Essex churches pass motions of no confidence in “unbiblical leadership” of Archbishops of Canterbury and York
Anglican Mainstream report.
Two churches in Chelmsford Diocese have taken the unprecedented step of issuing public statements of no confidence in the Church of England leadership, following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for ‘radical inclusion’ at General Synod in February, and Bishop Stephen Cottrell’s call for thanksgiving prayers to be offered for same sex relationships in his Presidential Address to the Chelmsford Diocesan Synod.
The decision to publish the no confidence motions has been motivated by the Diocese provocatively hosting their June Synod at a church publicly supporting same sex marriage, and Archbishop Welby’s recent letter to Primates which does not mention the Scottish Episcopal Church’s departure from Christian orthodoxy but criticises Gafcon’s decision to appoint a faithful missionary Bishop.
Although two churches have gone public with their protest, Anglican Mainstream understands that several dozen clergy and a number of lay people in the Diocese have written to Bishop Stephen since February expressing deep concern about the direction of the C of E as evidenced by his statements.
The covering letter to Anglican Mainstream from the ministers of the two churches reads as follows:
We write to inform you of recent motions passed by two churches in Dagenham in the diocese of Chelmsford. The motions of ‘no confidence’ were passed by St Elisabeth’s, Becontree and St George’s, Dagenham at each of our respective Annual Church Meetings in April 2017.
Given the current turmoil in the Church of England, especially the unbiblical leadership offered by Archbishops Welby and Sentamu in their joint letter after the February General Synod and the lack of biblical leadership in our own diocese of Chelmsford, particularly the failure to teach sound doctrine and the refusal to refute, publicly, false teaching and practice, each congregation was asked to consider the current leadership in light of the biblical requirement for bishops as revealed, for example, in Titus 1:7-9.
1:7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
The congregation in both cases considered what had been publicly said and what hadn’t been publicly said and accordingly passed the following motions of ‘No confidence in Archbishop Justin Welby, Archbishop John Sentamu, Bishop Stephen Cottrell of Chelmsford and Suffragan Bishop Peter Hill of Barking.’
These motions were passed unanimously by St Elisabeth’s, Becontree on 2nd April 2017 and passed in favour with one vote against and one abstention at St George’s, Dagenham on 30th April 2017 – each was by paper ballot.
All bishops mentioned in the motion were notified of the ‘vote of no confidence’ last week.
It is our understanding that for a whole congregation to take such a vote is unprecedented. We consider that it is appropriate to make the outcomes of these votes public now (as our congregations are aware we would do at some point), especially given events since February, and, not least, the events of last week in Scotland and Canterbury’s response and our own forthcoming diocesan synod this Saturday at a church publicly supporting gay marriage.
– The motions of each of our churches are attached [below].
– The motion of the parish of Wanstead (in favour of same-sex marriage) which is hosting this Saturday’s Chelmsford diocesan synod is also attached [here]PCC-Statement-REVISED-230417.
In Him
Revd Steven Hanna – St Elisabeth’s, Becontree
and Revd Simon Smallwood – St George’s, Dagenham
St George’s Annual Meeting 30th April 2017.
Resolution of St George Becontree (Dagenham) –
concerning the way senior leaders in the Church of England are handling the current debate on Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after Shared Conversations (GS 2055).
In response, St George Becontree (Dagenham) has resolved to:
- Repeat our requirement that all visiting preachers commit themselves to our Theological Position Statement dated 22nd January 2016.
- Regard any ministers, who have walked away from orthodoxy by persisting in false teaching or false living, as no longer faithful Anglicans and as having broken fellowship with us, the outward expression of which breach we will determine in due course.
- Declare no confidence in the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Bishop of Bradwell, and the Bishop of Barking for their failure to BOTH uphold publicly sound doctrine and practice on sexual morality AND refute publicly those who oppose sound doctrine and practice on sexual morality.
- Ensure that our congregation understands the current crisis in which we find ourselves and is pastored faithfully, whatever their life-situation.
- Stand together with other like-minded brothers and sisters in Reform, New Wine and other constituencies.
In favour: 63, Against: 1, Abstentions: 1
Dated: 30th April 2017.
Motion
This church (St Elisabeth’s, Becontree, Chelmsford diocese) has no confidence in:
Archbishop Welby to uphold publicly biblical and traditional teaching and practice on sexual morality AND refute publicly any that oppose this teaching and practice, namely that ‘faithful sexual relations blessed by God are only those within the boundaries of biblical and traditional marriage between a man and his wife.’
This church (St Elisabeth’s, Becontree, Chelmsford diocese) has no confidence in:
Archbishop Sentamu to uphold publicly biblical and traditional teaching and practice on sexual morality AND refute publicly any that oppose this teaching and practice, namely that ‘faithful sexual relations blessed by God are only those within the boundaries of biblical and traditional marriage between a man and his wife.’
This church (St Elisabeth’s, Becontree, Chelmsford diocese) has no confidence in:
Bp Stephen, the Bishop of Chelmsford to uphold publicly biblical and traditional teaching and practice on sexual morality AND refute publicly any that oppose this teaching and practice, namely that ‘faithful sexual relations blessed by God are only those within the boundaries of biblical and traditional marriage between a man and his wife.’
All motions were passed by 30 votes to 0, with a further 8 adults not eligible to vote also supporting the motions.
See also Church Times report from Hattie Williams, with warning letter by Tony Baldry
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