Dear Editor,
Thank you for the recent interchange on leaving the Church of England. Please allow me to point out that not every fear materialises, so it may not be wise to pre-judge outcomes.
When I was ordained into Anglican ministry in 1992, there were three particular challenges. The first was the gospel. A Bishop of Durham questioned the bodily resurrection of Christ and cathedrals hosted multi-faith events. Now our Archbishops write that ‘God raised Jesus from the dead. This is the Christian hope’ (26 January 2021). The second was leadership. Archbishop Carey said that excluding women from the presbyterate was ‘a most serious heresy’. Now we have the Five Guiding Principles which pledge support for those who keep leadership for men, and the Bishop of Maidstone is appointed to speak up for this position. The third was training. A report threatened Oak Hill’s licence, but General Synod threw it out. All these challenges remain, but in a different form.
Twenty-nine years on, the revisionists are again in full cry. They are happy for us to quote ‘Keep away’ (Rom. 16:17) but not ‘a remnant chosen by grace’ (Rom. 11:5). So we stand up, speak out, guard our pulpits, pass PCC resolutions, teach our congregations, and value friendship with brethren in other church groupings. Amid the lamentable error, November’s Living in Love and Faith discussion materials also include Biblical exegesis, godly testimony, quotes from The Thirty-nine Articles. Brave souls contended for their inclusion, and courageous hearts must now fight the good fight of faith for true repentance in the National Church. I invite Free Church readers to join Anglicans in praying that our gracious God would revive the C of E with its parishes, schools and chaplaincies for His glory.
Yours sincerely,
Jonathan Frais, Bexhill
Dear Editor
The articles in the December 2020 and January 2021 en by Stephen Kneale and Lee Gatiss concerning whether evangelicals should stay in the Church of England, did not mention one aspect which was part of my own decision as a layman to renounce the denomination but not Anglicanism in 2019.
Anglican evangelicals know that the parish share/quota system inevitably leads to some of their offerings going to support the activities of people who promote liberal attitudes to the things of Christ and to God’s standards of right and wrong. There is no way this can be avoided because of the cross-subsidy system and the re-distribution of parish shares which are paid initially to the host Diocese.
Clearly, it is the correct principle that parishioners pay for the employment costs, housing and future pensions of their own clergy and for the upkeep of the bishops and other Diocesan costs where the Diocese is led by bishops who are orthodox teachers of the faith.
One of the reasons for my quitting the C of E arose from the matter of re-distribution of finances, because I was not willing to pay anything towards the costs of bishops in various other Dioceses who are frankly false teachers or towards any part of the C of E that follows the revisionist/LGBT agenda. In my view, bishops who do not adhere to the faith once for all delivered to the saints and who make light of God’s standards of right and wrong are drawing their salaries and entitlement to future pensions under false pretences.
Clergy who have left the C of E to join AMIE or the Free Church of England on grounds of conscience are relinquishing secure employment, accrual of future pensionable years and the roof over their heads and their families’ heads. This is a considerable sacrifice financially but I believe the Lord will honour their godly stand and He will take care of the consequences.
Yours sincerely,
Adrian Freeman, Bexhill-on-sea
