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.
There are similar fault lines in Chris Sugden’s article on GAFCON. He writes of supporting gospel initiatives and of defending orthodoxy — not evangelical truth. One problem with GAFCON is ‘the elephant in the room’, the hidden presence of those who at vital points do not believe the gospel. At the meeting in Nairobi Peter Jensen described GAFCON as an alliance of Anglo-Catholics, evangelicals and charismatics. Our Protestant forefathers, the Reformation bishops, went to the stake rather than accept the doctrine of the mass. How can an alliance be possible with those today whose sacramentalism destroys the gospel of free grace? Andrew Atherstone speaks of GAFCON on the Fulcrum website: ‘It is a broad coalition of theologies and church cultures, which can sometimes be an awkward friendship… The Nairobi communiqué welcomes “all our different traditions” (mislead-ingly caricatured as evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics, and charismatics) as all committed to “a renewed Anglican orthodoxy.”’ The Jerusalem Declaration of 2008 famously affirms ‘justification by faith’ (as did the Council of Trent) but not ‘justification by faith alone’. That word ‘alone’ is vital.
All Christians in the UK are under a dark spiritual cloud. The situation is complex. My heart goes out to my Anglican friends. We must beg God for that work of revival that alone can lead to powerful gospel proclamation and courageous Reformation.
Yours sincerely,
