Do the Church of England’s bishops want 10,000 new churches or not?
by Lee Proudlove, Anglican Ink:
July sees the start of the Church of England’s General Synod – normally a somewhat fractious occasion, this month’s session has been overshadowed by a storm in an Anglican teacup. The unlikely catalyst? An article in the Church Times reporting on a new church planting initiative ‘Myriad’ launched at a conference held by the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication. The director of Myriad is Canon John McGinley, formerly vicar of Holy Trinity Leicester (one of the evangelical powerhouses of the Church of England) and Development Enabler for the Archbishops College of Evangelists. Presenting Myriad John outlined a vision for 10,000 new churches established over 10 years led by by lay members of the Church of England – he contended:
‘Lay-led churches release the Church from key limiting factors. When you don’t need a building and a stipend and long, costly college-based training for every leader of a church . . . then actually we can release new people to lead and new churches to form. It also releases the discipleship of people. In church-planting, there are no passengers.’
The response in the Anglican twitter-sphere was rapid. Whilst some were supportive, criticism and questions came from all directions. Anglo-catholics wondered who would administer the sacraments in these churches? Pragmatists wondered who would pay for them, train the leaders, supervise safeguarding the vulnerable and make the whole thing work? Ecclesiologists wondered if these kind of churches are even Anglican? Influential voices spoke against the proposed 10,000 lay lead churches. Rev Marcus Walker the Rector St Bartholomew the Great and Spectator columnist opined – ‘We’ve traded under parson, cleric, priest, minister, padre and even pie-and-liquor, but never before have I heard us described as ‘key limiting factors’ – many rank and file clergy clearly agreed as they added ‘limiting factor’ to their twitter bio. Rev Dr Martyn Percy Dean of Christ Church Oxford published 2 articles decrying the initiative as an ecclesiastical version of Mao’s ‘great leap forward’ and the Church Growth movement in general as ‘spiritual pornography’. Rev Giles Fraser, vicar and commentator claimed ‘I have never seen this level of anger from within the church during my 25 years as a priest’ and he’s fought in the clerical wars over women bishops and human sexuality.
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