SEVEN Church of England lay ministers were ordained deacon in May by a bishop of a South African Church that just isn’t a member of the Anglican Communion, it emerged last week.
A bishop within the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA), the Rt Revd Martin Morrison, conducted the ordinations in an unpublicised service in east London.
News of the ordinations emerged last week in a post on the Law & Religion UK blog, written by the Professor of Modern Anglicanism on the University of Oxford, the Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone. He described the service, held within the East London Tabernacle, a Baptist church in Mile End, as a “joyful, celebratory occasion”.
“The service was entirely under the auspices of REACH SA, however the congregation of about 150 were mostly members of the Church of England, including senior incumbents, retired bishops, and members of General Synod,” he wrote.
The names of the seven people ordained deacon on the service had not been announced, in order to “shield them from online trolls or ecclesial recriminations”, Professor Atherstone wrote. “In a Church of England context, they’ll not exercise any of the functions reserved for the clergy.” Instead, they might proceed to minister “in a lay capability” of their C of E parishes.
Bishop Morrison wrote to the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, on 21 May, to tell them that the ordinations would happen. The Church Times understands that the letter didn’t say exactly after they would happen; actually, they were on account of happen the subsequent day, and had already occurred by the point Archbishop Cottrell and Bishop Mullally replied on 23 May.
Their letter solid doubt on the status of those that were ordained deacons. They expressed concern that “any individuals ordained by you may mistakenly think that they might then have the status of clerks in holy orders under ecclesiastical law and be eligible to carry office within the Church of England.”
Archbishop Cottrell and Bishop Mullally wrote that, although “the orders of REACH-SA are recognised and accepted by the Church of England for the needs of the Overseas and Other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967”, the granting of permission to officiate was “discretionary and involves a means of discernment as to a person’s suitability for ministry within the Church of England.
“It mustn’t be assumed that a person ordained within the circumstances outlined in your email can be granted such permission.”
In an excerpt of their letter published on Professor Atherstone’s blog post, Archbishop Cottrell and Bishop Mullally also warned that use of a Church of England constructing for the service would depart the incumbent “liable to ecclesiastical discipline”.
They told Bishop Morrison that the “plan of action you describe wouldn’t be a helpful act at a time once we are within the means of discernment within the Church of England.
“At the very least we’d consider your proceeding in that way ecumenically discourteous. It may be inflammatory and we consider it to be unnecessary. In the Church of England we’re keen to maintain all shades of Anglican church tradition valued and lively inside the Church, and are exploring how we will do this inside our own Church.”
Ordinations have turn into a degree of contention within the continuing disagreements over the Church of England’s authorisation of blessings for same-sex couples (News, 23 February 2024).
Last 12 months, seven men were “commissioned” at a service in St Helen’s, Bishopsgate (News, 2 August 2024). The Rector, the Revd William Taylor, said that the choice to avoid formal ordination was since the Church of England had taken a “pathway of self-serving and divisive schism” within the Living in Love and Faith process.
