from Church Society
The Five Guiding Principles which were established ten years ago to enable complementarian evangelicals and traditional Catholics to continue to flourish in the Church of England following the consecration of female bishops are coming under serious threat. The principles clearly state that there is no time limit to them, but there is increasing pressure to bring them to an end, especially from WATCH (Women and the Church) who state on their website that:
“WATCH are looking to get a motion to Synod to agree an end date to the Declaration and Five Guiding Principles. We think one of the most effective ways to do this is to work with each diocese (those that are happy to work with WATCH) and get the same motion to Diocesan Synod’s throughout the country to then get the motion to General Synod.”
Without the protection of the Five Guiding Principles and the provision of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, many complementarian ministers will find it very difficult to remain in the Church of England at all. This would also, clearly, also have an impact on the progress of the Prayers of Love and Faith, since both complementarian evangelicals and traditional Catholics have strongly opposed those measures as well.
What can we do?
- Diocesan Synod members around the country need to be aware of what is coming and why it matters. Please make sure that any Diocesan Synod members from your church know about this and are aware of its wider significance.
- Diocesan Evangelical Fellowships will need to work together, ensuring that complementarian and egalitarian members of synod are united on the issue. Please contact your DEF (or equivalent) leaders to ask that this issue be discussed.
- Tell a better story. Consider all the ways in which complementarian ministry has been fruitful in your diocese. For example, complementarian evangelical churches generally have many times more children and young people than the average Church of England church. These are the things which need to be known about in the diocese, as well as at the Diocesan Synod.
- Pray! Only one Diocesan Synod needs to put the motion forward for it to end up on the agenda at General Synod. However, the timing of such a motion will vary considerably, depending which diocese gets the motion through. There are many factors to this which we can’t influence. We must make sure that we are praying fervently for the Lord to protect his people at this time.