Complementarian bishop

On Tuesday 5 May there was a very subdued press conference, in a back room at Lambeth Palace, at which it was announced that Rod Thomas, vicar of Elburton Parish Church in Plymouth, chairman of Reform and a member of General Synod, had been appointed to be the new Bishop of Maidstone. No frills. No fanfares. In fact, you may have missed it altogether.

The appointment of a conservative evangelical bishop in the Church of England was long overdue. The last complementarian evangelical, Wallace Benn, was appointed 17 years ago and it is nearly three years since he retired. The gap was not unexpected. A report by the Church of England in 2007, called Talent and Calling, highlighted the lack of conservative evangelicals in senior leadership positions. The opportunities to deal with it existed – there have been 75 opportunities for a diocesan bishop to appoint a complementarian to assist them since that report was accepted by General Synod and every single time the opportunity has been missed, or rejected.

Archbishops’ intervention

It took an intervention by the archbishops to arrange for a complementarian to be appointed; in fact, a special role has had to be created. The reaction to this has been mixed. Here at the Reform office we have had hundreds of emails of support but there are many in the Church who would like to see him fail. WATCH, the lead campaigners for women’s ordination and consecration, responded to the news by saying:

‘WATCH believes that “male headship” is a view that is damaging to both women and men. Whilst we truly desire that all Christian people flourish in the faith, we will continue to challenge male headship views where they restrict the leadership and well-being of women. We do so in solidarity with women across the Anglican Communion who live life in fear of men, because of their subordination to men.’

This view of ‘headship’ has been pedalled for so long that many believe it to be true. It is going to be an uphill battle for Rod to undo the effect of the years when the senior leadership of the church has neither believed nor been able to articulate a true understanding of complementarianism. It is vital that we recapture the truth that submission is, by definition, voluntary (and at the heart of what it means to be a Christian) and that godly leadership is modelled on Christ’s self-sacrifice.

Shared Conversations

This month also saw the first of the Shared Conversations about Scripture, Sexuality and Mission in the Church of England. From the start these Conversations have been more about sharing experience than wrestling with Scripture, so Reform encouraged conservative evangelicals not to take part. It is still disappointing to have our worst fears confirmed by those who have been involved in the Conversations. Rose Griggs, who describes herself on her blog as a ‘flag-waving, rainbow-wearing lesbian’, said that the process was ‘streamlined towards a conclusion of good disagreement’. Most concerning was the way she continued: ‘We hadn’t answered the question of exactly what we were disagreeing on’ but that this did not seem to be a fundamental problem.

Please pray that as Rod Thomas becomes a bishop and promises to ‘teach and uphold sound and wholesome doctrine’ and ‘banish and drive away all erroneous and strange opinions’ his reliance on God’s Word would bring much-needed light and clarity in to leadership of the Church of England.