Synod: culture over Scripture

The General Synod of the Church of England is drawing to a close as I write.

In fact, it officially came to an end last Saturday night but since then the majority of members have been cloistered in Shared Conversations about Sexuality, Mission and Scripture. I say the majority, because some have disappeared home and others, including myself, have been here but have refused to take part in the process because of the fundamental flaws in the way that they have been designed.

Attempted manipulation

It is unusual for me to quote The Guardian, and even more unusual for me to quote Andrew Brown, but I think he was on to something when he wrote: ‘The idea is not to reach agreement – 30 years of wrangling have established that this is quite impossible – but to try to bring people on both sides of the debate to see their opponents as fellow Christians. Conservative evangelicals have denounced the scheme as an attempt to manipulate opinion, which of course it is. The question is whether it will work.’

A quick look at the timetable revealed how those designing the process believed that we might move towards the final session which was called ‘Walking Forward Together’. The answer was to listen to one another, to hear one another’s ‘faith journey’, to hear from theologians with different perspectives and to hear from the experience of carefully selected people. Less than two hours were spent with the Bibles open, sharing verses that have been important to individuals. In short, the process appeared to have been designed on the assumption that culture and experience should affect our understanding of the Scriptures, rather than the other way round.

Holding out the Word

Many evangelicals went in to the conversations clinging to Romans 12.1-2, as they sought to offer those involved a true understanding of the gospel that transforms our minds and will. Those of us who were present but not participating spent much of our time praying that their efforts to hold out the word of truth would bear fruit in individual lives. We were not surprised that, at the end of two days of Shared Conversations, many signed a statement of dissatisfaction in the process.

Anti-depressant

One could become depressed if one did not realise that the future of God’s people in England does not ultimately rely on this process, or on a future vote of Synod. It does, of course, depend on our Father in Heaven. And what great gifts he has been giving. In the past few weeks there has been so much good news: it has been a joy to meet with friends at the Evangelical Ministers’ Assembly; to hear from Andrew Paterson about what has been going on in the FIEC; to join with Tim Dennick as he seeks to pastor Zion Community Church in St Ives; and even we Anglicans seem to be getting our act together.

In September the ReNew Conference heads north to Leeds. We are expecting about 400 Anglican leaders to join together to learn from God’s Word, have conversations that need no facilitation and consider plans for how best to pioneer, establish and secure healthy local Anglican churches in this country. I believe there are still a few places available! GAFCON/UK has also set up a new Task Force to ensure they are ready for the challenges ahead.