23/4/2004 - Anglican Mainstream question Prime Minister on St Albans' appointment
Major concerns about the use of the office of the Prime Minister to steer the Church in a more liberal direction over human sexuality are expressed in a letter from Anglican Mainstream to 10 Downing Street.
The letter about Canon Jeffrey John’s appointment as Dean of St Albans asks the Prime Minister to meet a delegation from Anglican Mainstream to discuss their concerns about the insensitive timing of the appointment and the apparent use of church appointments to influence the debate within the Church of England. It also asks Mr Blair to take steps to discover the source of the leak about the appointment and ensure that it does not happen again.
Dr Philip Giddings, convenor of the Anglican Mainstream network, criticises the “involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office in the apparent attempts to move the church in a more liberal direction and the leaking of the appointment to the press.”
The letter which is signed by the steering committee of the network, including the Revd David Banting (Chairman of Reform); the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Revd Wallace Benn, the Revd John Coles (Chairman of New Wine), the Revd Dr Paul Gardner (Chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council) and the Revd George Curry (Chairman of Church Society) expresses grave reservations about Canon Jeffrey John’s move from Southwark to St Albans.
“At the press conference formally announcing the appointment it became clear that Dr John would continue to advocate the position he has consistently held in his published writings about human sexuality, a position which is contrary to the teaching of Holy Scripture and to the agreed policy of the House of Bishops of the Church of England as expressed in Issues in Human Sexuality (1991) as well as to the General Synod’s 1987 Resolution as well as the resolutions of the 1998 Lambeth Conference,” commented Dr Giddings.
“It is thus clear that our forebodings about this appointment being used to promote a change in the Church of England’s position on marriage and sexuality are already being proved correct. In spite of Archbishop Rowan’s repeated pleas for prayerful reflection and the avoidance of provocative action, the revisionists are pursuing their campaign for change - and using senior positions in the church to that end. They need to be answered.”
Dr Giddings also expresses concern about the role the Archbishop of Canterbury himself played in the appointment noting that, according to Bishop Christopher Herbert’s letter to his diocesan clergy, Dr Rowan Williams was consulted.
The Anglican Mainstream letter says: “We are seeking to ensure that those responsible for these matters are in no doubt as to the depth and scale of the opposition from very many faithful Christians in England and across the world to these attempts at revisionism.”
Dr Giddings has also called on supporters of Anglican Mainstream to write to express their concern to their Bishops, the Bishop of St Albans, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prime Minister, and the Queen as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
To see the full text of Dr Giddings letter to Anglican Mainstream supporters visit the website: www.anglican-mainstream.net
or further details Dr Philip Giddings can be contacted on 0117 3788207
Copyright © 2004 CEEC. Updated Sunday, October 31, 2004 9:25 PM