At the heart of what makes us evangelicals is the fact that Christ has died for our sins. The one who knew no sin became sin for us and so effectively rescued us and brought us home. At the heart of our Anglican evangelical faith is the wonderful truth of Christ and the cross revealed to us in the Word of God. The work of CEEC in this last twelve months has always kept these great truths in mind as we have sought to face both the opportunities and challenges facing the church today.

I was humbled and honoured to be asked to succeed Revd Dr Richard Turnbull as Chairman of CEEC. I was heartened by the overwhelming support of the Council as I took up the leadership of this strategic body which effectively acts as the forum for evangelicals to work and discuss the issues of the day together. Your support out in the country in DEFs and DEUs is vital along with the work of many significant societies if we are going to reach our nation for Christ and revitalise the health of the national Church.

Attached to this letter is a link to enable you as a supporter to share with CEEC your thoughts and views about the work and role of the Bishops in the Church of England. This survey we believe could be groundbreaking and build on previous surveys that have been helping to shape the agenda of your Council. (Click here for the survey)

In the last year the Council met five times to discuss matters of concern to evangelicals in the Church of England and the wider communion. We published a significant document called ‘Shaping the Future’ which has much to commend it as it tackles issues of living under Scripture, the importance of unity and truth, as well as sexuality and the church. We continued to chart a positive response to the contentious issue of Women in the Episcopate. Part of our response has been to attempt to show how evangelicals that are holding different views can work together with integrity.

CEEC discussed together a response to the rising issue of Sharia Law that had been produced by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. We saw that this was an issue that affected not just the church in England but had implications in the wider Anglican Communion as tensions between Muslims and Christians have risen on the world stage.

The Council listened with interest when our President, the Right Revd Wallace Benn came to speak on GAFCON, which had taken place in the summer of 2008. He warned us that the situation in North America that gave rise to GAFCON resulted in the setting up of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

Later in the year we had the opportunity with the help of Paul Zaphiriou to tackle both the causes and response to the Credit Crunch that is affecting all our lives and bringing many challenges to the local church. CEEC itself faces its own financial challenges as in recent years income has declined. If you or your church believe you could offer not only your prayerful support but also make a financial gift to this vital work, then it would receive the grateful thanks of the whole Council and the wider evangelical family. (Contact details here.)

Our ambition for the future is to make www.ceec.info a vital resource for the evangelical family in the Church of England. And to support and encourage one another by the many good news stories of where Churches are growing, lives are being changed and offering hope in our Saviour Christ not only to the wider church but to our nation.

Michael Lawson

Chairman of CEEC

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