Evangelicals need to find the right team to carry the fight forward in synod

Mar 7, 2024 by Jill

by Julian Mann, Anglican Ink:

What lessons might orthodox Anglicans in the Church of England learn from the defeats they suffered at the hands of the revisionist majority on General Synod last week?

During the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) debate on same-sex blessings at the February Synod in Westminster, the failure of an amendment moved by the Revd Charlie Skrine was unfortunately predictable.

The Rector of All Souls Langham Place, the conservative evangelical flagship in central London, wanted Synod to back ‘a settlement based on legally secure structural provision’ for opponents of same-sex blessings. Under this scheme, churches could vote to come out of the oversight of bishops who support same-sex blessings and instead join a parallel structure led by orthodox bishops. That would allow them to retain their buildings, which they would lose if they left the Church of England.

Skrine’s amendment fell in a vote in all three Houses of Synod with eight bishops for it and 24 against; 78 clergy for and 98 against; and 81 laity for and 100 against. The revisionist majority on Synod do not want no-go areas for their ‘progressive’ ideology in the established Church. They want the ability to capture churches if possible.

Skrine’s amendment was doomed from the start. After Synod, I contacted All Souls with a question for Skrine – did he know his amendment would fail, given the clear revisionist majority, but did he have an objective in moving it that was not obvious to an outside observer like me? Perhaps there was a clever strategy behind it that I have not been able to work out. I have not yet had a response.

Read here