Letter to the College of Bishops
by Ian Paul, Psephizo:
I am publishing here, with permission, a letter that has been sent to all members of the College of Bishops prior to their next meeting to decide what proposals to bring to General Synod in February. I am not offering here a full exposition of the text, but there are a few things worth noting about it.
First, this is not a PR exercise. Although the sending of the letter has been reported in Christian Today, it has not been circulated to media outlets, unlike some other previous letters. It is intended to be an honest communication to the bishops of the concerns of the signatories and others like them.
Secondly, it attempts to give a clear outline of the major theological reasons why this is felt to me such an important issue. I think it is a shame that Anthony Archer (in Christian Today) offers such a superficial response (that comes over as rather sneering) rather than engaging with these substantive issues. Reaching for the idea that change is inevitable, or that certain ‘trains have left the station’ doesn’t do anything to engage with the well-thought-through concerns raised here.
Thirdly, it is striking that the signatories come from the whole range of the evangelical constituency, including ‘open’, ‘charismatic’ and ‘conservative’ evangelicals. These are people involved in key initiatives in the Church at the moment, and although they do not claim to represent the groups they work for, there will be many others who share these concerns.
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