusion

Reform Conference 2011 Update

In addition to our keynote speakers, Philip Hacking and Dan Strange, we are delighted to confirm the following speakers for this year's conference:

Ministry in rural areas: The particular challenges of this ministry will be examined by Steve Wookey in the Cotswolds, John Hamilton in Hampshire and Dick Farr, latterly of Henham, East Anglia.

Ministry in urban areas: Mike Cain and Steve Donald will give insights from their ministry in contrasting urban environments. Mike leads an Anglican church plant in a Bristol suburb which meets in a school while Steve has worked in urban settings on a council estate in Barnsley and urban parishes in Oldham and Carlisle.

We also have a full programme of seminar options for Wednesday:

Ordinands can consider matters of conscience in the C of E with Jonathan Fletcher, Mark Burkill and Alistair Tresidder

Curates will be discussing the challenge of re-vitalising an existing church with Mike Neville and Vaughan Roberts

Those in rural areas will be delighted to hear of the launch of Reform's rural network, chaired by David Craven

The Reform women's network is also launched this year, led by Denise Gilmour and Jane Leggett

Those who want to understand how best to plan for succession will appreciate the wisdom and experience of David Phillips

The Christian Institute will bring their clear gospel focus onto some of the wider issues affecting our society

Wednesday's post-lunch session will include an update on the latest developments regarding the Anglican Mission in England from Paul Perkin.

We look forward to seeing many existing Reform members there and to welcome those who share our concerns for continuing to bring gospel clarity to a country in desperate confusion.

Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform writes:

There are three issues on which I would like to update members: the proposed Church of England consultations on civil partnerships and human sexuality; the continuing debates about women bishops; and the role of the newly launched Anglican Mission in England (AMiE).

Consultations on Sexuality

Two developments occurred just before the start of this summer's General Synod meeting in York. First, the Church House Legal Office published its advice on how the provisions of the Equality Act should affect the selection of bishops. There was much in the advice that was helpful, but it finished by saying that it was up to individual members of the Crown Nominations Commission to decide what weight to put on factors such as the existence of a civil partnership, and whether or not a candidate had repented of previous same-sex activity, in deciding whether such a candidate would be an appropriate ‘focus of unity'.

I wrote to the General Synod's General Secretary, William Fittall, to say that I felt the advice went beyond anything the Church had decided to permit and asked for the advice to be withdrawn. The reply I received showed a degree of puzzlement about why I thought that the Legal Office had overstepped the doctrinal mark, and said there could be no question about the withdrawal of the advice. As a result I wrote again, explaining that the issue at stake was that the advice opened the way for individual selectors to give no weight to the fact that an individual might be in a civil partnership. I am currently awaiting a further reply. In the meantime, some of the steam has been taken out of this by a statement issued by the House of Bishops. It said that no episcopal appointment of anyone in a civil partnership would be made for the time being. This was because the House intended to review its 2005 ‘Pastoral Statement' on civil partnerships, and to complete the review during 2012. It also intended to draw together material from ‘the listening process' on which the Church had been engaged since Lambeth 1998 and then produce a consultation document in 2013 on the more general topic of the Church's approach to human sexuality. 

I have publicly welcomed the statement by the House of Bishops because it overcomes the worry we had that an appointment of a bishop in a civil partnership might be imminent; it accepts that there has to be some conclusion from the listening process, rather than that it should continue until one side capitulates; and it makes clear that a proper consultation will take place in 2013. This means that the General Synod will be consulted, and so far, the present General Synod has shown itself to be more cautious about the liberal agenda than its predecessor. That said, these future consultations should also ring warning bells. We have often said that if the Women Bishops Measure goes through, the same approach to Scripture will be used to promote changes in the Church's approach to sexuality - and we can now see how quickly that could occur unless evangelicals and others speak out loud and clear.

Please note that on a connected issue, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is undertaking a survey on the protection of religious belief in Equality Law. This could be highly significant for protecting the position of Christians who want to stand up for Christ in the workplace and elsewhere. Please go to the ‘Christian Concern' web site for details on how to participate.

Women Bishops

One of the reasons this summer's General Synod was somewhat lacklustre was because there is a hiatus in church affairs while dioceses consider the draft Measure and the General Synod waits for the proposed Code of Practice (expected in February 2012) and then the ‘final approval' stage in July 2012. However, the General Synod did give Reform members the opportunity to exchange notes informally with other evangelicals and also the traditional catholics. As a result, we have been able to brief the ‘1990 Group' - a lay led conservative evangelical grouping in General Synod - about how to counter some of the arguments that will be used next year to try to pressure people into changing their mind about opposing the draft Measure. This may be particularly important for those evangelicals who don't mind women bishops but who do want to prevent a split in the Church. 

At this stage it is impossible to introduce any amendments to the draft Measure, unless the House of Bishops decides to do so. That is why it is so important, when diocesan synods vote on the draft Measure, to try to get them to pass a ‘following motion' asking for better provision for those who cannot accept women bishops. In the meantime, we have now started the process of working with the traditional catholics on amendments that could be offered to the House of Bishops - and the informal conversations I had at the General Synod were very useful in developing our thinking on these amendments. I hope I will be able to say more about this and other developments at our national conference in October.

One of the arguments in favour of women bishops that is often used as a ‘clincher' is Galatians 3:28: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' Now, a new book is being published by the Latimer Trust, dealing with this and other theological arguments - and not all written by the usual suspects! If you would like to read the draft, its title is ‘The Church, Women Bishops and Provision.' At the time of writing it was available to download from the Latimer Trust web site (please note the conditions of downloading it) and it will soon be available to buy.

Anglican Mission in England (AMiE)

I wrote about the launch of AMiE and its rationale in the last newsletter. AMiE has now produced a short briefing outlining its purposes and who is behind it. This can be seen on its web site: www.anglicanmissioninengland.org. We hope to hear more about AMiE at our national conference. In the meantime, please pray for our trustees as they meet in early August to think through the role of bishops and how they should be appointed - as a way of contributing to AMiE discussions.

As the Church of England's General Synod met today in York, Reform chairman and General Synod member the Rev Rod Thomas gave a cautious welcome to the recent paper from the House of Bishops about civil partnerships and the appointment of Bishops.

Mr Thomas said: "I welcome the announcement of a moratorium on the episcopal appointment of clergy who are in civil partnerships. The recent legal advice from Church House had raised fears that such an appointment might be imminent. In particular, there was concern that despite declaring himself celibate, a clergyman in a civil partnership who had previously been sexually active with his partner and who openly advocated such relationships as consistent with Christian teaching, might be appointed as a bishop.

I welcome too the intention of producing a further consultative document on the issue of human sexuality in 2013 in the light of the ‘listening process' that has been underway in the Church. One of the criticisms made by the GAFCON Primates of current developments in the Anglican Communion is that the listening process itself is being used to extend the liberal agenda on sexuality and avoid necessary discipline. The consultative paper may therefore help to show that the listening process has to reach some conclusion. The fact that it is to be ‘consultative' also means that it cannot bypass the General Synod, which has always affirmed the Church's teaching that the God-given context for human sexual relations is heterosexual marriage."

Results Of Consultations Over Strategy

During May and June, five special meetings were convened around the country to discuss the strategy Reform is currently pursuing. 

Multiplying Local Ministry

Members heard that Reform is still enthusiastically following its strategy of promoting the gospel by multiplying local ministry. This means encouraging people to consider full-time teaching ministry; supporting those who are seeking to win new parishes for evangelical ministry; encouraging new church plants; urging ‘lay’ church members to fulfil their ministries; and working for an environment in the C of E which supports rather than undermines faithfulness to the Bible’s teaching.

This approach to the reform of the Church and the evangelisation of the nation could well be thwarted by the proposed new legislation on women bishops. Those who do not agree with women exercising ‘headship’ in the church could find themselves discriminated against both in the selection and appointment process for teaching ministry. As a result, we are working hard to oppose – or at least change – the present proposals. At the moment our effort is devoted to the diocesan consultations, but next year, it will be focussed on General Synod. In this, we are working closely with Anglo-Catholics as co-belligerents.

What Next?

We need to maintain our effort to achieve change both within the existing structures and by taking new initiatives.

Maximising our Opportunities

Deanery and diocesan synods. Over the last two months we have provided a good deal of briefing material about the women bishops legislation to those Reform members who have let us know that they are members of diocesan synods. Much of this is relevant for discussions in deanery synods too. Anyone who still needs this should contact Johnny Lockwood at the Reform office. We must keep trying to persuade deaneries to oppose the draft legislation or at least pass a following motion asking dioceses to request better protection for those who are opposed. We need to do the same with diocesan synods – asking the House of Bishops to make better provision. At the same time we must continue to remind friends who don’t want to see us effectively excluded from the Church’s structures that they need to vote with us if this is to happen.

Ordinands. As the law currently stands, discrimination against those who are opposed to women priests is not allowed and no ordinand has to take a vow of canonical obedience to anyone other than a male bishop. It is perfectly right therefore for current ordination candidates to make clear to their bishops that when they take a vow of canonical obedience to the bishop and his successors, they are doing so only on the basis that those successors will be male. Mark Burkill has drafted a simple letter that ordinands can use when making this point to their bishops; it is available from Johnny Lockwood.

The Launch of AMiE

A major step forward has been taken in the development of a society. This is now being called the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) and it was publicly announced at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly on Thursday 23^rd June. The purpose of the Mission at the moment is to provide some immediate recognition and oversight for churches that cannot or do not currently receive the oversight of Church of England bishops. It will operate with episcopal oversight from Michael Nazir-Ali, John Ball, Colin Bazley, Wallace Benn and John Ellison. The new Mission has the warm support of the Archbishop of Kenya who is currently the chairman of the FCA Primates. He ordained the first English presbyters for mission in the wider church on Saturday 11^th June and their episcopal oversight has been delegated to the AMiE bishops. 

There is still much work to be done on exactly how AMiE will operate in future – and in particular on how its bishops will in future be selected and the role they will perform. One possibility is that they will look to local deans of mission to engage with individual congregations. Different levels of church and individual membership also need to be detailed; some members will need the oversight of the AMiE bishops, but others may not – at least for the time being. Their membership will be a matter of fellowship rather than oversight. The Reform trustees have undertaken to do more work on this – both to help AMiE and to demonstrate what the CoE should itself be doing. The formation of the AMiE is the first major practical step the FCA has taken in this country to help churches which are in impaired or non-existent communion with C of E bishops and it puts the emphasis positively on mission rather than division. On behalf of Reform, I have therefore warmly welcomed it and expressed gratitude for the support that it has been given by the Archbishop of Kenya. 

20^th June 2011

Reform calls for legal advice on Bishops’ Appointments to be withdrawn

The legal advice from Church House on whether clergy in civil partnerships can be appointed as bishops should never have been published and should now be withdrawn. This is the view of General Synod member and chairman of Reform, the Revd Rod Thomas.

Commenting on the advice that has now been circulated to General Synod members, Mr Thomas said:“this gives the impression that the Church of England has decided that it is acceptable for candidates for the episcopacy to be in civil partnerships. However, no such decision has been taken by the Church and as a matter of law it is within its rights to prevent such a thing happening.”

The legal advice states that it is up to those involved in individual appointment processes to decide whether or not they want to take into account a candidate’s civil partnership. It also implies that it is similarly up to them to decide whether or not any expression of repentance for past same-sex activity is needed. 

Mr Thomas said: “This goes far beyond anything the Church has decided to permit and opens up the possibility of a bishop being appointed who, whilst being celibate, is in a civil partnership and openly opposes the Church’s teaching on marriage.

“To be in a civil partnership is to be seen as having forged a lifelong bond with someone of the same sex; to have created family ties; and to have engaged in a commitment similar to marriage. A bishop vows to protect the church’s teaching both by what he says and by the way he lives. This is immediately compromised when he engages in a civil partnership. If the Church no longer wants bishops to support the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexual relations, it is not up to a legal office to hint at it. It must be decided by the House of Bishops and affirmed by the General Synod.

“There can, of course, be no bar on a person being appointed as a bishop because of their sexual orientation. The issue is what they teach and how they live.”

Mr Thomas will now be writing to the Secretary General of the General Synod asking for the legal advice to be withdrawn and new advice issued. In the absence of this, Mr Thomas warned that the issue would be firmly addressed at the Synod itself.

Ends

For further information contact:

Revd Paul Dawson, Reform media officer, 07791 495824

To see the news story click here.

Discussions on the Women Bishops Measure are starting to take place in earnest in deaneries and dioceses.  We are now sending out briefing material to members who sit on diocesan synods via e-mail.  It you would like to receive this briefing and are not currently doing so, please contact the Reform office (administrator@reform.org.uk).

We are holding four regional consultations over the next few months.

May 10th  at St Stephen's Selly Park, Birmingham

May 16th at St Helen's Bishopsgate, London

May 27th at St Bart's, Bath

June 16th at St John's Houghton, Carlisle

These events are designed partly to keep members up-to-date with current developments and partly to provide an opportunity for members to understand better - and contribute to - the strategy the Council is following.  This is a time when many of us feel that our ministry and witness is under threat within the Church of England, so it is important that we continue to stand together as we face the twin challenges of opposing the present draft legislation and standing for the gospel in an increasingly secularised environment.  Our regional consultations will outline the plans we are making - whether the vote in the General Synod goes for or against us - and we will be wanting to report back to the Council on what your views are.

In the meantime we are:

• pressing ahead with two working groups - one looking at proposed amendments to the draft legislation that could be put to the House of Bishops, and another group looking at how the bishops of any future "Society" might operate and be selected
• introducing changes to the Reform Council so that new generations of Anglican evangelicals become more involved 
• extending our network to see what more can be done to encourage those engaged in women's ministry and ministry in rural churches.

There has been speculation in the press about the Government's proposals for civil partnerships to be registered in places of worship. There has also been speculation, and indeed confusion, over the separate issue of scrapping the definition of marriage in order to allow two people of the same sex to hold a marriage certificate.

Government proposals to allow civil partnerships in churches implement changes made in the 2010 Equality Act. However, there has been no announcement from the Government that it has any plans to introduce full same-sex marriage.

The definition of marriage

The thousands of churches that our organizations represent hold firmly to the clear teaching of the Bible that marriage is the lifelong, exclusive union of one man and one woman. This is the definition that has long been recognized in English law and, indeed, by almost all cultures for all of human history.

Marriage was ordained by God for the good of all people and is a holy institution. It was also designed to represent something of the relationship between Christ and his church. There are two partners to a marriage because there are two sexes. Marriage is a complementary covenant involving the bringing together of the two sexes not only for the purposes of procreation but also to reflect more fully the image of God.

We are also concerned about the effect of declaring that the institution in which children are raised does not require both a mother and a father.

For all these reasons we, and many others, would firmly oppose any efforts to eradicate the definition of marriage and impose a new definition on everyone in order to satisfy the demands of gay rights groups.

Civil partnerships in churches

We reiterate our long-held opposition to allowing civil partnerships to be registered in churches. It is a breach of undertakings made by Government ministers during debates on the Civil Partnership Bill. Parliament was persuaded to pass that Bill, in part, because it was made clear that civil partnership was a civil rather than a religious institution and would not take place in religious premises.

However, there are a small number of religious groups who are not content with being able to carry out civil partnership blessing ceremonies, as they currently do, but who want the legal registration itself to take place in their premises. In response to the demands of these groups, the Government is embarking on a course of action that is bringing it into conflict with thousands of evangelical churches and the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

In any legislation, churches must be protected against the possibility, now and in the future, of any kind of legal action being brought against churches which conscientiously disagree with civil partnerships.

When it comes to equality legislation, permission often turns rapidly into coercion. In a country where faith-based adoption agencies have been forced to close or cut their religious ties by equality law, where Christian marriage registrars can be dismissed for their religious views on marriage and where Christian B & B owners are forced to pay compensation to same-sex couples, Christians will need a great deal of reassurance that the Government is not about to do something that will make their situation even worse.

Issued on behalf of:
Affinity
The Christian Institute
Christian Concern
Reform
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

The Council of Reform had a very useful residential meeting at the end of last year at which a number of decisions were taken about how to support and strengthen Anglican evangelical ministry at a time of real challenge for us. In addition, important conclusions were reached about how Reform itself should be organised. For part of our time we were joined by the Council of Church Society in order to agree some joint initiatives. This newsletter reports on that meeting as well as on other events which have taken place in the last two months.

The Development of a Society

The Council felt that the idea of developing a Society was a very positive response to the challenges we currently face, but that it would not be right to form a Society purely for the purpose of providing episcopal oversight for those who cannot accept women bishops. Not only was it unlikely that the General Synod would respond in a way that would be adequate but the effect might be to marginalise us. We needed to show that we occupied, and argued our case from, the middle ground. However, the development of a broader based Society, able to operate with its own panel of bishops across a range of issues could be a positive development. The doctrinal basis of the Society would be the Jerusalem Statement agreed at GAFCON in 2008. There might be two categories of membership - one for those who were supportive but who had no immediate ministry need, and another for those who did need alternative episcopal oversight.

Quite apart from the issue of women bishops, the formation of a Society could help in situations where irregular ordinations have had to take place over the last few years or will be taking place in the future. Where the ordinands involved have been through the Reform Panel of Reference, there is every reason to commend them and their congregations to the Society.

Women Bishops

Briefing material for discussions in deanery and diocesan synods will be jointly issued by Reform and Church Society as soon as possible. A video making the case against women bishops will be available on the Reform web-site.

A number of members have recently written to me seeking advice on how to handle discussions on this subject in deanery synods. A variety of materials are available on the Reform web-site which run through the theological arguments, but in order to secure backing for a motion in many deaneries, it might be wise to focus as much on the issue of church unity as on other theological issues. A useful objective would be to get deanery synods to pass motions for consideration by their diocesan synods.  

Members may be aware that at the end of last year a number of Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEVs) announced their resignations and intention to depart for the Roman Catholic Ordinariate. The Archbishop of Canterbury made clear that they would be replaced and we therefore wrote to the Archbishop and his staff asking that a conservative evangelical be appointed to one of these posts. In addition, members of the Council wrote individually to the Archbishop's Appointment Secretary and I also wrote on behalf of the Reform Council, urging the Archbishop not to overlook the needs of evangelicals. There are currently some twenty eight parishes which have passed ‘Resolution C' (which requests episcopal oversight from a PEV) and the feeling is that many more might do so if there was the prospect of clear evangelical episcopal oversight.

Discussions with Awesome

As part of the process of engagement over the issue of women bishops, Bishop Wallace Benn, David Banting, Roger Beckwith, Mike Ovey, Carrie Sandom, and Nigel Atkinson have been involved over the last few months in discussions with Awesome - a network of ordained evangelical women. The meetings were chaired by Bishop Keith Sinclair. A final statement has now been produced which can be viewed on the Reform web-site. Essentially it outlines areas of theological difference, including different approaches to biblical interpretation. It stresses the need to be mutually supportive, but also recognises that differences remain outstanding over what should be done in practice. We will be putting the statement to the next meeting of the Council in March. (Added 15.3.2011 - The Council have now met and decided on the following statement: We are thankful for the dialogue that has taken place and welcome the honest but gracious expression of difference that is reflected in the final statement. As the concluding paragraphs state, we continue to respect those who disagree with our view of Scripture. We wish to stress, however, that the security of our respective positions depends on faithfulness to Scripture, rather than on any political need to accommodate one another within the structures of the institutional Church".

During the course of these consultations, as the issues of male headship and female submission have been explored, more fundamental questions have arisen about the Son's submission to the Father within the Trinity. Since such serious issues about the doctrine of God have emerged, the Reform Council has agreed that a fresh publication should be produced on the doctrine of the Trinity. We hope to produce this during the course of 2011. 

Reforming Reform

There was a strong feeling at the Council that more needed to be done to secure a greater sense of involvement amongst our members, particularly as such challenging times lie ahead. As a result, it was agreed that new arrangements should be put in place which gave a time limit to service both on the Council and the Steering Committee; that younger people should be asked to serve on these bodies; that there should be greater regional representation; that more arrangements should be made to present issues at regional level; and lastly that we should generate more active support for women in ministry within the Reform network. These decisions will be considered at the next meeting of the Steering Committee in February and proposals made for changes.

Featured Article by Lisa Nolland on religious liberty and the sexual orientation regulations.

This is an article that is designed to be used in parish magazines. It highlights the case of Peter and Hazelmary Bull who were ordered to pay £3600 damages because they refused a double bed to two gay men at their B & B; urges Christians to recognise the seriousness of the wider situation; provides an action plan. The article is on the Reform web site.

Please note the dates for our next National Conference. It will be held at High Leigh on 18th & 19th October 2011.

The Council of Reform met on March 9th and considered the statement that came out of the Reform / Awesome dialogue, which is provided below. The Council made the following statement: 

We are thankful for the dialogue that has taken place and welcome the honest but gracious expression of difference that is reflected in the final statement. As the concluding paragraphs state, we continue to respect those who disagree with our view of Scripture. We wish to stress, however, that the security of our respective positions depends on faithfulness to Scripture, rather than on any political need to accommodate one another within the structures of the institutional Church

Statement Jan 2011 

On Thursday, 6^th January 2011, the Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair chaired a fourth and, at this stage, final meeting of representatives from AWESOME and Reform, again joined by a number of invited theological consultants. This followed an initial discussion between AWESOME and Reform in 2009 and consultations in January and July 2010, both of which issued joint statements which are on the groups' websites. This final meeting considered women, ministry and ordination in the Pastoral Epistles, comparison between discussion of women and leadership and wider debates on homosexuality, hermeneutical and systematic questions raised by our study of the various texts, and the respective needs and desires of the two groups.

In the light of this and our previous discussions it is clear to us that our ongoing differences are not only in relation to the exegesis of the specific biblical texts where we have focussed our studies. Further areas which have arisen in our conversations and which we believe require ongoing discussion among evangelicals include:

1. The effect on biblical interpretation of different understandings of the relationship between exegesis of specific texts in their original contexts, wider biblical theology, and the role of doctrine and systematic theology
2. The form and significance of creation order in relation to being made male and female, especially as revealed in Genesis 2 and later biblical appeals to it.
3. The doctrine of the Trinity, in particular whether or not language of submission and obedience is to be used for the eternal intra-Trinitarian relationship of the Son to the Father and the significance of any such order within the Trinity for the ordering of relationships between men and women in the church and husband and wife in marriage
4. The relationship between submission and obedience and whether there is a universal Christ-like mutual submission among Christians or a specific submission of wives to husbands whose position as head is to be understood in terms of Christ-like authority
5. The connection between any ordering in relationship between husband and wife and any ordering of men and women within the ministries and offices of the church
6. The nature of episcopal jurisdiction and the provision therefore required for evangelicals opposed to women bishops when women become bishops

Although this particular process has now reached its end, we hope that it will mark the start of wider, ongoing discussion among Anglican evangelicals on the various issues which we have considered together.  In order to resource this we will endeavour to make available on both our websites all the papers prepared and discussed at each of the three consultations.

We have become aware how limited dialogue in this area has been among evangelicals for many years and some of the problems of misunderstanding and distrust that have arisen as a result. Despite our sometimes strong disagreements, our conversations in the context of the study of Scripture and prayer have been marked by growing friendship, respect and understanding.  We pray these qualities will develop and deepen more widely among evangelicals and within the Church of England as it considers legislation relating to women bishops.

Across our different understandings of Scripture's teaching and divergent views on women presbyters and bishops we reaffirm that we want to recognise each other as fellow evangelicals and Anglicans. We see in each other a genuine desire to understand and be faithful to the Scriptures and their teaching about men and women. We therefore reject the view that our differences are to be explained in terms of either misogyny and cultural conservatism or secular feminism and cultural conformity. We believe evangelicals need to beware and repent of elevating exegetical disagreements in such a way as to deny Christian charity.

In the light of this mutual recognition, and reaffirming our initial commitments to ongoing reflection in a number of areas, we commit ourselves across our varied ministries and across our differences on women presbyters and bishops

• to sustain each other in prayer
• to work for charitable best practice in all our relationships and discussions
• to recognise and nurture the gifts of all fellow evangelicals, both male and female,. 

In particular

 (1) We believe that those who hold women presbyters and bishops are developments contrary to Scripture deserve a supported, secure and respected place among evangelicals and in the wider Church of England. 

(2) We believe that those who welcome these developments as faithful to Scripture, particularly those women serving in church leadership, deserve a supported, secure and respected place among evangelicals and in the wider Church of England. 

We recognise, however, two main challenges in discerning the practical implications of the full implementation of these commitments.  

1. We recognise that evangelicals supporting women presbyters and bishops cannot welcome proposals that deny their conviction that Scripture welcomes and authorises women in all forms of ministry on the same basis as men.
2. We recognise that evangelicals opposing women presbyters and bishops cannot act in a manner that denies their conviction that Scripture defines women's ministry as distinctive from men's.

As a result, we believe that more work urgently needs to be done in order to understand and address these challenges.  We commit ourselves and the various wider networks of which we are part to further reflection and action. We are considering whether and how we may initiate a new stage in our own discussions and we hope CEEC will support the commitments we have made and enable wider consultation and discussion about their implementation.

Convenors:

David Banting - Reform

Lis Goddard - AWESOME

General Synod Elections

This newsletter comes with great thanks to everybody who made special efforts to get members elected to General Synod last month. Our thanks should also go to those who spent a lot of time and effort on their candidacy but didn't in the end get elected. It was a great encouragement to see a good number putting their shoulders to this particular wheel. In the event, we think that over 31 members of Reform were elected - a big increase over the number at the last General Synod - and therefore a real cause for rejoicing. Overall, the new Synod seems to have become more conservative. Initial analysis of the results showed that the total number of those who are likely to oppose the legislative proposals on women bishops unless there is better provision for opponents, would be sufficient to block their eventual approval.

Women Bishops

Despite this success, there is no room for complacency. In 1993, when the vote was taken on the ordination of women to the presbyterate, a few changed their minds at the last minute and the Measure was approved. The same could happen in 2012 when the vote on women bishops is taken. This means that we must continue to press for the draft legislation to be altered before that time. The only route left for this to happen is for the House of Bishops to amend the proposals before they go back to the General Synod. If this is to be achieved, we need to take action in our own Dioceses. It is very important that our representatives attend diocesan and deanery synods when the draft Measure comes to be discussed. Although nearly all such Synods will approve the draft legislation, we need to press for a ‘Following Motion' to be passed by our Diocesan Synods, which expresses concern over the inadequacy of the present proposals. If enough Dioceses pass a following motion, then the House of Bishops will be under great pressure to amend the legislative proposals before they go for final approval to the General Synod in 2012.

The Church of England Evangelical Council has devised a form of words for such a following motion. It reads:
This synod:

1. Desires that all faithful Anglicans remain and thrive together in the Church of England; and therefore
2. Calls upon the House of Bishops to bring forward amendments to the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure to ensure that those unable on theological grounds to accept the ministry of women bishops are able to receive episcopal oversight from a bishop with authority (ie ordinary jurisdiction) conferred by the Measure rather than by delegation from a Diocesan Bishop.

Formation of a Society

Those of you who attended our National Conference last month will know that the idea of forming a religious ‘Society' within the Church of England is occupying a lot of our attention at the moment. Normally such a thought would scarcely even occur to us. However, we face such a challenge to our evangelical ministry both at home (over women bishops and commitment to the authority of the Bible) and more widely within the Communion (over issues of sexuality) that, as I said at the conference, we may need to find new ways of organising ourselves if the ministry of our churches is to flourish in the future. The idea itself has emerged in several different ways:

1. As a way of providing Episcopal support and encouragement for orthodox Anglicans in this country whose communion within the Church of England is either impaired or non-existent. It may also provide a clear way of identifying those who wish to distance themselves from TEC in the USA and declare their communion with those provinces which are clearly orthodox (eg such as those represented at GAFCON). This is being pursued by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.
2. As a way of presenting the House of Bishops with a solution to the dilemma over women bishops. The proposal is that the draft Measure be amended to give the bishops of a Society the jurisdictional power to operate in key areas of concern (eg selection for ordination and appointments). Parishes covered by such a Society would be under male Episcopal oversight, but still remain within the Church of England.
3. As a response by traditional catholics to their declared need for ‘sacramental assurance' when women bishops are introduced (ie. the assurance that what they believe happens during the performance of a sacrament is genuinely happening because those presiding are properly ordained).
4. As a proposal from the Bishop of London as part of his response to the needs of those who hitherto came under the oversight of the Bishop of Fulham. The Bishop of Fulham has recently announced his intention of joining the Roman Catholic ‘Ordinariate'. The Bishop of London said that such a Society might serve "those already identified as 'Fulham Clergy and Parishes' and ... others, whatever their position on the churchmanship spectrum, who are loyal to the Church of England and share similar concerns about its theological direction alongside a commitment to growth in co-operation with the majority in the Church who support the consecration of women to the episcopate."

Clearly there is a lot of scope for confusion here, but there does seem to be a gathering consensus that the formation of a Society or Societies might provide a solution to some of the problems we currently face. At the end of the Reform Conference, a vote was taken to check that members felt that it was right to engage positively with the ideas. Although there was some hesitation because the ideas themselves have not been fully developed, and we didn't have a formal resolution, there was clear support for pursuing them. As a result, I am actively seeking to discuss all these proposals with the different groups involved. When the Reform Council has its residential meeting at Whirlow in December, we shall spend some of that time meeting the Council of the Church Society to examine the emerging proposals.

Postscript.

In conversation with Rod Thomas about the recent General Synod, Rod said:
'the vote on the Anglican Covenant might be a straw in the wind indicating that this GS not only has more Reform members than before but that the General Synod as a whole may take a more orthodox position than the previous one. Even with little confidence in the Anglican Covenant dealing with splits in the Anglican Communion over sexuality issues, nevertheless the fact that liberals spoke so strongly against it and yet were so comprehensively defeated is an encouraging sign.'

Speaking at the network's annual conference yesterday, attended by over 170 members, Revd Rod Thomas, the Reform chairman, said: "This is a very positive move not just for us, but for the wider church. The creation of a society can both provide a model of how the church can change to become more focused on mission, not maintenance, and a way forward through the dilemma it faces over women bishops.

"Reform members are involved in innovative ways of reaching into local communities with the good news of Jesus Christ. Many are in churches with a good number of younger men and women being trained for future gospel work. We have a mission-focus which brings health and life that is good for the wider church, and a religious society would enable us to continue that focus.

"In light of the recent results of elections to General Synod, our proposal takes on even greater weight," he added.

Revd Thomas revealed to the conference that analysis of the election results showed that over one third of the house of laity and just one member short of a third of the house of clergy would now vote against women bishops unless changes were made to the draft legislation. These figures are critical, as the legislation requires a two-thirds majority across all three voting houses (bishops, clergy, laity). If such a majority is not achieved in just one of the three houses, then the whole legislation would fail and have to be re-visited.

Revd Thomas said: "The recent elections provided the first real opportunity for grass-roots members of the Church of England to have their say on women bishops. There are many who remain firmly opposed to the idea, because the Bible says that there should be different roles for men and women both in the family and the church.  For them the current proposals provide no firm guarantees, and therefore are completely inadequate. So there is now a real incentive to find a way of making appropriate provision, otherwise the whole legislation could fail. A religious society with a clear statutory role has not been fully considered, and could provide a way through."

Although some senior figures within the church are known to be broadly supportive of the creation of a religious society, Revd Thomas said that there is "a lot of detail to be worked out" as to the exact way such a society would operate, but reckoned that within 6-12 months the framework could be clear.
 
-          Ends -
 
Editors note:
Evangelical and Catholic groups on General Synod have swapped lists of candidates and analysed the results. The analysis shows that in the House of Clergy, 66 Clergy would block the current legislation being sent down to the diocese,  (i.e.32.10%) and 77 laity  would block the current legislation being sent down to the diocese (35.46%). Only 34% is needed to block the legislation when it returns from the dioceses.  So in the house of laity a blocking minority already exists and in the house of clergy only a further 1.81% is needed, just one person. 
 
Reform has over 1,700 members, of whom more than 350 are ordained clergy.

‘This book is not only a useful commentary on the foundational chapters of God’s biblical revelation, but also an excellent model of serious reading, study and interpretation of the Bible’ Dr Peter Adam Principal of Ridley College Melbourne

‘The book should be in the library of any preacher who wishes to make these passages come alive for his congregation.' Dr Carl Trueman
‘This is a refreshing and much needed book I commend it wholeheartedly’ Richard Cunningham UCCF

Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, writes:

The General Synod

At the General Synod's meeting in York earlier this month, I moved an amendment to the proposed measure on women bishops which, had it passed, would have enabled parishes to opt for a ‘complementary bishop' when it came to key issues like selecting ordinands for training, disciplining clergy and appointing incumbents. There was a good debate but the amendment was lost in the subsequent vote. The voting figures were:
               For            Against 
Bishops     10                 28
Clergy      52                124
Laity         73               118

These figures are significant because they show that more than 1/3rd of the House of Laity felt the present draft Measure to be in need of major revision.

The Archbishops of York and Canterbury put forward their own amendment. Although it did not go as far as our preferred option, it was nevertheless something that would have been very helpful for us had it passed. The amendment would have made it clear that when parishes opted out of having a woman bishop, the resulting male episcopal oversight wouldn't be ‘delegated' by her but would operate by statutory right. A majority of General Synod voted in favour of this amendment (216 to 191) but it fell because it didn't get a majority in each House. The House of Clergy voted against it by 90 to 85 with 5 abstentions.

The result is that the draft Measure will now go round all the Dioceses for consultation before coming back to the General Synod for final approval sometime in 2012. As it has emerged from the General Synod, the draft measure requires every diocese to devise a scheme for female diocesan bishops to delegate certain functions to a complementary bishop in order to provide for those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of women bishops. In doing so they must have regard to the Code of Practice. Exactly what might result from this, however, will vary from one diocese to another.

My Assessment

Any legislation which provides for a woman bishop to ‘delegate' her functions is a far cry from the exercise of male headship that we believe should characterise episcopal leadership. However, what makes the situation much worse is the fact that there can be no certainty about how much oversight a complementary bishop might be allowed to exercise. The Code of Practice (not yet drafted) might provide for all sorts of functions to be passed to such a bishop but diocesan schemes won't be required to act on this: all they will have to do is to take the Code into account. This leaves a great deal of uncertainty. There is also the likelihood that over time, diocesan schemes would become more restrictive as people became more intolerant of those taking a stand on the Bible's teaching.

That said, this is no time to lose heart. There is still much that can be done as is outlined below. In all this we need to keep stressing:

1. Our argument is not against equality or justice. It stems from the Bible's teaching about how to organise our churches and families in ways that help people to understand God's love. Male headship of churches is not about authoritarian leadership but self-sacrificing service, thus revealing something of God's character. Similarly, female ministry should help all of us understand the nature of discipleship better.
2. The present draft measure is unsatisfactory and unless it is amended it is unlikely to secure final approval. All the voting figures from this General Synod show that it is unlikely to achieve a 2/3rd majority in each House - the majority required for new legislation. If people don't want this issue to drag on for another five years, the draft measure needs to be substantially amended.

What Do We Do Now?

There are steps we need to take in both the short-term and the long-term.

Short-Term

1. We must do everything we can to put up candidates for the current election to the General Synod so that we can preserve our present ability to block this legislation. If we don't do that, we will never get the concessions we need. If you can play your part in this please telephone your Diocesan Office now and ask for an application form to stand as a candidate.
2. Secondly, we must really pull the stops out in our various dioceses. This means:

Deanery Synod Reps. Make sure a resolution is passed on to the diocese saying that the legislation needs to be changed to allow a greater sense of security to people who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of women bishops.

Diocesan Synod Reps. Urge your synod to pass a ‘Following Motion' if they decide to vote in favour of the legislation. This motion should ask for changes to be made so that ‘traditionalists' don't feel excluded. If enough dioceses pass Following Motions, the House of Bishops will be able to introduce changes to the draft legislation before it comes back to the General Synod.

Long-Term

If the draft measure is eventually approved in something like its present form, the clearest warning bells will be ringing for us. It may be that we will be able to make use of arrangements under the Code of Practice but at the very least it seems likely that some of our best young men will be put off offering themselves for the ordained ministry in the Church of England. If that happens - if the tap is turned off - then new incumbents for our churches will be harder and harder to come by and the future of our churches will be called into question.

Our response to this must be twofold:

1. We must encourage people to keep offering themselves for the ordained ministry for as long as it is possible. Hopefully they will be able to have a life-time of service in the Church of England. But if not, they will be no worse off when they make a move than if they had never entered. This will particularly be the case if we are able to use the time now available to us to forge closer links between our churches.
2. We must forge closer links with one another. As the future looks increasingly uncertain, we need to bring the issues to our congregations now and then get PCC backing to the idea of linking up with other like-minded churches in a close fellowship. If more difficult times lie ahead, we need to support one another.

There are two main problems with this measure as it stands.
First the provisions made for those who cannot in conscience accept the oversight of a female bishop are inadequate. This measure does not provide a secure future for our ministry within the Church of England.
Second we think that given the voting patterns we saw this time, unless the Dioceses recommend some significant changes, we will very likely see this voted down at the 2012 General Synod.
The positive response to the Archbishops' own amendment shows that there are still options available which have not yet been fully explored and which could give Reform members and others adequate provision. We want to see these explored and will seek discussions to ensure they are.

Reform was established in 1993 and is a network of churches and individuals within the Church of England. Current individual membership is around 1,700, in addition to 35 member churches. More than 350 ordained clergy are Reform members.

drafted July 2010

On Thursday, July 8^th, the Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair chaired a third meeting of representatives from AWESOME and Reform, again joined by a number of theological consultants as guests. We first met informally in September 2009 and then full-on in January 2010 as evangelicals to consider again the Biblical texts that lie behind the current  debates  on gender and roles in the Church of England. The first Statement issued at that time was part of the stimulus for the C of E Evangelical Council  (CEEC) to convene a meeting on Monday, June 21^st, between some seventeen evangelical Anglican networks, organisations and institutions to consider and coordinate evangelical responses to the issue and contribution to the General Synod debate in July on the legislation for Women Bishops. We believed that, parallel to our Biblical and theological consultation, there needed to be a consultation on the political (ie Synodical) and pastoral (ie ministerial and back in the parishes) dimensions to this debate. Evangelicals need to be engaging with each other, especially if we appear to differ on these issues of the day, to understand each other better and to model to the wider Church how to engage with differences and maintain unity and charity.

In January the texts under discussion were Genesis 2-3  and 1 Timothy 2, with a sweep through Luke 24, John 20 and Acts 18. We found, as did CEEC on June 21^st, that we had not heard and engaged with the variety of views for some time and that it was good to meet and listen to the understandings and feelings of others. This third meeting of AWESOME and Reform decided to look again at 1 Corinthians 11 and Ephesians 5/1 Corinthians 7 and see what they taught of the Trinity and marriage respectively and what relevance they might have to gender roles in the Church. As in the previous consultation, papers were written and circulated in advance and it is hoped that they may in due course be edited to appear on our two web-sites.

The conversation was extensive, open and honest. It continued to be illuminating for better understanding of each other and a growth in mutual respect. We accepted that our discussions remain incomplete. We need to meet a fourth time to explore the Pastoral letters again for our understanding of order and ordination in the Church, and to grapple with whether there is any relation between this debate on gender and roles and that on issues of human sexuality which continue to convulse the C of E. We honestly recognised that we are still in a position of ‘agreeing to disagree' on a number of substantive points and for that reason too needed a fourth meeting if we were to add anything further to our initial Statement. However, we are very clear and grateful for the growth in friendship and respect that we have discovered as we have met to pray and converse.

This next meeting is likely to be after the elections to the next General Synod and, of course, in the light of the decision of the July General Synod, but we intend it to be before the February 2011 GS. Our plan is for the papers eventually to be on our two web-sites. The CEEC consultation dramatically revealed how evangelical Anglicans had stopped meeting to talk these issues through. We, therefore, offer these ongoing discussions between Reform and AWESOME as a model and stimulus to others to engage or re-engage similarly.

Chair:  The Bishop of Birkenhead

Awesome: Lis Goddard, Rosie Ward, and Julia Murphy, with Emma Ineson and Andrew Goddard

Reform: David Banting, Carrie Sandom and Nigel Atkinson, with Mike Ovey and Roger Beckwith

Drafted July 2010, published and circulated in October 2010

Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, writes:

Women Bishops

Thank you to everybody who has engaged with this issue over the past couple of months either by signing the incumbents' letter to the House of Bishops or by writing directly to individual bishops. A considerable number of bishops have written back to me - as I know they have to many in our network - to say they understand our concerns and will do their best for us. Just before the House of Bishops met in May, the General Synod's Revision Committee published its legislative proposals and we immediately sent a commentary on them to the bishops. You can read this on our web site - http://www.reform.org.uk/pages/newsletters/reformresponse.php

What are we achieving with all this effort? The main things are that we are creating a greater awareness of our view that God's Word prevents us from accepting female headship, and we are strengthening the hand of those who argue that our convictions must not simply be swept aside.

So what is going to happen next? The key likely developments are these:

1. We and others will put forward amendments to the proposed legislation at the forthcoming July Synod. Despite considerable support among bishops and within Synod generally, we cannot be at all confident about the outcome. We therefore need to write now to the clergy and lay members of the General Synod who have been elected from our dioceses to urge them to back amendments which make ‘a safe space' (the Archbishop of Canterbury's words) for our ministry within the Church. Finding the names and addresses of clergy and lay representatives from your diocese is not particularly straightforward as they are not listed on any web site. They will be listed in the diocesan directory and every parish church has one of these.
2. The legislative proposals will then go to Diocesan Synods for consideration. This will provide a further opportunity for action by members who have been elected to those Synods. We must argue that despite a strong desire within the Church not to pass legislation which feels like an ejection to so many people, the General Synod has been unable to come up with a coherent solution. The only way to rescue the situation is to vote against the proposals so that a proper new start can be made. If a majority of Diocesan Synods vote against the legislation, it cannot continue.
3. Assuming the draft legislation does continue, once it has completed its way through the General Synod it is finally open to the House of Bishops to introduce amendments. The more we can maintain concern among bishops over the next year, the more likely it is that they will feel compelled to act at that late stage.
4. After this, the draft legislation would come back to the General Synod for final approval. Since a two thirds majority is required in all of the three ‘Houses' (i.e.. House of Laity, House of Clergy and House of Bishops), it is obviously vital that we get as many members of Reform elected to General Synod later this year as possible so that the required majority cannot be achieved in one or other of the Houses. At the moment, the best prospect seems to be in the House of Laity - so do please telephone me or Johnny Lockwood in the Reform office if you would be prepared to consider that.

Anglican Links

Developments both here and in the USA continue to ring warning bells and encourage us to develop our links with orthodox Anglicans worldwide. The most recent domestic warning bell was when Tom Butler, until recently the Bishop of Southwark, implied in a Radio 4 ‘Thought for the Day' that the time had come for the Church to change its mind on gay partnerships. In the USA, the Episcopal Church (TEC) has confirmed its non-biblical, liberal trajectory by electing Mary Glasspool, a woman in a lesbian relationship, as the Bishop of Los Angeles.Our response to developments such as these has been to play an active part in the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) which came out of the 2008 GAFCON conference in Jerusalem. I sit on the UK Steering Committee as do other members of the Reform Council. At the moment, FCA (UK) is focussing on four things:

1. Developing contacts with ACNA (the principal orthodox grouping of USA Anglican churches which separated from TEC). In particular, following the good General Synod debate last February, we are hoping that churches here will invite ACNA clergy to come to preach. If you are interested in this, please contact Chris Sugden, csugden@anglican-mainstream.net or 36 North Hinksey Village, Oxford, OX2 0NA.
2. Alerting the GAFCON Primates to what is going on in the UK. This means both exposing the liberalising trend and explaining how many of our churches already need help in getting their men ordained for teaching ministries, since they are either refused recognition by the Church of England or are in impaired communion with their bishops. Most recently Paul Perkin spoke to the Primates at their meeting last April.
3. Engaging in talks with a small panel of bishops set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury following FCA requests to meet him. Our purpose is to do everything we can to find an English solution to the problems we increasingly face over obtaining faithful, biblical oversight.
4. Formulating a clear picture of how orthodox Anglicans in this country can move forward together in encouraging each other in gospel work, in fellowship with faithful Anglicans worldwide, and with the help and encouragement of the GAFCON Primates.

He continued: "It is very disappointing that the Committee, despite a lengthy discussion of the implications of these decisions, has voted to give no adequate statutory provision to those who cannot accept the oversight of a female bishop on Scriptural grounds.

"We very much hope that amendments will be made at July's General Synod so that we are able to vote on a piece of legislation that seeks to include rather than exclude our ministries now and in the future."

As evidence of the strength of feeling concerning this innovation, 100 Reform clergy have signed a letter sent to every bishop in advance of the House of Bishops' meeting next week. This follows a similar letter signed by 50 of the clergy sent in February, and sets out why "the consecration of women bishops would be a mistake and would raise for us great difficulties of conscience and practice, as well as being wrong for our Church as a whole."

A major practical consequence highlighted by the letter is the pipeline of future ordinands. The 100 churches represented by the letter have sent 286 men into ministry in the Church of England over the last 10 years, of whom 120 were under the age of 30. But these numbers would be seriously squeezed in the future, with Reform clergy encouraging young men to undertake training for ministries outside the Church of England's formal structures, although within an Anglican tradition. 
-Ends-

As active clergy within the Church of England we are writing to say why, in our view, the consecration of women bishops would be a mistake and would raise for us great difficulties of conscience and practice, as well as being wrong for our Church as a whole.

Our concern is derived from Scripture. It seems to us that the Apostolic teaching on male headship in church and family (as in 1 Corinthians 11-14, Ephesians 5, 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Peter 3) is clear enough in its principles: overall leadership in the church is to be exercised by men. This is not cultural, but a creation ordinance (1Tim 2:13) and rooted in the nature of God (1Cor 11:3). The fierce debates that have surrounded the gender issue over the last twenty years or so have stimulated much careful analysis of these texts, and have only served to show that mainstream translations such as NRSV, NIV, REB and ESV are correct in their translation and may (and should) be taken as they stand.
It is, of course, right to say that these passages in Paul and Peter have a particular cultural setting; but to make them prisoners of that culture and thus unable to challenge our culture, seems to us implicitly to deny the authority of Scripture. It is surely the genius of the New Testament that what was spoken in a particular context is at one and the same time also God's word to us. Far from being a prisoner of his culture, Paul is not afraid to challenge it, warning his readers "not to live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking" (Eph 4:17). Why, then, is it assumed he will uncritically reflect their values on this issue of gender?

Therefore we think the historic, reasoned reflection of Christians down the ages (including the historic position of the Church of England) has been correct; we fear that the current pressure to overturn it comes not for biblical reasons but because we are losing our nerve in the face of pressure from society.

In saying all this, we emphasise again that we are NOT for a moment saying women are not equal to men, or are less valuable or are inferior and nor does the Scripture. This, in our experience, is the point which we find hardest to communicate, since the world about us equates value with power. Just by making this point we are thought to be "anti-women". On the contrary, it is both possible and right to affirm that we are "all one in Christ Jesus", while at the same time affirming different roles. For the Bible separates roles and worth: our Lord Jesus himself submitted to the Father, but is, of course, no less God than he is.

There are, of course, questions about how precisely to honour this teaching in some details of the life of our churches today, but few would doubt, surely, that the office of bishop is indeed very much a leadership function!
In our own churches we are glad to teach these passages of Scripture as they stand, and include a ‘complementary' view of gender roles in our teaching on marriage, family life and church. Gently ordering our shared life this way is, in our view, vital to our witness to a Christian understanding of family life. Our churches contain many members - and very many women as well as men - who are glad of this teaching, which is all the more important in a world which is so confused about gender roles and sexuality in general. In such a context, the oversight of a woman bishop would be enormously hard to explain, however great her merits in other regards. Again and again, in our youth groups, at marriage preparation and whenever covering the relevant passages in homegroups and from the pulpit, we would find ourselves having to answer people's question, "Why does the Church of England go against this?" This would fester on for as long as people have Bibles in their hands.

In the end, this is an issue about our view of Holy Scripture, and this is why it matters to us so much, as ministers of the Word.

As matters stand, it seems likely that General Synod will be invited to vote on legislative proposals that threaten our ministries. We fear this will significantly impact how we function as parish churches, as part of our Diocesan communities and not least as partners in the mission of ministry of the Church of England. An illustration of the practical problems we will face should a Measure fail to provide adequate safeguards, can be seen with future ordinands. At the moment we are encouraging young men into the ordained ministry in the knowledge that they cannot be discriminated against if they hold convictions about male headship. While this remains the case, we have encouraged them to believe that there is a worthwhile future for their ministries in the Church of England. However, we will be unable to do this if inadequately protective legislation is passed. The issue that will then arise is how to encourage these men to develop their ministries if they cannot do so within the formal structures of the Church of England. The answer must be to encourage them to undertake training for ministries outside those formal structures, although hopefully still within an Anglican tradition. We will, of course, have to help them with the financing of their training.

Many of our congregation will inevitably start asking questions about their own place within the Church of England if they see us encouraging people into training for alternative ministries. This will come into sharp focus when the issue of succession to an incumbency arises. Since we cannot take an oath of canonical obedience to a female bishop, we are unlikely to be appointed to future incumbencies. We see nothing but difficulty facing us. In these circumstances we will have to discuss with our congregations how to foster and protect the ministry they wish to receive. This may well generate a need for the creation of new independent charitable trusts whose purpose will be to finance our future ministries, when the need arises.
These twin developments will need to be financed from current congregational giving. This will inevitably put a severe strain on our ability to continue to contribute financially to Diocesan funds. Where we are unable to contribute as before some will see this as a form of retaliation. However, that could not be further from the truth. We long to contribute to the well being of the Church of England. Over the last ten years we have encouraged 286 people into the ordained ministry, 120 of whom were under the age of 30. We have together contributed a gross figure of over £38 million to Diocesan funds.

Finally, for those of us ordained since 1992, our understanding, in good faith, was that proper legal provision would be made for those who did not agree that women should have the overall leadership of a church (Resolution B, etc). It seems to us a matter of simple integrity that Synod should now keep its word to us in this and not force us down a road none of us wish to tread.

Yours in Christ,
Rev'd Rod Thomas St Matthew's Elburton, Exeter 
(Chairman of Reform)

Rev'd Michael Andreyev St Peters Stapenhill, Derby
Rev'd Canon George Ansah Emmanuel, West Dulwich, Southwark
Rev'd Nigel Atkinson St John's Knutsford, Chester
Rev'd Simon Austen St John's and St Peter's, Carlisle
Rev'd Martin Bailey All Saints Riseley, Peterborough
Rev'd Iain Baker St Thomas Kidsgrove, Lichfield
Rev'd Hugh Balfour Christ Church Peckham, Southwark
Rev'd David Banting St Peter's Harold Wood, Chelmsford
Rev'd Neil Barber St Giles Normanton, Derby
Rev'd Robert Bashford St James Westgate,Canterbury
Rev'd Paul Baxendale St James Burton-in-Kendal and Holy Trinity Holme, Carlisle
Rev'd John Birchall Christ Church Surbiton Hill, Southwark
Rev'd David Bourne St Mary's Hailsham, Chichester
Rev'd Matthew Brailsford All Saints North Ferriby, York
Rev'd Peter Breckwoldt Moulton Parish Church, Peterborough
Rev'd Iain Broomfield Christ Church Bromley, Rochester
Rev'd Mark Burkill Christ Church Leytonstone, Chelmsford
Rev'd Tony Cannon Kingham & Daylesford, Churchill with Sarsden, Oxford
Rev'd Jim Charles St Peter's Bexleyheath, Rochester
Rev'd John Cheeseman Holy Trinity Eastbourne, Chichester
Rev'd Philip Coekin United Benefice of Emmanuel, Hastings, Chichester
Rev'd Edward Coombs St Paul's Banbury, Oxford
Rev'd David Craven Croglin, Carlisle 
Rev'd Tim Crook St Mary Magdalene South Bersted Chichester
Rev'd Dr Roger Curl St Mary's Fulham
Rev'd Paul Darlington Holy Trinity, Oswestry, Lichfield
Rev'd Canon Tim Davies Christ Church Central, Sheffield
Rev'd CJ Davis St NicholasTooting, Southwark
Rev'd Robert Desics St Timothy's Hemlington, York
Rev'd Charles Dobbie Holy Trinity Lyonsdown, St Albans
Rev'd Steve Donald St John the Evangelist, Carlisle
Rev'd William Eardley St Withun's Holmesfield, Derby
Rev'd Nigel Elliott St Mary's Wombwell, Sheffield
Rev'd Jonny Elvin Trinity Church Exeter, Exeter
Rev'd Richard Espin-Bradley St Luke's Wolverhampton, Birmingham 
Rev'd Dick Farr St John's Tunbridge Wells, Rochester
Rev'd Jonathan Fletcher Emmanuel Church Wimbledon, Southwark
Rev'd John Fulton Hepworth, Hinderclay, Thelnetham & Wattisfield, St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Rev'd Simon Gales St John s Lindow, Chester
Rev'd David Gibb St Andrews Leyland, Blackburn
Rev'd Ian Gilmour Holy Redeemer Streatham, Southwark
Rev'd John Hamilton St Andrew's, Sherborne St John
Rev'd Graham Hamilton St Peters Bovey Tracey, Exeter
Rev'd Tim Hanson Christ Church, Winsford, Chester Diocese
Rev'd David Harris St Leonards, Exeter
Rev'd Clive Hawkins St Mary's Eastrop, Winchester
Rev'd Chris Hobbs St Stephen's Selly Park, Birmingham
Rev'd Christopher Hobbs St Thomas Oakwood, London
Rev'd Jon Hobbs Maresfield & Nutley Churches
Rev'd Richard Hopkins Sileby, Cossington & Seagrave, Diocese of Leicester.
Rev'd James Hunt Blessed Mary and St Peter's Bishops Waltham, Portsmouth
Rev'd Pete Jackson St Andrew's Kendray, Sheffield
Rev'd Charles Jefferson St James Thrapston, Peterborough
Rev'd Jonathan Juckes St Andrew's Kirk Ella, York
Rev'd Jeremy Leffler St Ambrose Widnes, Liverpool
Rev'd James Leggett St James, Ryde, Portsmouth
Rev'd Ian Lewis St Bartholomews, Bath
Rev'd Robert Lovatt All Saints Eastbourne, Chichester
Rev'd Mark Lucas St John's Church Polegate, Chichester
Rev' d Rupert Mackay St Paul's Hadley Wood, London 
Rev'd Angus MacLeay St Nicholas Sevenoaks, Rochester
Rev'd Mark Madeley St John the Baptist Coley, Wakefield
Rev'd Julian Mann Oughtibridge Parish Church, Sheffield
Rev'd Bob Mason St James' Poole, Salisbury
Rev'd David Mathers St Peter Thurston, St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Rev'd Dafydd Meirion-Jones All Saints Preston, Blackburn
Rev'd Steve Midgley Christ Church Cambridge, Ely 
Rev'd Jonathan Milton-Thomson St Andrew's Church Livesey, Blackburn
Rev'd Ed Moll St George's Wembdon, Bath
Rev'd Darren Moore St Catherine's Tranmere, Chester
Rev'd Russell Moul St Paul's Harold Hill, Chelmsford
Rev'd Ken Moulder St Oswalds, Newcastle
Rev'd Robert Munro Cheadle Parish Church, Chester
Rev'd Mike Neville All Saints Fordham & Eight Ash Green
Rev'd Alasdair Paine Christ Church Westbourne, Winchester
Rev'd Paul Perkin St Mark's Battersea Rise, Southwark 
Rev'd Mark Pickles St Ackmund's Duffield, Derby
Rev'd Frank Price St Matthew's Cambridge
Rev'd Andrew Raynes Christ Church, Blackburn
Rev'd Mike Reith Dagenham Parish Church, Chelmsford
Rev'd Vaughan Roberts St Ebbe's, Oxford
Rev'd Simon Scott All Saints Little Shelford, Cambridge
Rev'd Robin Sewell St Paul's Braintree, Chelmsford
Rev'd John Simmons Christ Church Chadderton, Manchester
Rev'd Simon Smallwood St George's Dagenahm, Chelmsford
Rev'd Will Stileman St Mary's Maidenhead, Oxford
Rev'd Canon Alan Strange Holy Trinity Norwich, 
Rev'd Hugh Symes-Thomson St Peter & St Paul, Cranfield, St Albans
Rev'd William Taylor St Helen's Bishopsgate, London
Rev'd Melvin Tinker St John's Newlands, York
Rev'd Peter Tizzard Christ Church Ramsgate
Rev'd Gary Townsend Henham, Elsenham and Ugley, Chelmsford
Rev'd Alistair Tresidder St Luke's Hampstead, London
Rev'd Philip Venables St Andrew's Bebington,Chester
Rev'd Giles Walter St John's Tunbridge Wells, Rochester
Rev'd Stephen Walton St Michaels's Marbury, Chester
Rev'd Tim Ward Holy Trinity Hinkley, Leicester
Rev'd Mike Warren St Peters Tunbridge Wells, Rochester
Rev'd Gordon Warren St Anne's Limehouse, London
Rev'd Paul Whybrow St Olaf's, Truro
Rev'd Paul Williams Christ Church Fulwood, Sheffield

(The Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Rev'd Wallace Benn, also wishes to be associated with this letter)

In one way, this is not a usual Reform booklet. Since our concern is the evangelisation of the nation through a reformed Church, many of our booklets seek to explore the ways in which we can do that. By contrast, this booklet is concerned not so much with reforming the Church as with safeguarding and promoting marriage.

However, in another way, I hope this booklet will be seen as addressing an issue very much at the heart of our concerns. Marriage has huge theological, societal and personal significance. Marriage is under attack as a distinctive gift of God and it is up to Christians, as never before, to explain, promote and live out the joys and challenges of marriage. Those with the gift of singleness will, I hope, wish to join with their married brothers and sisters, in encouraging all people to see the blessings of marriage.

This booklet seeks simply to encourage us to review what we are doing through our churches to encourage and sustain marriages. It is full of examples, ideas and explanations of fresh approaches. The sheer variety of what is already going on will be a stimulus for more widespread action; the lack of consistency across churches, particularly in the area of marriage preparation, will be the challenge.

Fortunately, as we all seek to be effective in this field, there are a good many resources we can tap. We do not have to keep inventing the wheel! A large number of these resources are listed here - an invaluable guide as we plan for action.

We are publishing this booklet to coincide with Marriage Week UK. It is always good to set aside a particular time to focus on an issue, but our hope is that churches will make the promotion and sustenance of marriage a year-round matter for prayer and action.

In Praise of Marriage

by David Banting with the assistance of Clare McCaughren

The genesis of this booklet is found in Reform's Covenant document. Reform's origins lay in the debates of the 1980s and it was launched in 1993 with "A Covenant for the Evangelisation of England". It still makes excellent reading and is itself the subject of a Reform article (booklet no.20). After a clear statement of the doctrinal and confessional foundation of the Church of England and of the Reform network, the Covenant highlights topical issues of concern in areas of Christian ministry or living.

One section of the Covenant is headed "Our understanding of God's way of life for his people" and then mentions five issues. Two of them are directly relevant to marriage:

• The vital importance of monogamous life-long marriage for the care and nurture of children and the well-being of society.
• The rightness of sexual intercourse in heterosexual marriage, and the wrongness of such activity both outside it and in all its homosexual forms.

In all the debates and conflicts that are increasing over issues of human sexuality, the positive need to champion and cherish both the institution of marriage and individual marriages has received less attention than it should. This booklet attempts to avoid the negative (what we oppose or are concerned about) and affirm the positive (what we value and celebrate of God's gift and provision). We understand that God's Word does not describe human beings by their sexuality, but by their gender. Humankind is created, male and female, in the image of God, and marriage is God's gift for the hallowing and blessing of our sexual desires and for the foundation and energy of family life and society. The married relationship between husband and wife is a unique reflection and symbol of the relationship between Christ and His Church, with profound implications for the ordering and flourishing of the human and divine families.

Marriage and marriages are under enough pressures and strains as it is, at societal and personal levels, without alternatives and substitutes being actively encouraged and promoted. This booklet is a modest attempt to celebrate marriage and encourage local churches to consider how best they might not only prepare couples for marriage, but also seek to promote and champion marriage in the community and the life of our nation. I freely acknowledge the modest nature of this contribution and the limit of its scope. The returns to the questionnaire (circulated through the Reform network) indicate the fairly low opportunity and priority given to marriage ministry. There are some glorious exceptions - I think particularly of some books and courses that have recently been promoted, especially those by Nicky and Sila Lee or Simon Vibert, as well as good thinking and practice offered by Christopher Ash, Michael Lawson and J. John. But by and large marriage ministry seems mostly reactive, i.e. it responds to those who in some way approach the church to be married, rather than adopting a more pro-active, let alone go-get-‘em, approach.

To test how robust our teaching is about marriage preparation (let alone marriage promotion), may I recall an approach that I heard of from America? With a divorce rate like that of the UK (approaching 50%), one town determined to face the issue head-on. There were two elements: one, to gather all the agencies and organisations to collaborate in offering teaching and support (e.g. doctors, schools, welfare, police, counsellors, as well as churches and other voluntary groups); and second, blunt realisation in the face of statistics of 1 in 2 failure that, unless marriage preparation persuaded some couples NOT to marry (and therefore avoid the fall-out and cost of breakdown), it was probably pretty useless. How do you react to such a robust aim?! That town community saw the need to prevent disastrous marriages as part of the championing of marriage and good marriages.

By the way, I need to say at this stage that there is no such thing as a blueprint for how any one actual marriage works or looks and certainly no formula as to how best to foster marriage. This booklet aims to affirm marriage in our society and to commend its blessings and value to today's citizens.

The final trigger for a booklet on this subject has been the emergence of NATIONAL MARRIAGE WEEK and the few enthusiasts who have promoted the idea and begun to gather and disseminate resources. I will leave the Marriage Internet Resources web page to offer a further explanation of the week and its associated growing resources. I will simply relate my understanding of it here and endeavour in my local church and parish to use the opportunities it provides.

National Marriage Week was launched some seven years ago, with Prime Minister Tony Blair adding his commendation. The week has been designated as the two Sundays either side of Valentine's Day on February 14th. That began to give me a twin stimulus: first, to give some annual focus in Sunday preaching and teaching and in midweek celebration to the whole issue of marriage; and second, to galvanize the marriage preparation we were offering to those requesting to get married that year at St Peter's.

We started by offering two occasions during that week; a dinner for all those planning to get married that year and those who got married the previous year, and then some kind of public event offering insight, celebration and support of marriage. The dinner is relatively easy to set up. In the first week of the new year, we look at who has booked in to get married any time that year, and send them (and all those married in the previous 12 months - we tell them at the time of their preparation) an invitation to a dinner "In Praise of Marriage". We enjoy an excellent meal together (the couples, the staff team and the marriage preparation team). I am able to introduce the couples to whichever of the clergy will be taking their wedding and to explain our whole approach to marriage preparation. The marriage prep team introduce themselves and the four-week course they offer and the proposed dates. Finally, I offer something by way of an "after-dinner speech" to the title "In Praise of Marriage". It is usually fairly light, but aims to have some Bible and Christian inspiration and insight to set the whole project alight.

The public event has been more varied and challenging to mount successfully. It has tended to be on a weekday evening (Tues/Wed, when Small Groups usually meet) or Fri/Sat, but always avoiding Valentine's Day itself! We have been reasonably effective in getting members of our and other churches along, but less so reaching into the community. We issue invitations in our quarterly door-to-door publication, in the local press, and through whatever personal interactions we can. We have had the press present and articles in the local press occasionally.

Roughly in order to date, we have had a speaker and presentation from CARE - largely the social and political issues; an evening we ran ourselves using the Rob Parsons videos and discussions for marriage support and renewal; a dinner with Anne Atkins, who spoke after the meal on her latest book (on families) and answered questions - it could have gone on till midnight; a different evening, again in-house, but very professional, on stress in modern life, especially families, and ways of de-stressing - ending with a pampering session or two; a spell-binding evening with Andrew Cornes expounding the "Song of Songs" in his intimately personal and uniquely powerful way; and an evening with Simon Vibert promoting his approach in his book "The Diamond Marriage".

If the evening event is on Saturday, it has also enabled a visiting speaker to preach the next day - e.g. Shaun Atkins on Mark 10, Simon Vibert on Ephesians 5, etc. - which has been excellent for the congregation.

We have a long way to go, but we have made a start. National Marriage Week certainly gives us a space and a stimulus every year to time and plan how we are actively addressing Marriage Matters - teaching, educating, celebrating, campaigning, supporting, cherishing, championing. I hope this little publication will encourage and stimulate others.

This booklet offers a personal and local introduction and then a summary of ideas and suggestions gathered from ministers and churches that replied to the simple Marriage Preparation questionnaire. We received a few contributions from individuals and one of these from Mark Ashton is in appendix iv. National Marriage Week has now become Marriage Week UK (www.marriage-week.org.uk) while Ted Pratt (a member of Reform) is active in Marriage Resource (www.marriageresource.org.uk). Both web sites provide a vast wealth of material and ideas, some of which I have reproduced here. There is a concluding bibliography for books (obviously!) recommended and thought valuable, and other resources/agencies.

Go to - enjoy marriage and promote marriage and the family.

Appendix i 

Marriage Preparation Example Questionnaire

(sent out to Reform churches and clergy in 2005)

1. How many weddings do you take a year?

2. What preparation can you offer?

3. Do you have any ideas or strategy as to how to support marriage or to promote marriage 
a) in your church?
b) in your community?
c) in the public arena?

4. Do you know of National Marriage Week?
Do you support it in any way in the parish?
If so, how?

5. Do you run or are you thinking of running any events / courses to celebrate or support marriage?

6. How do you teach about marriage and relationships?

7. What other things do you do / can you think of that promote marriage
a) in the Church
b) in the community
c) in society

8. Press/Media - any stories or ideas to repeat?

9. What resources would you recommend?

10. Please be as imaginative and bold and practical as you wish in any other ideas or suggestions, comments or questions.

Appendix ii

Marriage Preparation Survey Responses

Preparing Engaged Couples for Marriage

Number of weddings taken in a year: 

All but one of the churches who responded were able to offer some form of marriage preparation, for instance through lending relevant books and materials, at least one meeting between the vicar and the engaged couples, and courses ranging from a day or an evening to several weeks. These courses are often lay-led and in the context of "home groups". One respondent also mentioned that they have had some success with encouraging the couples to attend the morning service, which all do for a few sessions, and some stay on once they are married.

Three churches replied that they used their own "home grown" marriage preparation courses.

A couple of respondents were able to go into further detail about exactly how their preparation works. The "In-House" Day at St Giles' in Derby runs as follows: first a discussion on how the Bible deals with sex and relationships between men and women. The couples are then taken through Two Ways to Live, The Marriage Service and the Five Languages of Love. Another church's course runs like this: "The main session is 3-8pm on a Sunday. We do 45 minutes on the service itself, 1 hour using Parsons' video, 30 minutes in seminars with married couples, 15 minutes for questions, 1 hour for a meal together and then 1 hour 30 minutes for the evening church service."

Some churches had very encouraging stories to share, for instance St Mark's in Southwark: "This year we prepared 30 couples through marriage preparation courses - half of them had had no previous connection with the church." St Catherine's in Tranmare, Chester have recently had two women come to faith through their marriage preparation course. Ideas and suggestions about marriage preparation from those who responded to the survey included:

• Advertising marriage preparation courses as widely as possible (for instance in doctors' surgeries, gyms etc.) and offering marriage preparation through registry offices.
• Make the most of the contact you have with non-Christians looking to get married in church, perhaps by promoting Alpha or Christianity Explored courses alongside any preparation that you do with them.
• Make attending some form of preparation a prerequisite to being married in your church - as one respondent radically suggested: "Have General Synod enact that all couples seeking Church of England marriage may be required to attend preparation at incumbent's discretion; bookings only provisional until preparation complete!"

Promoting Marriage

St Thomas', of Garrets Green in Birmingham, wrote about people's objections to marriage: "It is substantially about money. The direct and indirect costs of marriage must be reduced." To help overcome the possible financial obstacles associated with getting married, St Thomas' does the service for the £240 statutory fee and provides the music, flowers etc free of charge, with the children's club helping with the flowers.

All respondents wrote that they promote and teach about marriage and godly relationships as the theme naturally occurs in the course of Sunday preaching and at wedding services. Two churches specifically set aside time in the year to dedicate to the topic of marriage: St Mark's in Southwark does "one Sunday sermon each term, geared appropriately to couples and families in the morning, and singles and recently marrieds in the evening", while St Andrew's in Truro uses a Sunday around Valentine's Day, as well as 3 or 4 other Sundays in a year, to focus on marriage.

More suggestions for effective ways to promote marriage:

• Put up a "Bridal Exhibition" easel at the church, as a weekly visual reminder of the celebration of marriage.
• Ensure that teaching about marriage is included from the earliest age in children's and youth work.
• Include discussion about marriage in baptism preparation.
• Parenting courses run in schools and children's centres can also cover marriage issues.
• Use the resources, facts and statistics to show that a) more marriages survive than fail, and b) "Marriage is the most successful form of cohabitation yet devised."

Supporting Marriage

There are many courses, designed in a similar way to marriage preparation courses, but specifically to help couples already married. A total of 9 churches who responded run such courses, with material from Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), Alpha, Rob Parsons and Care for the Family. St George's of Ripon and Leeds offers the HTB marriage course as a follow up once couples who have been through their marriage preparation course have been married a while. St Mary's in Cheadle, Chester, advertises "Marriage Enrichment Weekend", but they also open their marriage preparation events to any couple, not just those preparing for their wedding.

Holy Trinity in Rochester replied that it was very important to be open to talking about marriage, to share yourself and your experiences in order to help and encourage others. Support between members of the congregation is vital - both Holy Trinity and St Mary's, as well as other churches, cited the importance of home groups in the role of teaching, counselling and supporting married couples. One church aims to "arrange as many ‘get togethers' as practicable, particularly for young marrieds." They also "encourage the congregation to make their chief friends in the church and love one another fervently."

Another popular way of supporting marriage was through holding celebratory events for special milestones: 10 of the churches who responded specifically mentioned the increasing popularity of renewal of vows, and big anniversary celebrations (i.e. 30, 40, 50 years).

Other ideas and suggestions include:

• Holding a "couples' evening" at church
• Gift Christian books to Christians or other receptive couples.
• Other courses not directly related to marriage (eg. parenting courses) are also helpful in strengthening it.
• Send wedding anniversary cards.

National Marriage Week

Do you know of National Marriage Week?      Do you support it in any way?

The majority of churches who do support "National Marriage Week" celebrated with special prayers during the Sunday services. St Mary's in Cheadle, Chester replied that "The main marriage service is held on the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day and the evening has a marriage/invitation theme".

Problems and Concerns

A number of churches have come across obstacles to successful marriage preparation and promotion. One church who has offered non-obligatory courses has found them to be poorly attended, "possibly because the majority of engaged couples are already co-habiting and see no difference in the relationship", and therefore no need for extra preparation. Westham Parish Church in Chichester agreed and cited the need for "a course which took into account that many couples have been living together for some time."

A few churches named such difficulties as low numbers of both young marrieds and people willing to run the courses or be a support for them. Sometimes couples live outside of the parish (using a parental address as their residence) which means they are not around for preparation.

Such difficulties also extended to running events or courses to celebrate or support marriage: the majority of churches would like to be able to do this, but regretted a lack of knowledge and resources, a scarcity of people to run the courses, too few marriages taking place, and general lack of interest in attending such events.

More than one church acknowledged that completing (or trying to complete!) this questionnaire had caused them to realise how little time and thought is often given to promoting and supporting marriage.

Appendix iii

Recommended Resources

Websites

The Reform web site has a page with all the links below and also some specific resources that can be downloaded: click here

Bristol Community Family Trust: www.bcft.co.uk
Care for the Family: www.careforthefamily.org.uk/marriage/
Marriage Preparation Questionnaire: www.foccus.org.uk
Marriage Resource: www.marriageresource.org.uk/
Two ways to live: www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/
The Jubilee Centre: www.jubilee-centre.org

Courses

Holy Trinity Brompton Marriage Preparation Course / Marriage Course (http://relationshipcentral.org)
Peter Jackson: Preparing for Marriage (www.thegoodbook.co.uk)
The FOCCUS Questionnaire (Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding and Study) from nickgulliford@btopenworld.com (highly recommended by St Mark's, Battersea Rise, but needs training to conduct it)

Books

Christopher Ash, Married for God (IVP: 2007)
Christopher Ash, Marriage: Sex in the Service of God (IVP: 2003)
James Dobson, Love for a Lifetime (Multnomah Gifts: 2007)
James Dobson, Love must be Tough (Multnomah Publishers: 2003)
J. John, Till Death Us Do Part (Philo Trust: 2004)
Michael Lawson, The Better Marriage Guide (General Publishing Co: 1999)
Nicky and Sila Lee, The Marriage Book (Alpha International: 2000)
Rob Parsons, The 60 Minute Marriage (Hodder & Stoughton: 1997)
Alexander Strauch, Men and Women: Equal Yet Different (Lewis & Roth Publishers: 1999)
Simon Vibert, The Diamond Marriage (Christian Focus Publications: 2005) 
Ed and Gaye Wheat, Intended for Pleasure: Sex Technique and Sexual Fulfilment in Christian Marriage (Scripture Union Publishing: 2000)

Articles

in New Directions (search archive here)

Appendix iv

Sabbatical Report on Marriage 
September 2000
Mark Ashton (St Andrew the Great)

This report is focussed on the general area of marriage and the family, and more specifically on marriage breakdown within the Christian community.

The Theological Framework

• God's sovereignty over His creation is mediated through the human race. And it is a task that could not be fulfilled without the creation of both man and woman. Every marriage fits into that framework. God brings a man and a woman together in marriage in order that they may be His image, filling and subduing the earth.
• We must encourage couples to change gear spiritually at marriage. This will entail their discussing and praying together about what God means them to do for Him as a couple that they could not have done when they were both still single.
• Without this wider theological perspective, our folk will not be able to understand things like the "Marriage Foundation Year" (as a time for the couple to thrash out before God what His purpose for their marriage is and how they can most effectively serve Him in their marriage). It will also help us in a biblical way to move beyond companionship in marriage. Marriage simply cannot support the emotional expectations that are heaped on it by many people today.

Pressures On Marriage

• Throughout most of human history, men and women have depended on a whole network of relationships in the wider family and community to satisfy their many emotional needs. Today we tend to depend on a single relationship to do so. It has been claimed that our culture places a greater burden of expectation on marriage than any other society at any time (Margaret Mead). Commitment is no longer enough. We are supposed to be on a perpetual interpersonal "high" in our marital relationship. But no one person can meet all the needs for intimacy and emotional support of another.
• It is necessary to establish meaning and purpose in marriage; in other words to look outside the marriage itself for the factors that can give it stability. Rodney Clapp commented, "Paradoxically, a family is enriched when it is decentred, relativized, recognized as less than an absolute".

Marriage and the Christian Life

• So, we need to help our couples establish the goal and purpose of their marriage, beyond intimacy and meeting each other's needs. They need to see it as one of God's good gifts to them (1 Cor 7:7) - and, because it is a gift of God's grace, it is, like all the rest of God's gifts, not so much for their own private benefit as for the benefit of the whole Church (1 Pet 4:10).
• Marriage is analogous with the rest of the Christian life. We persevere despite our continual and seemingly unending failures, moral lapses and falls into sin, because "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ" (Phil.1:6). So, in marriage, we are to hope in God and not think we can make them into good marriages by our own efforts. We are to persevere in working at our marriages because they come from God and are part of God's purposes for us.
• The whole of the Christian life is a painful process of sanctification and the experience of Christian marriage is right at the heart of that. At a number of American churches I asked experienced counsellors what was the single, most dangerous spiritual feature of a marriage. The answer I got back most consistently was: the theology that teaches us, "God just wants me to be happy". If that is what our gospel message consists of, then, when my marriage makes me unhappy, God can't mean me to remain in it. But, if marriage is to do with getting to heaven, then we must look beyond present trials to a future hope, which is the only perspective which can make sense of the whole of human life (Acts 14:22). A married couple are called to a work beyond themselves. We are called to be companions to one another in caring for God's creation. The goal of marriage is the glory and service of God, not self-fulfilment and communication.

The Marriage Foundation Year

• The right application of Deuteronomy 24:5 ("If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.") is that the first year of marriage should be regarded as special.
• For the twenty-first century Christian, the equivalent of the Israelite man not being "sent to war or have any duty laid on him" is to have a year in which he is not expected to play a foremost role in the spiritual battle. That battle is a battle for souls and a reasonable interpretation is that married couples should not be expected to look after other people spiritually during their first year.
• But this is not an extended honeymoon, a holiday nor an opportunity for backsliding. It is preparation for future service. It is a year in which the couple need to learn to communicate and to handle conflict in a way that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their marriage. The first stage of a marriage is the development of intimacy, but the marriage must not get stuck in this stage. The second stage is the fulfilling of the goal or purpose of the marriage. So intimacy is not an end in itself: it is to equip us for service.

Observations from the American Christian Community

• While prevention must be better than cure, we cannot put all our eggs into the one basket of marriage preparation. Much of what is said in marriage preparation prior to the wedding simply cannot be taken in by the couple at that stage. It must be repeatedly reinforced during the early months and years following marriage if it is going to be significant in shaping the marriage and protecting it from trouble further down the track.
• Some American churches ask very searching questions on spiritual issues right at the outset of their marriage preparation. For example: How can you be sure that X (the person you're marrying) is a Christian? How do you know that X is putting Christ first? How do you know that you are ready for marriage? How do you know that this is the right time for X?

Roles Within Marriage

• Until a couple grasp the importance of a joint, God-given task for their marriage, they will find it hard to work out appropriate gender roles within the marriage and, particularly, gain a right understanding of careers. The complementarity, rather than identity, of the sexes is clearly taught throughout the Bible. It is an equal but asymmetric relationship. The headship of the man within the home is also clearly taught.
• There is clearly an idolatry of the career rampant in our culture. The whole world of work is only a part of the God-given task of Genesis 1 and all human work must be assessed as to how much it is "in the image of God". All work is done by the Christian, not for its own sake, but as worship to God and as a way of proclaiming, establishing and extending His kingdom on earth.
• Moreover, the command to "fill" the earth precedes the command to "subdue" it in Genesis 1:28. The raising of a family is every bit as significant a way of "being in God's image" here on earth. We are all aware how much that aspect of our God-given task in marriage has been attacked by our culture, and how the dignity of motherhood, in particular, has been scorned.
• But does the Bible offer clear guidance as to whether a wife should pursue a career or not? Clearly the woman of Proverbs 31 was economically productive, entrepreneurially involved, and contributing in a major way to the financial welfare of her household. But from verses like Titus 2:4-5 ("Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no-one will malign the word of God."), while they do not preclude earning, they do clearly place the women's activity within the home. So, insofar as the Genesis God-given task to be God's image on earth requires wage-earning, and insofar as our culture dictates that wage-earning takes place away from the home, the husband should do it. Career-minded wives need to look for ways to work from home, where they can still focus on the family and the household.
• We must help our wives above all to build their esteem from their relationship with God (still ringing in my ears from many years ago are the words of one senior wife in our congregation, "I will never gain my children's respect, Mark, until I go back to work").
• If we tackle the issue of the "working" wife and mother merely with a prohibition on her being the primary wage-earner, we are not doing justice to scripture, which is clearer about the location of the wife's work than it is about the nature of her work. The problem for the Bible is not the house-husband; it is the absent wife and mother. We must be biblical and not cultural. We must also derive our teaching clearly (and not vaguely) from scripture.

Bibliography

Andrew Cornes, Divorce and Remarriage (Christian Focus: 2002)
Rodney Clapp, Families at the Crossroads (IVP: 1993)
Kent Huges, Common Sense Parenting (Tyndale House Publishing: 1996)
Tony Payne & Phillip Jensen, Pure Sex (Matthias Media: 2003)
Garland & Garland, Beyond Companionship: Christians in Marriage (Wipf & Stock: 2003)
Steve Ayers, Sex and Sensibility (IVP: 1997)
Linda Berg-Cross, Couples Therapy (Routledge: 2001)
William McRae, Preparing for your Marriage (Zondervan: 1980)
Dave Leal, On Marriage as Vocation (Grove Books: 1996)
Oliver O'Donovan, Marriage and Permanence (Grove Books: 1978)
Jay Adams, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible (Zondervan: 1986)
Larry Crabb, Connecting (Thomas Nelson: 2004)

Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, writes:

A Critical Time

There is a good deal of uneasiness in the church, not least within the House of Bishops, about the prospect of introducing legislation which could alienate so many parishes. The Archbishop of Canterbury voiced this in his address to the February General Synod, when he effectively said that nobody should so pursue their claim to have their rights recognised that they undermine the rights of others in a way that produces injustice. "We need," he said, "to look for a resolution that allows some measure of continuing dignity and indeed liberty to all - in something like their own terms."

We must continue to make our case. The letter we sent to the House of Bishops and the General Synod as a whole, signed by 50 incumbents, was a start. To view the letter click here. It generated a substantial amount of publicity and we will now be seeking further signatures in order to demonstrate the scale of the problem before the House of Bishops meets in May.

ACNA

General Synod ‘recognised and affirmed' the desire of ACNA churches to continue as Anglicans. ACNA churches are those who have separated from TEC (The Episcopal Church of the USA) both over the consecration of actively gay clergy and also over questions about TEC's commitment to the uniqueness of Christ. It would be good if churches in this country were able to start forming links with ACNA churches beginning perhaps by inviting clergy over here as guest preachers. If you would like to play a part in this, please contact theReform office.

The Reform Chairman was commenting on an open letter issued to Synod members today by 50 Church of England ministers who have links with Reform. Drawn from churches of varying sizes across England, they say that in the last ten years they have sent over 180 men into ordained ministry, of whom more than 50% were under the age of 30. They have also contributed more than £22 million to the Church of England's finances.

The ministers say that if future legislation fails to provide adequately for them, then they would have to encourage new potential ordinands to consider training for ministry outside the Church of England and to help them financially to do that. Churches would also need to consider establishing charitable trusts to finance their own ministries in the longer term. These costs would inevitably put a "severe strain" on their continuing ability to contribute to the Church of England.

The signatories represent just some of those who are concerned over the current lack of provision for opponents of women bishops. The letter points out that their opposition is based on the pattern the Bible gives both for relationships in the home and the church. They say that they cannot see how, as Bible teachers, they can do other than put into practice what they believe the Bible to be teaching.

Rod Thomas said: "The current absence of any proposal from the General Synod's Revision Committee to guarantee a future place for our views within the Church of England is causing great concern."

Reform has more than 1,300 members, of whom more than 350 are ordained clergy. Many others are known to be sympathetic to its concerns.

 A group of representatives from Awesome and Reform have met in order to talk about their understanding of what the Bible says about men, women and headship. 

Statement from AWESOME and Reform

On Tues 5th January 2010, Bishop Keith Sinclair, Bishop of Birkenhead chaired a second meeting of representatives of AWESOME & Reform.1 This time we were joined by invited theological consultants as guests. We met to discuss differences among evangelicals over biblical teaching about women’s ministry and leadership and the implications of such teaching for any church committed to ordering its life as a faithful, obedient response to that teaching and were assisted by papers written by some of those attending. Our focus was mainly but not exclusively on issues of biblical theology, exegesis and hermeneutics rather than current political issues relating to women bishops.

We acknowledged that structured conversations with this focus have sadly not occurred among evangelicals in recent years and all found the meeting to be a valuable initiative, helping us as evangelicals to recognise the importance of unity around the gospel. Although significant differences clearly remain, as a result of our conversations we have identified a number of key areas we believe it is essential evangelicals explore together as we continue to wrestle with what it means to uphold our shared conviction that Scripture is “the wholly reliable revelation and record of God's grace, given by the Holy Spirit as the true word of God written...given to lead us to salvation, to be the ultimate rule for Christian faith and conduct, and the supreme authority by which the Church must ever reform itself and judge its traditions”.2

We believe it is important that evangelicals in the Church of England with different understandings of Scripture’s teaching and divergent views on women presbyters and bishops should treat each other as evangelicals and Anglicans. The experience of AWESOME and other bodies within evangelicalism shows that differences here need not prevent us working together in the cause of the gospel as brothers and sisters in Christ who are committed evangelicals and Anglicans.

In order to accomplish this we believe more sustained discussions must continue between evangelicals, especially on the practical and pastoral implications of our differences in the life of both the local and the national church. We need to be clearer as to the patterns of evangelical love towards those with whom we disagree and how our views can be held while recognising others as evangelicals seeking faithfully to obey Scripture.

For those opposed to women presbyters and bishops as a development contrary to Scripture this requires ongoing reflection about:

• how to welcome and nurture evangelical women as they exercise their gifts and ministries
• how to relate to women in leadership positions in the church.

For those fully supportive of women presbyters and bishops as a biblical development this requires ongoing reflection about:

• how to welcome and nurture those opposed as they exercise their gifts and ministries in the Church of England
• how to relate to those who fear the Church of England’s acceptance of women bishops will marginalise or exclude them

We are committed to continue these ongoing reflections together and view them as a matter of urgency in relation to General Synod’s decision about whether and how to make provision for those opposed to any legislation for women bishops. We have therefore committed to meet together again before the July General Synod once the Revision Committee has published their draft legislation.

The Rt Revd Keith Sinclair, Bishop of Birkenhead (Chair)
Awesome representatives: The Revds Elisabeth Goddard, Tamsin Merchant and Rosie Ward 
Awesome guests: The Revd Drs Andrew Goddard, Emma Ineson and Ian Paul.
Reform representatives: The Revd Dr Nigel Atkinson and The Revds David Banting and Carrie Sandom 
Reform guests: The Rt Revd Wallace Benn, The Revd Drs Roger Beckwith and Mike Ovey.
In attendance at invitation of Chair:
Professor Richard Bauckham

Released 26th January 2010.

Footnotes

1 AWESOME (http://www.awesome.org.uk) is a network of women ordained into the Anglican Church from across the Evangelical spectrum. It includes both permanent deacons and priests and exists to support and pray for each other in ministry, seeking to learn from Scripture, the Spirit and one another.
Reform (www.reform.org.uk) is a network of individuals and churches within the Church of England committed to reforming the Church of England from within according to the Holy Scriptures. Its understanding of God’s way of life for his people includes “the unique value of women's ministry in the local congregation but also the divine order of male headship, which makes the headship of women as priests in charge, incumbents, dignitaries and bishops inappropriate”.

2 http://www.ceec.info/basis_of_belief.htm 

Our national conference last October was a very encouraging time.  It was good to see attending a healthy number of younger men who are at the start of their teaching ministries, as well as those of us who are longer in the tooth - whether lay or ordained.  We had challenging bible readings, thought provoking addresses about the global struggle for the gospel as well as very practical sessions on working in smaller churches and preparing for ministry.  There was such a good feel to the conference that we have decided to abandon plans for a day conference in London next year and instead arrange another residential conference at High Leigh.  The dates are 19th - 20th October 2010.  If you missed out this year, please put the dates in your diary for next year!

Reform in the media

Since our conference we have increased our public profile a little with press releases on the Vatican's approach to disaffected Anglicans and the latest developments on women bishops.  This had led to several interviews on Radio 4 as well as coverage in the national press.  We have also been trying to get on the front foot in drawing attention to the need for reform in the church's approach to non-residential training - a topic that has been picked up in the pages of Church Times.

General Synod Revision Committee

Progress with our work can sometimes seem frustratingly slow. A recent example was in the General Synod's Revision Committee looking at legislation on Women Bishops.  At one point a decision had been taken to draft legislation to provide for the statutory transfer of functions from a female bishop to another bishop where parishes asked for this to happen.  However, when it came to working out the details of which functions would be transferred in this way, the committee voted down every single proposal.  The result was that we are back where we started, with the Revision Committee working on legislation that will clearly be inadequate to provide safeguards for those who, like us, cannot accept women bishops.  Does this mean that we have now lost the argument?  The answer is no.  It simply means there is much more work to do to try to get the proposals amended in General Synod. 

Opportunities for influence

It is important to recognise too that there remain many opportunities for influence in the Church of England and that we have a wonderful God who delights to demonstrate His power in our weakness.  I was reminded of this in my own diocese when my curate decided to stand for election to the Vacancy in See Committee, despite the fact that he was largely unknown. It turned out that not enough people stood to make an election necessary and so he was automatically elected! 

When progress is slow we need to encourage each other to keep going:

1. Remember that we have a great heritage in the Church of England and we should not let others take it from us.
2. We  do enjoy successes from time to time.  Some recent Episcopal appointments have been encouraging - even if we are still awaiting the appointment of somebody who can clearly affirm the Reform Covenant.
3. There are positive plans for the future. I am very much looking forward to all the events surrounding the Passion for Life Mission next March, as we seek to bring the gospel to the nation.
4. By keeping going we develop the godly characteristic of perseverance - one of the qualities according to 2 Peter 1:8 that keep us from being ‘ineffective and unproductive' in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

Responding to the announcement made on Saturday 14th November that the Revision Committee had failed to approve the transfer of jurisdiction from female to male bishops where parishes could not accept their oversight, Rod Thomas said:

"At last February's General Synod there was a clear desire to provide legislative safeguards for those who could not, in conscience, accept the oversight of women bishops. This has now been overturned by the Revision Committee. Whereas there was a prospect of agreement, the Revision Committee has now set the General Synod on a course of confrontation. It has served the Church badly.

"There has been much speculation about Anglo-Catholics leaving the Church of England for Rome. What has been overlooked is the number of large evangelical churches which the Church of England now risks losing - not to Rome, but to independence or alternative Anglican affiliations.

"Within the General Synod there will be many who will be deeply unhappy at the bullying tactics being used to dismiss opponents of the proposed new legislation. Some evangelicals who do support the introduction of women bishops will nevertheless vote against proposals which have the effect of excluding other evangelicals. This means that by the time the proposals have finished their tortuous progress through the General Synod, they will be likely to fail, since they will be unable to garner the two thirds majority support needed.

"It may be that in the providence of God, the result of the Revision Committee's decision may be the reverse of what they intend: that this unbiblical move to put women in positions of headship in the church will fail. Reform will now renew its commitment to work towards this outcome."

End

This media statement followed the announcement from the Revision Committee on 14th November 2009, which you can read here: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr10509.html 

"Anglicans concerned about protecting the basic Christian faith need not go to Rome, because we now have the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA (UK)) which holds together those who want to stop the orthodox faith being eroded. We can remain Anglican. Furthermore, the FCA Primates have recognised that problems with episcopal oversight are arising here in the UK. They have expressed the hope that these will be solved locally, but if not, they are willing to step in."

"This development highlights the need for robust legislative provision to cater for those who cannot agree to women bishops, such as that recently suggested by the Revision Committee."

"If priests really are out of sympathy with the C of E's doctrine (as opposed to the battles we are having over women's ministry and sexuality), then perhaps it is better they make a clean break and go to Rome. However, when they do, they will have to accommodate themselves to Rome's top-down approach to church life, whereas the C of E has always stressed the importance of decision making at the level of the local church."

"It is illusory to pretend that this development is an outcome of ecumenical dialogue. It illustrates the difficulties the C of E faces and the need for stronger leadership, rather than the ‘softly softly' approach so far taken to those holding liberal views who are splitting the church."

The committee has proposed that certain functions would be transferred by statute from a female bishop to a male bishop who would minister to those who have theological objections to receiving episcopal ministry from a woman.

Rod Thomas said: "This could be what is needed to avert a split and preserve unity among people who differ on this issue. This proposal is much more robust than the previous suggestion that left the decision about such a transfer to a code of practice, and so we welcome this move.

"We believe that the introduction of women bishops is not supported by the Bible's teaching and we will continue to try to persuade the wider church of this. However we are grateful to the committee for its willingness to appreciate our concerns. While we will need to examine the details as they emerge, we are clear that statutory safeguards are needed in areas such as appointments and selection for ordination. This is the bare minimum for us to be assured that our ministry will be allowed to prosper in the Church of England in the future."

1 We must create more opportunities for evangelical ministry in local churches.

Many members already play key roles in patronage bodies and in advising those seeking new incumbents. There is also a greater openness than in the past to opportunities for church planting, not least because of a legal framework (The Dioceses Pastoral & Mission Measure 2007) that is able to accommodate (although not promote) church planting across parish boundaries. Help for new and established ministry is given through the regional Gospel Partnerships. There are also many models both of church planting and also of initiatives to breathe fresh life into churches that would otherwise become redundant.

However, there are areas of difficulty - and it is here that support for reform is vital. One substantial difficulty is the current lack of recognition for a number of church plants that are either treated by dioceses as ‘outside' the Church of England, or which themselves have had to refuse oversight from existing diocesan bishops on doctrinal grounds. We are currently praying for - and working with - the newly-formed Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans to see what alternative arrangements can be put in place to enable men to be ordained and proper Episcopal oversight exercised.

Fostering evangelical ministry in local churches depends crucially on effective training for evangelical ordinands. Whilst a number of good developments are taking place at residential theological colleges, the fact is that those wearing an ‘evangelical' label at such colleges (which is not, as we know, a guarantee of evangelical commitment), account for less than 30% of all ordinands in training. One of the reasons for this is the huge growth over the last ten years in non-residential training courses and in the appointment of non-stipendiary ministers. The figures for the latter (taken from official Church of England statistics) are:

We need to challenge the institutional confidence in non-residential training and non-stipendiary ministry. Whilst there will be some terrific ministries that have emerged this way, all the anecdotal evidence points in the other direction.
I hope to say more at our national conference about how we might tackle this.

2 We must win hearts and minds at all levels

This has to be done in a number of ways: through publications and engagement with the press; through various church networks both nationally and locally; through representation on key synods and committees; and by bringing some influence to bear on the House of Bishops.

In each of these areas there is still much to be done. We are pressing ahead with the preparation of new leaflets: there will shortly be a new leaflet on ‘Interpreting the Bible' by Jonathan Fletcher in our ‘Truth Matters' series and by the end of the year a further leaflet on ‘Anglican Identity' by Mark Burkill. We are conscious too that we cannot assume we are holding the ground on the Biblical approach to sexuality - so we hope to have another ‘popular' leaflet on this shortly.

THERE IS AN URGENT NEED to encourage members - particularly ‘lay' members to consider standing for election to General Synod.
Finally, we need to influence the House of Bishops. We praise God for some recent appointments, but overall we believe the Church still discriminates against ‘conservative' evangelicals - as the Pilling Report on Senior Church Appointments demonstrated two years ago.

3 We must help the Church of England to become better placed for mission.

The key to this is to win the argument that the Church of England is a confessional church. Some argue that because it is a national church it is thereby catholic and inclusive. That is why it is so important for us to keep emphasizing its doctrinal basis as laid out in Canon A5:
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.

Last year's Jerusalem Statement to which a number of us contributed has firmly underlined the confessional basis of Anglicanism. Furthermore, recent conference speeches by David Holloway and Jonathan Fletcher have done much to boost our confidence in the Church of England as the right place to be for mission.

We need to continue to engage publicly on this issue. As I write, I have just read Julian Mann's letter in the Church Times of 18th September defending this position. It is hugely encouraging to see this sort of engagement and I would urge as many members as possible similarly to take up the cudgels.

Needless to say, we cannot talk about the proper basis for mission if we ourselves are not actively engaged in evangelistic endeavour. It's so good to hear about all the planning taking place for the 2010 ‘Passion for Life' mission; I do hope it has gained the full involvement of all our churches.

Action Points

Reform is, I believe, a topic that should continue to galvanise us into action. Could I therefore urge you to ensure that:

• You have booked for the national conference in a couple of weeks' time (October 13 & 14)? If not, there is still time to do so (you should have already received a brochure and booking form but look on the web site or contact the office if you would like another). The issues we are going to tackle at that conference are central to our efforts to reform the Church of England.
• You have considered - or asked somebody else to consider - standing as a candidate for the next General Synod election? You may not feel you stand a chance, but many Reform members were elected last time. One thing that would guarantee your non-election would be a failure to stand.

Lastly, do you feel that we keep banging the same sort of drum here in Reform? I certainly hope so:

‘Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist ...' (Eph 6:13-14)

Rod Thomas

There was a Christ-honouring debate on the uniqueness of Christ. The motion itself was fairly mild:

That this Synod request the House of Bishops to report to the Synod on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain's multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none.

However, what brought the debate alive were the contributions from members who told their stories of how they had been converted from their previous beliefs to faith in Jesus. As a result, most attempts to amend the motion were roundly defeated. The only amendment to succeed simply commended the background paper which Martin Davie had prepared for the House of Bishops on this subject. This paper is a thrilling historical exploration of how the doctrine of Christ's uniqueness has been expressed by Christians through the ages. Unfortunately it is spoiled towards the end by implying that God could have chosen to save people other than through Christ if He had wished. Nevertheless, overall the motion is very helpful; it will hopefully generate useful material to aid our witness in multi-faith environments, and it was passed overwhelmingly.

Women Bishops

The second debate where our prayers were answered concerned the legislative proposals for women bishops. In one sense it was a strange debate in that it was never going to decide anything. All that it was designed to do was to send the legislative package off to the Revision Committee to be worked on. So even if you were opposed to women bishops, you might still vote in favour of sending the proposals to the Revision Committee since it is only there that any changes can be introduced. What mattered in the debate was that lots of people should register their disquiet with the proposals and ask for better provision for those who were opposed to this innovation. That was precisely what we got.

As you may recall from previous newsletters, there were two major problems with the legislative proposals:

1. Where a parish has theological difficulties with the oversight of a woman bishop, the provision of alternative oversight through a ‘complementary bishop' would only be through a Code of Practice. It would not be written in to the Measure itself.
2. A decision about whether to delegate oversight - and if so, in what areas - would be left to the diocesan bishop.

In other words, the legislative provision for opponents was very uncertain. In the debate, speaker after speaker said that these legislative provisions were inadequate. The Archdeacon of Berkshire pointed out that the House of Lords had itself said that the legal status of Codes was uncertain. In my speech, I made the point that the proposals left opponents feeling that their ministries were merely being tolerated by the wider church, rather than encouraged to flourish. At the end of the debate, the Bishop of Winchester asked whether the Revision Committee would be able to consider major changes to the legislation and not feel bound by the vote which took place at the previous meeting of the General Synod. In replying to the debate, the Bishop of Manchester said he could give that assurance. The vote to send the proposals to the Revision Committee was 281:113 in favour. The size of the dissenting vote was a clear indication of the unease felt by Synod.

Reform Evidence to the Revision Committee

The next stage of proceedings is that the Revision Committee will take evidence (which has to be in by 16th March) and, guided by a Steering Group, will start the process of changing the legislative proposals. This will take them at least a year, so the first report to Synod will not be before next February, and may not be until July 2010. I submitted evidence on behalf of Reform on Tuesday 3rd March, following a discussion at the Reform Council on 25th February. This re-stated our view that it was inappropriate to change the church's position on this subject, but since General Synod had asked for proposals to be formulated, there were a number of areas where provision would have to be made if we were to feel that our ministries had a future in the Church of England. In particular, alternative oversight would need to be guaranteed for parishes in the areas of confirmation services, pastoral care, discipline, appointments, clergy review procedures, and pastoral reorganisation.

Our evidence made it clear that such oversight could only be guaranteed if it were provided in statute and did not depend on the discretion of a diocesan bishop. We further argued for making statutory provision for individuals where their views differed from those of their parishes.

As a result of the debate, the future now looks more hopeful than it did. Two other developments have bolstered this view. The first was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Presidential address to the General Synod where he said that the different views on this issue were ‘not going to go away' and that we needed to find structural solutions. The second was the news that proposals are being developed for the House of Bishops which promote the idea of ‘networks' or ‘communities' which could then come under the oversight of ‘Episcopal visitors'. There are some similarities here to the way religious communities already operate in the Church of England. In our evidence to the Revision Committee, we did not propose any particular structural solution but simply noted the Archbishop's view that structural solutions were necessary and that different proposals for special dioceses or religious communities could provide a way forward.

An Urgent Need To Pray And Contact Bishops

As you know, a drafting group under the chairmanship of the Bishop of Manchester has produced legislative proposals for the General Synod's meeting in a week's time which pave the way for women bishops. What has been produced provides insufficient safeguards for the future ministry of evangelicals opposed to the episcopal consecration of women. If the proposals are eventually voted through by General Synod in more or less their present form (which cannot happen this February), then we believe that potential ordinands will be put off ministering in the Church of England and the whole appointments process for vicars will become increasingly discriminatory against those who hold to male headship.

Some members of Reform will feel more strongly about this issue than others. However, it is important that we act now to defend each other's place in the Church. Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes and a member of the Reform Council has put the point this way:

‘It is very important to say to all who profess to be ‘evangelicals' that Gospel commitment ... means that we should seek to defend one another's place in the Church. The Gospel has our prime loyalty, therefore we stand with Gospel brothers and sisters. This is not an issue about whether the Church of England decides to consecrate women bishops or not - on that it seems the majority wish to do so and should not be hindered from so doing. No, rather, what is at issue is whether provision for those of the older traditional integrity, be it Catholic or Evangelical, will be provided. If some evangelicals are content to see fellow evangelicals effectively driven out of the Church through lack of provision that is adequate to meet conscientious problems, then something other than the Gospel has claimed their first loyalty. Credally and morally orthodox believers cannot afford to lose Gospel allies at a time like this!'

The Proposals

What is proposed is legislation to permit the consecration of women bishops and to require all diocesan bishops to ‘have regard' to a Code of Practice in dealing with situations where ‘petitioning parishes' or particular ministers or workers request male oversight.

The draft legislation provides for ‘complementary bishops' to whom diocesan bishops could choose to delegate some of their jurisdictional powers. This means that activities such as sponsoring candidates for ordination training, making appointments of clergy, exercising discipline and providing pastoral care could be delegated by a female diocesan bishop to a male ‘complementary bishop.' However, it would be up to that diocesan bishop to decide which of these activities should be delegated - and indeed whether any should be delegated. All that would be required of them is that they have regard to the Code of Practice in making their decision.

The illustrative Code before Synod says that in making these decisions, bishops should consider a parish's theological convictions and put in place arrangements that enable them to be expressed. There should then be an ‘instrument of delegation' which specifies who does what. The Code also sets out what parishes should do to express their wishes to a diocesan bishop and how this would apply to multi-parish benefices and to individuals.

The Manchester Group felt that any new legislation would also require an amendment to Canon A4 which deals with the ordination of clergy and the consecration of bishops. As a result the proposal is to provide both that the legal status of women bishops should be unquestioned and that Church of England members ‘may with good conscience, hold theological convictions which render them unable to receive the ministry of female bishops or priests.' However, the proposed Canon then states that in making special arrangements for those with these theological convictions it nevertheless regards those ordained or consecrated (ie including women) as ‘truly' bishops, priests or deacons.'

The Problems with a Code of Practice

The reasons why a Code of Practice provides inadequate safeguards are:

• It makes the authority of complementary bishops dependent on women who are in a position of ‘headship'
• It allows diocesan bishops discretion about how far to meet congregational needs - and can be easily resiled from
• A Code can be changed at any time in the future by a simple majority of General Synod (whereas a legislative provision requires a two thirds majority in each of the three Houses)
• It seems to undermine assurances that were given to ‘traditionalists' prior to the Act of Synod being passed in 1993
• However much goodwill there is at the present, over time a new generation of bishops might feel less strongly about accommodating the provisions of a Code

Support for Stronger Protective Legislation

The proposals before Synod do suggest that it might be possible for some of the Code's provisions to be enshrined in primary legislation (which is less easy to alter or put to one side), but they do not set out how this could be done. Nevertheless, there is a genuine and fairly widespread concern, not least in the House of Bishops, about the position that ‘traditionalist' catholics and evangelicals find themselves in. Some who favour women bishops are nevertheless unhappy with proposals which would effectively exclude ‘traditionalists' from the Church. They are very open to proposals which would give congregations the statutory right to have alternative arrangements for oversight (ie which would remove the discretionary power of bishops over whether to delegate some of their jurisdiction).

The Church of England Evangelical Council has also recently issued a statement which ‘reaffirms its view that both integrities on this matter can and should be represented within authentic Anglicanism in accordance with assurances made and undertakings given in 1992. The Council believes that legislative safeguards are required if the conscientious objections of many evangelicals and others to the consecration of women as bishops are to be taken seriously and we urge the General Synod to make such provision.'

General Synod starts its next set of sessions on 9th February and the debate on this issue is scheduled for 11th. It is unlikely that anything dramatic will be decided: the proposals will simply be debated and then sent on to the Revision Committee. However, the significance of next week's debate is that if there are a good number of strong speeches - especially from bishops - arguing that primary legislation should require that jurisdiction be passed from a diocesan bishop to a complementary bishop in the case of petitioning parishes, then the Revision Committee would be much more likely to introduce these essential changes when the draft legislation next comes back to Synod. In short, we must encourage bishops to act now.

Summary

Even although time is very short, we ask members to make these issues a matter for urgent prayer.

• The proposals for women bishops will, if they become law, cause great difficulty for those who believe that church order should reflect family order where the Bible advocates male headship (Ephesians 5: 22-33 and 1 Timothy 3)
• A Code will not be an adequate safeguard for the ministry of those with a ‘conservative' or ‘traditional' integrity, since its provisions are discretionary rather than mandatory
• What we seek is a statutory guarantee that parishes should have access to a form of alternative oversight where the bishops concerned are able to exercise jurisdiction over all the issues mentioned in Clause 4(1) of the draft Measure (ie issues like appointments, parish reorganisations, sponsorship for ordination training etc)
• We trust that the House of bishops will show their care for us by speaking in favour of enhanced provision so that proper safeguards are provided.

He expressed appreciation for the detailed work undertaken by the Manchester Group, but warned that the end result of relying on a Code of Practice to solve differences over women bishops would be a proliferation of court cases. He said it was a huge distraction from the more urgent work of seeking to bring spiritual life and hope to an increasingly secularised and spiritually rudderless nation.

The proposed Measure and the associated Code make it clear that special provision for ‘petitioning parishes' can only be made if a diocesan bishop chooses to delegate his or her authority to a ‘complementary bishop.' This proposal is fraught with difficulty. On a purely practical level, if a diocesan bishop chooses not to delegate some of his or her Episcopal powers, then there is every possibility that a petitioning parish will seek a judicial review in the High Court. Instead of creating certainty, the legislation could lead to a multiplicity of damaging court cases. An alternative approach could easily have been adopted which would have avoided these difficulties. It would have been to provide, in a Measure, that where a parish so petitioned, the jurisdiction of a complementary bishop would apply. This would have avoided the need for a diocesan bishop to have been involved.

Mr Thomas added: ‘The outlook is very sad for the church. We now have the prospect of much wrangling in the General Synod, with at least some possibility that the whole project will fail to gain the necessary two thirds majority in a few years time. If the proposals are passed in their present form, we have an equally bleak prospect: that of the secular courts adjudicating on problems amongst God's people. The Manchester Group have tried to do the impossible: while it is good that they have proposed that the Canons of the Church should be changed to acknowledge the legitimacy of those who cannot accept the role of women bishops, they have refused to allow the power of diocesan bishops to be affected in any way. No amount of ‘delegation' of Episcopal power can cover up the fact that this power remains intact. And that means that female ‘headship' will remain intact, despite our understanding of the Bible's teaching to the contrary. Ultimately, therefore, since inadequate provision has been made to safeguard our ministries, we are bound to oppose what is on offer.'

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.

Revd Rod Thomas, Reform's chairman, welcomed the clear Biblical leadership given by the GAFCON Primates at the Jerusalem meeting in June 2008, saying that there "we saw what an Anglicanism united in the Gospel and dedicated to mission could look like."

He highlighted two key areas for Reform in the coming year: developing alternative oversight and growing gospel fellowships.

"Seeking alternative oversight is not necessarily a confrontational act," he said. "Many Reform members work well with their Bishops, and they need our support not our rebuke." He encouraged the House of Bishops to develop "English solutions" for the provision of alternative oversight for 25 congregations in the UK who are currently in impaired communion with or being denied oversight from their bishop, and for many others who would be unwilling to receive oversight from a female bishop in the future. However he also warned that "we must take forward the agenda of alternative oversight even if the Church of England cannot currently find a way to accommodate it".

Concerning growing gospel fellowships he encouraged Reform members to co-operate with other evangelical and orthodox Anglicans to build on the "huge momentum" created by the UK church leaders briefing on GAFCON on July 1^st at All Souls church in London.  "Co-operation won't be possible on every issue," he said "but we now have a unique opportunity to encourage one another in gospel partnership."

Reform council member Revd Paul Perkin urged church councils as well as individuals to declare their support for the Jerusalem Declaration, the statement issued by GAFCON as the theological basis of the movement and also announced plans to form a Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in the UK.

The 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

We will scrutinise the proposed code of practice in February's debate carefully, but remain very sceptical as to its usefulness.

By giving no legal provision Synod has effectively said: "We don't want people like you in our Church of England." This message will no doubt further rouse the ‘sleeping giant' of orthodox and evangelical Anglicanism in the UK and around the globe.

GAFCON exceeded expectations. We had hoped that this major Anglican gathering in Jerusalem last month would achieve two things:

1. a clarification that Anglicanism defines itself by its commitment to the biblical faith not by institutions or ‘invitations to Lambeth'
2. a statement of support for those bishops who have provided Episcopal oversight for parishes and dioceses in other provinces, struggling to prevent a false gospel taking hold.

In the event, GAFCON did more. Using the wording of Canon A5, it re-iterated that Anglican doctrine was grounded in the Holy Scriptures and articulated in the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. It stressed the need for Christian churches to be galvanised into joyfully embracing our Lord's command to bring the gospel to all people. It identified a need for discipline in relation to the Episcopal churches in the USA and Canada where a false gospel has been promoted and called for their repentance. Its own understanding of the gospel was summarised in the ‘Jerusalem Declaration': "We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity's only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith". It restated biblical teaching on marriage, sexuality, unity, justice, responsibility towards the needy and ‘freedom in secondary matters'. It not only supported those who had offered oversight from oversees to churches under false leadership but said these actions would continue to be necessary around the world. It specifically repudiated any suggestion of schism, describing GAFCON as ‘a movement of confessing Anglicans' into which every Anglican would be welcome, making clear that its purpose was to reform and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission in the world. Finally, it called for the formation of a new province in North America and for a Primates' Council to take matters forward across the Communion as a whole.

What a conference statement cannot contain, however, is a sense of what the gathering felt like. An undercurrent of joy and unity was present throughout - largely because, despite the different churchmanships on display, there was no argument over the authority of God's Word. There was also a sense of humility as participants recognised that God was doing a new thing with the Anglican Church. When the first draft of the conference statement was read to everyone, there was a huge wave of joy and relief as people stood to clap, tears in their eyes, as they realised that at last an initiative had been taken to start to address our needs.

In the hope that evangelical Anglicans in this country will wish to demonstrate full-hearted support for the outcome of GAFCON, there are two on-line opportunities to do so. One is for individuals [http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/20243.html] and one for parishes [http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/20252.html]. Needless to say, I warmly commend you to do so.

GAFCON and England

GAFCON was followed immediately on 1st July by a packed meeting at All Souls in London for church leaders, both clergy and non-clergy. It culminated in Archbishop Peter Jensen warning us that the revisionists' strategy was to buy time in the expectation that those who are currently orthodox will eventually give in. GAFCON would help to counter this by taking ‘principled action' which would both provide order and support for orthodox churches across different provincial boundaries. As a movement GAFCON could be as significant as the Evangelical Revival and Peter Jensen called on us in England to play a leading part. He said it was for us to decide what action to take, but urged us to:

1. Set a lead in obedience to the Bible and sacrifice for the gospel.
2. Give priority to ensuring that churches are led by incumbents who are good teachers.
3. Teach ‘lay people' about the issues at stake without being put off by the thought we may be inviting disunity.
4. Make sure we are part of an active evangelical fellowship that will keep us theologically sharp.
5. Make evangelism the ‘sharp point' in our evangelical fellowship. This will bring us together and stop ‘tribal warfare'.

Peter Jensen's call for action came against the background of a series of meetings that Reform and others were able to organise whilst we were at GAFCON. At these meetings we recognised the need for all evangelicals who unequivocally accept the authority of God's Word to come together for the sake of action in defence of the gospel. Action was needed, both to provide for the needs of a number of congregations who were either being denied a place in the Church of England or who were in impaired communion with their bishops, and also to encourage those who would otherwise feel excluded by the Church in the event that new legislation on women bishops was approved. The form this action could take had already been envisaged by the signatories of ‘A Covenant for the Church of England'. It is therefore to these signatories, representing united evangelicalism, that we look for immediate steps forward.

The first step in our ‘English solution' must be to explore opportunities for ways forward that are likely to gain official recognition. This means once again approaching the Archbishop of Canterbury so that his support can be sought for new arrangements for episcopal oversight where they are needed. In the first instance this will mean requesting him to appoint a bishop to provide such oversight. However, it is important that we avoid lengthy discussions and further delays. We need to move forward, but to do so in a way that keeps the Primates of the ‘Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans' (FOCA) both informed and supportive.

Alongside these developments, the recent General Synod debate on women bishops has also had an impact.

General Synod Debate on Women Bishops

As members will know, the House of Bishops decided not to pursue any of the options for protecting the position of those who disagree with the consecration of women bishops, and instead recommended to Synod a motion advocating a single-clause Measure permitting women bishops with ‘protection' for dissentients being provided through a Code of Practice.

The only additional step General Synod was prepared to take was to ensure that any such Code of Practice would be statutory -i.e. all parties would be bound by statute to ‘have regard' to it.

During the debate it was made clear that on its own a Code of Practice would be insufficient to protect dissentients and that, coupled with the removal of the protective provisions in the 1993 Measure, this would be tantamount to the exclusion of many orthodox people from the Church of England. There was a good deal of unease about this; many senior bishops voted against the motion and the Archbishop of Canterbury abstained.

A statutory Code of Practice would be insufficient to protect those who believe it to be wrong to consecrate women bishops for a number of reasons. These include:

1. Parties would simply have to demonstrate they have ‘had regard' to the provisions of a Code. They could then decide to override the requests of a petitioning parish.
2. Even if a diocesan bishop decided to delegate some of his or her functions to a ‘complementary' bishop to meet a particular request under the terms of the Code, there would be little to stop discrimination against candidates for ordination who believe in male leadership. A Code would also be unlikely to prevent obstacles being put in the way of ‘traditionalist' clergy seeking new appointments.
3. Since a Code provides only minimal protection and the current statutory protections for the ‘traditionalist integrity' are likely to be removed, it is clear that the Church of England is seeking to ensure that those who stand for male headship in the Church die out over time.

Despite this unfavourable outcome, it is important to recognise that the outlook is not wholly bleak. The voting in General Synod showed that when the time comes for approving legislation, there is a strong possibility that the required two thirds majority in each House will not be obtained. If this is so, then it will not be possible to consider the matter again until the new General Synod is elected in 2010. This means that it is crucial we put effort into encouraging people to stand for election in 2010. Just a few more people elected for the House of Laity would firmly tip the balance against a future two thirds majority in that House.

GAFCON

Funding

There has been a tremendous response to the appeal for help in funding the travel and accommodation arrangements for bishops from the Third World who will be attending the conference. Our target was £50,000. At the time of writing we have contributed over £65,000. Thank you to everybody who has contributed in finance and prayer: the result is a wonderful encouragement and a firm statement of communion with those who are holding fast to the Bible's authority.

What will GAFCON achieve?

The issue now facing us is ‘what will GAFCON achieve?' The very fact that there is a gathering of 1000 Anglican leaders from all over the world, including 280 bishops, is itself an important public statement of orthodox commitment. But many of those struggling in the USA and Canada (where Jim Packer and David Short have just been threatened by the Bishop of New Westminster with prosecution for trespass if they set foot in their church building) as well as evangelicals in this country who are apprehensive of similar developments here, will be hoping for some clear signposts for future action.

In a pre-conference press release, the aims of GAFCON were stated. They were to:

1. Provide an opportunity for fellowship as well as to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Christ.
2. Develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians.
3. Prepare for an Anglican future in which the gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centred mission is a top priority.

The numbers that have booked seem to offer great promise for fulfilling the first of these goals. So far as the second is concerned, we look forward to a joyful and positive statement that Anglicanism is defined by its commitment to the biblical faith and not by institutions. This will help us all, in our different national settings, with decisions about the future. ‘Invitations to Lambeth' cannot be an adequate definition of Anglicanism. We are a confessional church - and it is the faith we profess that is our primary distinguishing characteristic. Canon A5 encapsulates the distinctively Anglican reformed tradition. This 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."

The third goal - in which we prepare for our future as gospel people - cannot succeed without recognising that the needs and circumstances of faithful Anglicans will vary across provinces and dioceses. My hope therefore is that GAFCON will express its warm support for all those bishops who have come to the aid of parishes and dioceses struggling in South America, the USA and Canada - and will accept that this is an inevitable development as the dividing lines between liberals and orthodox become clearer. Territoriality is irrelevant to the fight for the preservation of the gospel: and it is important that we all recognise that this is what we are fighting for. It's not just an argument about sexual ethics. According to some reports, Katherine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, is perceived not only to approve of same-sex unions and but also to believe that Jesus Christ is not necessarily the only way to God. Here are two trade-marks of present-day liberalism: a refusal to accept God's Word when it challenges social mores, and a denial of the uniqueness of Christ. We must be firm in our resistance.

It is good to know that many Reform members will be attending GAFCON. I will be part of a ‘Statement Group' helping to articulate the conclusions of the conference. Please continue in prayer for us all.

Women Bishops

The Manchester Report

At this July's General Synod there will be two debates on women bishops. The first will concern the Manchester Report and the second will pave the way for the preparation of a single-clause Measure permitting women bishops. Protection for those who disagree with this move will only be provided on a ‘voluntary' basis through a Code of Practice to which "all concerned would be required to have regard".

The Manchester Report was published in April. Its purpose was to describe the different options that were available in dealing with the issue of women bishops. It was not required to choose between them.

The Report identified a range of possible alternatives for making special provision for those who disagree with the consecration of women bishops.

(a) New Structures.

Various proposals (e.g. for a new province or for creating ‘peculiar jurisdictions') were quickly dismissed. However one idea taken seriously was for the creation of new, special dioceses. Such dioceses would be headed by male bishops and would operate just as all other dioceses do at the moment, albeit on a non-geographical basis.

(b) Arrangements within Existing Structures

The main proposal is for a Code of Practice enabling diocesan bishops to delegate some of their functions to complementary bishops where they are petitioned to do so by a parish. The report says such a Code could be voluntary or mandatory and could entail either the removal of the provisions in the 1993 Measure entitling parishes to pass Resolutions A or B, or their retention. A major alternative to this approach is for the ‘statutory' transfer of specified responsibilities from diocesan bishops to complementary bishops. These responsibilities could include:

1. the celebration of the sacrament and Divine worship
2. pastoral and spiritual care
3. disciplinary arrangements
4. ministerial review
5. appointments to the petitioning parish
6. sponsorship of candidates for ordination training

The report accepts that diocesan bishops may want to keep these final three responsibilities.

The Forthcoming Debate at General Synod

Despite all the detail in the Report of how protection could be given to those who dissent from the change, the House of Bishops decided by a small majority to put forward a motion to General Synod which provides the barest minimum of reassurance.

What is at stake is not just whether the Church will continue to honour reassurances given in 1993. Our concern is that gospel ministry should prosper. What we need is reassurance that our candidates for ordination will still be welcomed and that clergy will continue to be able to find livings. That can only be guaranteed if it is enshrined in legislation. A Code of Practice will not be enough because its provisions will not be binding.

The need for clear legislative protection can be seen both by examining developments in England and in the wider Anglican Communion. In England the Pilling Report on senior church appointments has recently described clear evidence of discrimination against conservative evangelicals. If this is the case when legislation formally protects our position what possible good could a non-binding Code of Practice do? What is needed are clear arrangements, set up and guaranteed by a Measure.

A refusal by General Synod to provide any statutory safeguard is tantamount to a clear decision to exclude "conservative" evangelicals (and conservative catholics) from the Church of England. Without it, there will be no assured future for us and our need for alternative forms of oversight will grow.

Action To Date

Reform has analysed the Manchester Report and held urgent consultations among Council Members. As a result, we made a clear submission to the House of Bishops prior to its meeting in May, urging them for the sake of unity not to press forward with legislation on women bishops. Such action would only add to the divisions already facing us in the Anglican Communion. However, we said that if they decided to take action, then our needs would only be met if a safeguard could be offered that provided jurisdictional independence for those bishops who would oversee dissenting clergy and parishes.

Since then we have been actively briefing members of General Synod and preparing for further efforts to encourage all evangelical members of General Synod (whatever their view on women bishops) to vote against the motion on the grounds that without protection many of their partners in the gospel will see themselves as excluded from the Church.

Every member of Reform can add to this effort to secure greater protection for our position:

(a) Letters and telephone calls to bishops and your members of General Synod expressing your concerns will be a tremendous help.

(b) Signing one of the petitions that have now been organised will also help. http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/19592.html [petition now closed]. Around 700 have signed this and the number is rising steadily. It is asking General Synod to reject the ‘Single Clause, Code of Practice' option.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/19595.html [now closed] This one is for those who approve of the consecration of women as bishops but still wish to see General Synod reject the ‘Single Clause, Code of Practice' option.

You may also find it helpful to read the article ‘Less like a Church' about the impact of the ‘Single Clause' option on the future of the Church of England at: http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/2008/05/less-like-church-impact-of-manchester.html

(c) Urgent prayer for the debate at General Synod. The Manchester Report will be debated on Saturday 5th July and the proposal for legislation on Monday 7th July.

We have to recognise that the Church of England is determined to introduce women bishops and provide minimal protection for us. It is just possible that eventual proposals for legislation will fail to achieve the two thirds majority required in each House of General Synod. However, even if legislation fails in this ‘quinquenium' it will re-surface in the next General Synod (elected in 2010). We therefore need a strategy for safeguarding biblically faithful ministry within the Church of England for when this occurs. Members of the Reform Council are now working on this and we hope to explore such a strategy with as many members as possible at our forthcoming conference in October.

These are fast-moving times, but it is good to know the sustaining power of the Lord as we seek to remain faithful in his service, as well as the wonderful encouragement that comes when we see lives transformed by the gospel. At the end of the day, our ability to focus on gospel work is key, whatever changes have to occur to the institutional arrangements within which we minister.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Rod Thomas

The threat by the Bishop of New Westminster in Canada to suspend the Revd Dr Jim Packer from ministry because his church has sought the oversight of the Primate of the Southern Cone has rightly created a huge sense of outrage across the Communion and especially among evangelicals in the Church of England.  We are all indebted to Dr Packer for his monumental contribution to our understanding of Christian doctrine.  To treat such a scholarly, godly and elderly man, who has been a key evangelical leader for over half a century, in this mean-spirited and aggressive manner is deeply upsetting.

At its most recent meeting, the Council of Reform was of the view that this development demonstrated that there are only really two sides to the current controversy over human sexuality - and we can now see clearly what they are.  It is becoming increasingly apparent that there is no room for middle ground.  This being so, it is all the more regrettable that a number of English dioceses are offering ‘Lambeth' hospitality to the very people who are responsible for opposing faithful Anglicans - and in some cases dragging them through the courts -in the USA and Canada.  Some dioceses are also discovering that they are having to pick up a bill amounting to tens of thousands of pounds to support the Lambeth conference - a bill which ultimately will be shouldered by hard-pressed parishes.

What a relief it is to know that GAFCON points to an alternative vision of the future for Anglicanism.

Rod Thomas, Chairman, Reform