This month’s General Synod will receive an update from the Living in Love and Faith Programme Board, but there will be no formal motion or debate this time.
This could wrongly be interpreted as ‘no progress’ for the LLF cause, and CEEC will be calling on orthodox members of General Synod to exercise a number of cautions.
You may have heard mention of a ‘de facto parallel province within the Church of England’ over these last few weeks.
The announcement of the Alliance to the commitment of its construction has been met with widespread appreciation within the evangelical constituency, but with various questions being raised. Let's look at two of those questions now.
It is still being assumed by those pursuing change in the Church of England that we can simply ‘agree to disagree’ over matters of same-sex marriage and blessings. In practice, this means that the permission not to use the Prayers of Love and Faith is a sufficient provision and that either no or minimum structural rearrangement is necessary.
This, however, remains a theological ostrich with its head in the sand. How can the Church of England simultaneously say that same-sex marriage and blessings are both sinful and holy? And as someone who holds to a globally acknowledged Biblical position on human sexuality, my conscience will not allow me to simply accept a Church of England that blesses sin as if it were holiness.
In August, the Church of England announced that a series of meetings were to be held in September ahead of the bishops presenting to November’s General Synod ‘proposals to enable same-sex couples to come to church following a civil marriage or civil partnership for prayers of dedication, thanksgiving and for God’s blessing’.
This was a stark signal that the bishops are still intending to ‘move the goalposts’ in the Church of England’s teaching and practice regarding sexual ethics and to introduce significant change. As such, this will be a more substantive change than other liberalising changes in recent times since it will formally enshrine in our liturgy a doctrinal change divergent to our ‘foundation deeds’.
Have the Prayers of Love and Faith stalled? Not at all
This month’s General Synod will receive an update from the Living in Love and Faith Programme Board, but there will be no formal motion or debate this time.
This could wrongly be interpreted as ‘no progress’ for the LLF cause, and CEEC will be calling on orthodox members of General Synod to exercise a number of cautions.