A SERVICE last week at which seven men were “commissioned” for leadership positions within the Church of England was a response to the “tragic failure” of the House of Bishops to uphold doctrine, based on the Rector of the church wherein the service was held.
The Revd William Taylor, the Rector of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate — a London church which has been in a “broken partnership” with the C of E since 2020 — said that the C of E’s bishops have taken a “pathway of self-serving and divisive schism” (News, 22 December 2020).
On Wednesday evening last week, St Helen’s hosted a service at which the previous Bishop of Maidstone, the Rt Revd Rod Thomas, commissioned seven men “for Christian leadership in Church of England services”.
The position was further explained in a video message which was released last Friday, wherein Mr Taylor said that they were the “equivalent of title posts” (i.e. first curacies), but that they might be “deployed otherwise in several contexts.
“Those commissioned for ministry at St Helen’s and her sister churches will likely be teaching the scriptures repeatedly throughout the congregations where they lead and can preside at informal church family meals, at which bread is broken and the death of the Lord Jesus is remembered.”
On Monday, an announcement from Affirming Catholicism — an Anglican group representing those within the Catholic tradition who take an inclusive approach to numerous issues referring to sexuality and gender — suggested that this amounted to “eucharistic services led by lay people in roles not recognised by the broader Church of England”.
The chair of Affirming Catholicism, Matt Parkes, said: “Permitting a type of holy communion within the Church of England presided over by those not ordained makes a mockery of the sacraments.”
The statement called for “appropriate motion” to be taken against the priests and bishops who took part within the service. Mr Parkes said: “We would hope that motion taken by the bishops and archbishops can be commensurate with that faced by clergy who entered a same-sex marriage.”
Clergy who’ve entered same-sex civil marriages have had their licence to officiate revoked.
Mr Taylor argued that the commissioning was “vital because of the tragic failure of nearly all of bishops within the House of Bishops”. They had failed “doctrinally”, “procedurally”, “morally”, and “practically”, he said, making reference to the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, and up to date votes within the General Synod on proposals which he described as “faithless”.
The Bishops, he said, “have caused schism by teaching error and by failing to uphold truth”. He endorsed schemes put in place by the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) to supply “alternative spiritual oversight” and another means for paying parish share (News, 18 November 2023).
The president of the CEEC, the previous Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Julian Henderson, led prayers at Wednesday’s service, and the group’s national director, Canon John Dunnett, read a lesson.
Before the service, Bishop Henderson said that those being commissioned had shown “courage” in “making a stand against the direction of travel that the Church of England is taking in the meanwhile by selecting to not be ordained by those that wish to alter the Church’s teaching and practice about relationships and marriage”.
He also commended them for staying within the C of E when “others are leaving”.
Mr Taylor distinguished the commissioning service from ordinations, and said that he expected the seven can be ordained “less publicly, sooner or later, by Anglican bishops not in partnership with the unorthodox bishops of the Church of England”.
The video released by St Helen’s didn’t show the act of commissioning, nor did it reveal the identities of the seven men who were commissioned.
A Facebook post by St Anne’s, Limehouse, nonetheless, congratulated the church’s assistant minister, Mervin Kissoon, on being commissioned, and included a photograph of Bishop Thomas laying a hand on Mr Kissoon’s head.
After the service, Canon Dunnett said that “with all that’s occurring within the Church of England in the meanwhile, there’s a really real risk that some people is not going to have the option to exercise leadership and ministry, and the commissioning of those people this evening goes to make that possible.”
Several ordinands on either side of the LLF debate have spoken to the Church Times up to now about their misgivings in regards to the way forward for the C of E’s teaching on relationships and marriage (News, 23 February).
Last October, a gaggle of ordinands against the changes wrote to the Archbishops saying that the method left them feeling “vulnerable and anxious” (News, 10 November 2023). The letter was signed by 161 ordinands, representing each Evangelical and Catholic traditions.
Both Bishop Henderson and Canon Dunnett have been signatories of letters from the Alliance, a coalition of Evangelical and Catholic opponents to the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples.
The service on Wednesday was not an official Alliance event, Mr Taylor said, but he drew attention to the support of the CEEC’s leadership, together with those attending the event from New Wine and Holy Trinity, Brompton.
He echoed calls, made in Alliance letters and on the ground of the General Synod, for structural changes within the C of E, characterising this as vital “for individuals who remain faithful to Jesus and his teaching”.
Church House, Lambeth Palace, and the diocese of London have been approached for comment.
