Compelled to resist: 5,000+ already – and you?

I have recently returned from Kigali, Rwanda, and the fourth GAFCON conference (Global Anglicans from over 50 countries coming together because of deep concern about unbiblical teaching and practise across the world in the Anglican Church).

The title of the conference was ‘To whom shall we go?’ and the answer was clear: to Jesus, and with Him we go to the rest of the world. It was an inspiration to be hosted by the Anglican Church of Rwanda, and though the conference was trying to find a good way to respond to hugely concerning developments, especially in the Church of England, the reality and joy of worship, Bible teaching and simply wonderful testimony to the Lord’s goodness was, to quote Jeremiah, to know there is a balm in Gilead!

I was privileged to be asked to deliver a plenary speech at the conference, tracking developments from the Lambeth Conference in 1998, when the famous Resolution 1.10 was passed, up to the present. As I drafted the speech, I was struck by the deep sense of grief I felt at the unfolding tragedy of the last few years, and the place we find ourselves in now. It remains to be seen how the English bishops and archbishops will formally respond to what has been said globally and in England, but the statements following the General Synod by GAFCON and Global South indicate we are in a situation where the teaching of Scripture as summarised by Resolution 1:10 has now been set aside in the Church of England. We asked all those who were at the conference to pray that this may not be so, and that the bishops would realise what they have done and think again.

We urge the archbishops and bishops to draw back. We await the final proposals, pastoral guidance and prayers in July or later this year. We are told that what is proposed is not a departure from the doctrine of the Church of England. The General Synod has required the bishops to ensure that this is the case.

Whatever happens it is clear there will be a major resetting of the Anglican Communion taking place over the next few years as GAFCON and Global South work closely together. I thought when the final communiqué was read that it demonstrated the centre of gravity of worldwide Christianity, and Anglicanism, has now without doubt shifted to the South. It is a tragedy that the English House of Bishops and Archbishops have alienated so many faithful Anglicans globally.

My own reaction was one of grief and mourning, and that too is the reaction of thousands of clergy and lay people across England as well as across the world.

We are praying for a change of heart; we are pressing for a settlement of visible differentiation to make it clear we cannot walk together on a primary matter which is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. At the Lambeth Conference back in 1920, though freedom was recognised for different parts of the Communion to develop in different ways, the Conference said there was no freedom either ‘to deny the truth or ignore the fellowship’. We want to praise God for those restraints of truth and love, and pray that the English Bishops and Synod accept those restraints now!

At the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), we regret that we have now been forced to a position of protest. We are grieved that we now need to demonstrate clearly to the bishops that we cannot stand by and watch our beloved church step away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus and the Bible and step towards the whims of society. It is a truth worth fighting for, and of eternal significance. We are those that Bishop Sarah Mullaly described as being ‘compelled to resist’. Our recently launched Declaration, part of our ‘Keeping Faith’ initiative, is just one way in which we are communicating to bishops that we cannot accept the indicated direction of travel. Over 5,000 have already signed it. Please consider signing it if you can. Now is the time to contend.

As the prophet Jeremiah, who has become a bit of a familiar friend over these last years, says: ‘Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’ ( Jer. 6:16).