Fight or flight?

There are two schools of thought about the way forward for evangelicals in the Church of England at the moment.

The first school of thought is what might be called the ‘into the lifeboats’ approach. This ‘boats’ view believes the CofE is lost. Those who think otherwise, it is implied, are wasting their time. People should be planning to leave – perhaps to the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) or the Free Church of England; furthermore, to put any energy into other strategies is merely to repeat the same failed actions of the last 50 years, it is argued. If we keep on with the same tactics we will merely replicate the same results.

The second school of thought is what might be called the ‘into battle’ approach. This view contends that the C of E is far from lost, and that nothing is beyond the power of God. Moreover, it holds that many of the key fights have yet to come. People should be planning to stay, rather than abandoning congregations to false teaching; furthermore, to give up fighting would make the victory of liberalism a self-fulfilling prophecy. And while evangelical strategy over the last 50 years may have been flawed, it is implied, things would have been a lot worse without it.