Press_Release

As Press Releases are normally short, they are included here in full

PRESS RELEASE 18TH OCTOBER 2004

The Church of England Evangelical Council welcomes the Windsor Report for its:

clear affirmation of Scripture as “the Church’s supreme authority”, and the call for “hearing and obeying God as he speaks in Scripture”.

request that those in ECUSA and Canada who have caused such hurt and pain throughout the communion, be asked to express ‘regret’ for their actions.

recommendation that the communion work towards a “Common Anglican covenant”.

analysis of how some matters may be regarded as of ‘secondary’ or ‘primary importance’

We are, however, concerned that:

the Report leaves it to the consciences of those concerned to offer expressions of ‘regret’, and then fails to address any effective discipline should these ‘regrets’ not be forthcoming.

‘regret’ neither accepts responsibility nor wrongdoing, both of which call for ‘repentance’.

the report implies a moral equivalence between the actions of those advocating matters concerning homosexual union and those who have intervened to defend orthodox conduct.

the report does not offer enough protection of the orthodox clergy who are currently under attack within ECUSA, the church in Canada, and the Anglican church in Brazil.

any “Common Anglican covenant” will take years to implement, and will not be in place quickly enough to help with the current problems.

The effectiveness of this report will depend upon how the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates and the Bishops treat and act upon it.

We shall continue to study the report and its implications and to pray that the truth of the Gospel of reconciliation will be worked out within our communion.

Contacts:

President: Rt Revd Wallace Benn (phone 01323-648462)

Chairman: Ven Dr Paul D Gardner (phone 01392-425432)

Director: Revd Nick Wynn-Jones (phone 020-8650-3847)

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Press Statement - Church of England Evangelical Council

We congratulate Dr Rowan Williams on his appointment and will be praying for him and his wife and family as he embarks on this enormously responsible task of leading the Anglican Communion.

Our commitment is to work with all those who uphold our church's biblical and spiritual heritage in all matters, both creedal and moral, as we aim to reach the nation for Christ. We will gladly support the Archbishop in all his endeavours to that end as he seeks the future direction and unity of the church.

As head of the world-wide Anglican communion, he will lead a church of which the majority of its members are in third world countries where many are called upon to suffer for their faith. They are prepared to do so because of their commitment to Christ and to the authority of Scripture in all matters of faith and practice. Our prayer is that a similar courageous commitment will characterise the leadership of Archbishop Rowan Williams.

We trust that we can make a positive and supportive contribution to his term of leadership in the worldwide Anglican Communion. We will specially be praying for him as he engages with rifts in the Canadian and American Provinces, and in his encouragement of the fast-expanding younger Provinces of the developing nations.

In the past, many church members have expressed concern over reports of Dr Williams' views on some areas of sexual ethics and, more recently, of his apparent preparedness to be involved in a ceremony involving Welsh Druids. In line with the Christian way of handling differences, we will look forward to conversations with him on such matters.

We pray that he and his wife will enjoy energy and health, together with all the resources of the historic Christian faith, as received by the Church of England.

On a related matter —
The appointment of Dr Rowan Williams was ‘announced' in the Times and ‘confirmed' in the Guardian well before the official announcement. We are deeply concerned that this crucial appointment was leaked to the media, with the ensuing controversy and its personal focus. This is most regrettable and we believe that a thorough investigation is called for.
The CEEC is a representative body of evangelical Anglicans elected from the Diocesan Evangelical Fellowships and Unions around England.
The Chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council is currently the Revd Dr Paul D Gardner. (01606 – 77557)

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The Church of England Evangelical Council with the Anglican Evangelical Assembly, PO Box 93, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 5WL

4 October 2002

Dear Sir,
As the Chairmen of the two principal Anglican evangelical consultative and representative bodies, which include Reform and Church Society among their wide membership, we are convinced that concern over scriptural authority and issues of sexuality is found much more widely than simply among the ‘conservative evangelical wing' of the Church of England.

The statements of the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolutions covered many subjects but were particularly explicit on the authority of Scripture. By an overwhelming majority the bishops of the worldwide Communion affirmed a traditional view of Scripture and its authority. It is this that all evangelicals wish to affirm with, we believe, the majority of the world Anglican Communion.

The vast majority of our world Communion and its bishops have argued that Lambeth Resolution 1.10 on sexuality simply reflects what the Bible says and should therefore be upheld by all church leaders.

The request by Reform that any Christian leader should be asked to assent to the Communion's understanding of the authority of Scripture, and its view of the place for sexual intercourse being within heterosexual marriage alone, is surely not unreasonable. The danger of a ‘rift' becomes explicit if some in leadership are unable to teach and commend the Church's expressed opinion on these matters.

While we would have would preferred that such matters could be solved privately and amicably, the matters raised publicly by Reform are of serious consequence for us all.

Yours truly,

The Revd Dr Paul Gardner
Chairman, Church of England Evangelical Council

The Revd Chris Green
Chairman, Anglican Evangelical Assembly

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PRESS STATEMENT From the Church of England Evangelical Council residential meeting at High Leigh, Hertfordshire

11 October 2002

We, the Church of England Evangelical Council, being the duly constituted representative body of evangelicals within the Church of England, and including bishops, clergy and laity, unanimously resolve:

• to reaffirm our commitment to the authority of Scripture;

• to endorse fully the letter previously released on our behalf by our Chairman and the Chairman of the Anglican Evangelical Assembly, and

• to establish a theological working group which, building on work already done, will consider further the implications of the doctrinal and moral issues which have arisen following the announcement of Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop-designate of Canterbury.

Signed:

The Rt Revd Wallace Benn, President
The Rt Revd David Evans, CEEC International Co-ordinator, the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion
The Revd Nick Wynne-Jones, Secretary
The Revd Canon Professor Anthony Thiselton, CEEC University of Nottingham
The Revd Canon Tim Dakin, CEEC, General Secretary the Church Mission Society
Mr Frank Knaggs, Executive Officer.

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An Open Letter to the Bishops of the Church of England from the Church of England Evangelical Council addressing recent concerns with regard to same-sex relationships.

We welcome the recent Pastoral Letter of the Primates meeting in Brazil which states clearly that ‘as a body' they ‘cannot support the authorisation' of rites of public blessing for same-sex unions and which commends to the Communion the booklet True Union in the Body? 1 In the light of the appeal within True Union? for a moratorium on the introduction of new rites of blessing, we join with the Archbishop of Canterbury in expressing our profound dismay and regret at the recent actions of the Bishop of New Westminster (Canada). In giving permission for the enactment of such rites he has, in Dr Williams' words, ‘gone significantly further than the teaching of the Church or pastoral concern can justify'. 2

In keeping with the concerns voiced subsequently by other primates, we therefore urge our Archbishop to continue to give a clear signal that such actions depart from the teaching of Holy Scripture and from the teaching and catholicity of the Church, and should be regarded as unacceptable.

In this context we are similarly concerned by the news of recent episcopal appointments within the Diocese of New Hampshire (USA) and in Oxford, which, if ratified, will compromise the teaching of the Church in this area of sexual ethics. We affirm our solidarity with those in both dioceses, and in New Westminster, who seek to uphold biblical truth and behaviour. Especially we express our strong support for the many clergy and laity within the diocese of Oxford who wrote immediately to their diocesan bishop concerning the appointment of Canon Jeffery John as suffragan bishop of Reading. 3

In his published statements Dr John has argued for the blessing of same-sex unions and vehemently criticised the Lambeth resolution. We therefore unanimously believe that it would be impossible for Dr John to ‘uphold' with integrity the present teaching of the Church, as he has promised to do. We consequently counsel him to withdraw his acceptance of this appointment out of consideration for the unity of the church. If such an appointment were to proceed (not least at this most volatile moment within the life of our global Communion, brought about precisely by this same issue), we believe there would indeed be far-reaching consequences for the unity of the Anglican Church - both locally and further afield.

In the light of the above and of the clear position of the Lambeth Conference (Resolution 1:10), and noting the divisive effect of attempts to legitimise same-sex relationships, we are unanimous in believing that this consecration should not proceed.

Finally, we stress that our concern over this issue stems not from ‘homophobia', but rather from a pastorally-motivated concern to be faithful to the scriptures and to the Church's teaching on sexuality. To depart from these is to depart from truth and is therefore neither wise nor loving. We urge that all biblically-concerned Christians should be much in prayer at this time for our leaders that they may make godly decisions and appointments, upholding biblical principles with both grace and truth.

Signed on behalf of the Church of England Evangelical Council:

The Ven Paul Gardner - Chairman of the CEEC (Archdeacon of Exeter)
The Revd Nicholas Wynne-Jones - Secretary of the CEEC (Rural Dean of Beckenham)

Wednesday 11 th June 2003 - A full list of signatories is appended to this letter.

Notes

1 True Union? , which gives a theological and biblical rationale for the Lambeth Resolution (1:10), was commissioned by the Archbishop of the West Indies last year at the Oxford consultation on the Future of Anglicanism and builds substantially on the St Andrews' Day Statement (commissioned by CEEC in 1995).

2 In the statement issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday May 29 th.

3 We note that the signatories included 78 clergy (including four area deans, some leading theologians and academics and some members of the Archbishops' Council and General Synod). Their concerns have now been echoed by several members of the House of Bishops. We note further that the focus of their concern was appropriately upon his recently published writings; subsequent revelations in the secular press concerning his lifestyle have only confirmed their prior concerns.
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