A WARNING of a “de facto ‘parallel Province’” within the Church of England has been given in a letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York from the Alliance, an umbrella group that emerged last 12 months. It comprises the leaders of groups, Catholic and Evangelical, which can be concerned in regards to the effect of the Living in Love and Faith end result on C of E teaching on marriage.
The letter, signed by current and former Vicars of Holy Trinity, Brompton, and the National Leader of New Wine, amongst others, warns that, if proposals to enable stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples go ahead, “we could have no alternative but rapidly to ascertain what would in effect be a latest de facto ‘parallel Province’ inside the Church of England and to hunt pastoral oversight from bishops who remain faithful to orthodox teaching on marriage and sexuality.”
Next month, the General Synod will probably be asked to vote on a draft motion approving such services, alongside a suggestion for “delegated episcopal ministry” for opponents (Online News, 21 June). The proposal is “clearly contrary to the canons and doctrine of the Church of England”, the Alliance letter says, citing Canon B30 on marriage.
It accuses the Bishops of getting “reneged” on a commitment to using the Canon B2 process, which requires a two-thirds majority in all Houses for a change of liturgy. This, they write, is “a matter of deep regret (and the reason behind incalculable damage to the structure, integrity and mission of the national Church)”.
After a gathering of the House of Bishops last October, it was announced that the Bishops had agreed “in principle” to commend blessings, a part of Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF), to be used inside existing liturgies, but that stand-alone services would require authorisation through Canon B2, which involves the total synodical process (News, 10 October).
In the Synod in November, an amendment calling on the Bishops to contemplate a trial period for stand-alone services was carried (News, 15 November).
The letter is the newest in a series from the Alliance and refers to those earlier interventions, warning of “the unintended consequences of those moves that you simply propose and the problems they raise by way of Western elitism (ignoring the views of the Global South) and unlawfulness (failing to follow the canons of the Church of England that are designed to preserve unity)”.
It sets out a plan to “allow those churches who support the Church’s teaching to hold on their mission and pipeline of ministry securely, founded on the Church’s doctrine”.
The signatories write: “If the further departure from the Church’s doctrine suggested by the Synod papers does go ahead, we could have no alternative but rapidly to ascertain what would in effect be a latest de facto ‘parallel Province’ inside the Church of England and to hunt pastoral oversight from bishops who remain faithful to orthodox teaching on marriage and sexuality.
“We will encourage all church leaders who’re in sympathy with The Alliance to hitch the parallel Province. We will take motion with immediate effect to open up a latest pre-ordination stream for potential ordinands, in partnership with orthodox bishops, to reverse the decline caused partly by this unconstitutional and unorthodox process.”
It refers to a “considerable fall” within the variety of ordinands “for the reason that House of Bishops’ PLF proposals” (News, 23 February)
While the letter says that the signatories are signing “of their personal capacities, recognising they can not claim to talk for everybody that they lead”, it begins: “We write as a broad coalition of leaders of networks across different traditions supported by greater than 2000 clergy inside the Church of England.”
They write: “We will not be leaving the Church of England or the Anglican Communion. We wish to remain loyal to the one holy catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world fairly than be a part of a schismatic move which departs from the teaching received and upheld not only by the overwhelming majority of the Anglican Communion . . . The latest Province will seek to cooperate with the opposite orthodox Provinces inside the Anglican Communion.”
Eleven bishops called on Wednesday for the synodical process to be rethought.
In the letter, published by Premier, they wrote that they were “grateful for the labor” of those that had contributed towards the newest proposals and were “painfully conscious” of the toll the controversy was taking. None the less, they may not support the direction of travel.
“We welcome the emphasis on the importance of unity, but don’t consider that the proposals will protect our unity in mission to the nation or our partnerships inside the wider Church. We are persuaded that a commitment to unity will as a substitute be demonstrated by the resolve we show to take the time we want to attain sufficient consensus in relation to doctrinal matters.
“This is why we proceed to call upon our fellow bishops and General Synod to not put aside the right canonical procedures for considering theological and liturgical developments, that are intended to protect our unity. We regret the plan to reverse the House’s October decision, supported by Synod in November, to introduce standalone services by Canon B2.”
Many bishops were concerned about “the impact on the coherence of the Church’s lifetime of moving ahead in a way that can create fundamental fragmentations at parish, diocesan and national levels”, the bishops write.
“We due to this fact urge Synod to rethink the method at the moment, and request the bishops to enable further doctrinal work, bringing back proposals that can properly be considered under the governance of the obligatory canons.”
The letter is signed by 4 diocesans (the Bishops of Rochester, Hereford, Guildford, and Southwell & Nottingham) in addition to the Bishops of Lancaster, Horsham, and Plymouth, the Bishops of Ebbsfleet, Oswestry and Islington, and the Rt Revd Mark Rylands, Assistant Bishop within the diocese of Exeter.
