Dear Sir,
I wish to comment on your lead front-page article in the February 2020 edition of en and offer a modicum of redress in the interests of fairness and good dialogue. I have recently retired after 38 years of parish ministry in the Cof E, the last 20 being in the diocese of Chelmsford and therefore knowing all the nine years of Stephen Cottrell’s ministry as Diocesan Bishop.
I have been known and used as a leading conservative evangelical in the diocese. Across our acknowledged and perhaps widening differences, we have sought to maintain a robust friendship in our exchanges and dialogue – what Proverbs might mean by ‘iron sharpening iron’ which the late Derek Kidner describes as the ‘healthy clash of personalities and opinions’. To that end, may I pick up on two remarks in the article?
