Christ Church Balham, in South West London, joined the Free Church of England denomination in January.
It is hoped that this move will help secure gospel ministry for generations to come and send many more people into full-time paid gospel ministry.
From its inception, Christ Church Balham (CCB), pictured, one of Co-Mission’s first church plants, has always identified as an Anglican church, both theologically and in the format of services. Part of what it means to be Anglican is believing it is a good thing for church leaders to receive external oversight, much as Paul entrusted Titus and Timothy to oversee the elders and mission in Crete and Ephesus respectively. Since the second century, the historic expression of this office has been ‘bishops’, which on paper are a good thing.
Hostility and liberalism
However, given the hostility to evangelical church planting in the Southwark diocese over the past decades, and the dominance of theological liberalism embedded into the structures, CCB has never been able or willing to accept oversight from the Bishop of Southwark. The Co-Mission network to whom CCB belongs has and continues to serve the church wonderfully; however with it being a regional network rather than a national denomination, there have been some gaps in what it is able to do.
One problem with not belonging to a denomination has been what to do with all the young men sent off for further theological education. It is CCB’s experience that some of those sent off to college without the backing of a denomination have then struggled to find ministry jobs afterwards. Of course, some may return to find a job within the Co-Mission network, but this will not be possible for everyone. A way was needed to be found for potential Christian ministers to be ordained and lead churches across the UK and beyond.
Looking elsewhere
Given the theological trajectory of the Church of England, many churches across the country are now looking elsewhere for alternative oversight from evangelical bishops. The two best options seem to be Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) and the Free Church of England (FCE). Both are solidly evangelical, mission-minded and passionate about planting. The FCE has the added benefit, since 1992, of being one of the ‘Churches designated pursuant to the Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1998.’ In 2012 the FCE’s orders were recognised under the ‘Overseas and Other Clergy Measure 1967’. This, together with the fact that both dioceses of the FCE have voted to support the GAFCON renewal of worldwide Anglicanism, gives FCE ordinands many avenues for future ministry. Those ordained with the FCE can work within the Church of England and vice versa. This is not the case for all other Anglican denominations. In addition, men put forward for ordination won’t have to go through a selection process before bishops in the Church of England who are living lives inconsistent with the Bible. This is the case in the Southwark diocese where the Diocesan Director of Ordinands is ‘married’ to her lesbian partner.
Robust system
One advantage of joining a denomination with oversight from evangelical bishops is that, should the minister of CCB ever ‘go off the rails’ in terms of either his theology or conduct, the congregation have somebody outside to whom they might turn for help, if the issue cannot be resolved internally. Granted, this is perhaps hard to imagine at this precise moment of time, but history has repeatedly shown how easily and quickly an evangelical minister’s life or doctrine can collapse. Churches need robust systems already in place for when the unimaginable happens, otherwise an entire ministry can be put in peril.
Others thinking about it
The leadership of CCB have been enjoying conversations with ministers in other Anglican churches who are contemplating, or have just made, the move into the FCE. Paul Hunt, the FCE diocesan bishop for the region into which CCB falls, is a solid conservative evangelical, who maintains a passion for biblical preaching, missional outreach and church planting. Paul Hunt said he is praying that: ‘…this will be the beginning of other like-minded churches and individuals who seek a biblical-based church that is Episcopal, Evangelical and Liturgical.’
Positive step
Richard Coekin, the director of Co-Mission, has also been involved in CCB’s thinking for some time and he too believes this to be a very positive step for the church.
CCB will not be leaving the Co-Mission network – indeed, there are already a number of Co-Mission churches in London dioceses who receive oversight from Church of England bishops, so this is nothing new. Neither will anything change in terms of the style of corporate worship or how meetings are run. CCB is confident that as a result of this new partnership many more people in Balham and across the UK will hear the saving good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen!
Andy is the Senior Minister of Christ Church Balham.
Some Background on the Free Church of England
What is the FCE’s statement of faith?
As an Anglican denomination the FCE’s doctrine is defined by the early Councils of the Church, the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. This is identical to theological basis of CCB since our inception. If anything, the FCE’s prayer book is even more reformed than the Church of England, having long ago made small liturgical clarifications designed to prevent sacerdotal or Roman interpretations.
What’s the history of the FCE?
The Free Church of England has evangelical roots in the eighteenth-century Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion. The first congregations to bear the name ‘Free Church of England’ were registered in 1844. The very first was Bridgetown Chapel in the parish of Berry Pomeroy which left the Church of England following the persecution of the Revd James Shore by Bishop Phillpotts of Exeter. By the end of the year other Free Church of England congregations had been founded by people who left the Established Church, convinced that she had departed irretrievably from her Scriptural roots. As one of the FCE’s early leaders said:
‘The body which we wish to see gathered and grow is the Church of England - that is to say, we will hold her doctrines, liturgy and general outline of government, but all freed from what we consider unscriptural and objectionable.’
Leadership did not initially come from new congregations leaving the Established Church but from those already in positions of leadership and influence in the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion which had long worshipped according to The Book of Common Prayer. The community which had been called into being by the ministry of George Whitefield and his associates had now reorganised itself as an alternative to the Established Church.
The Free Church of England expanded and grew until the 1940s. The Second World War weakened the denomination’s structures and after several subsequent decades of faithful holding to the orthodox faith, it is now enthusiastic for revitalisation and growth. Numbers of us are discovering the wisdom of the words penned in 1949 by Bishop Vaughan, when he stated that is was his conviction God was guiding and preserving the Free Church of England, ‘for some yet unrevealed purpose’.
