Dear Sir,
As a former Anglican minister, I read with some concern the items about Reform and GAFCON in the December EN. Have we forgotten the old Reformation tag ecclesia semper reformanda est (the church is always to be reformed)? Since Keele in 1967 (and before), the aim of Anglican evangelicals has been biblical improvement, not Reformation. The goal has not been to bring the whole church back to the gospel of the Bible and the Thirty-nine Articles.
In her interview with EN, Susie Leafe, the Director of Reform, spoke of seeing her task as ‘representing the views of Reform members in different settings’. Reform faces the challenge of ‘continuing to be faithful to the whole counsel of Scripture’. Does that not include contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, as well as proclaiming the gospel? Does it not involve rejecting the makers of false gods who have no place in the visible church of Christ? Susie does not mention striving to bring the national church back to the gospel of the Bible and its historic formularies. ‘Reform’ is on the tin, but Reformation is not in the tin.
