Anglican Communion Disciplines Liberal US Church
The Anglican Communion has grown enormously over the last 45 years. While greatly reduced and weakened in England and North America, it has increased sevenfold in Africa, which is where the majority of professing Anglicans are now to be found.
The effect of this became apparent in a rather surprising way in January, when a meeting of 39 Anglican primates in Canterbury decided to suspend the liberal US Episcopal Church for three years because of its position on homosexual marriage. The Primates stated that the canon on marriage adopted by the US Church represented “a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of our Provinces on the doctrine of marriage. . . . The traditional doctrine of the Church, in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds marriage as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union. The majority of those gathered reaffirm this teaching.”
The decision of the Primates was that, for three years, the US Church should “no longer represent us on ecumenical and inter-faith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that, while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision-making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity”.
The decision was unexpectedly robust, and must be a great embarrassment to the liberals – or, rather, unbelievers – who predominate in the Anglican ministry in England. Presumably it will also serve as a warning shot to the Church of England Provinces of York and Canterbury in case they should happen to be thinking of endorsing homosexual marriage. DWBS
2The first part of this piece begins on page 78 of this issue.
Ofsted and Christian Teaching
Dismay is being expressed by Churches and various Christian organisations at the UK Government’s proposals to give Ofsted, its education watchdog, inspection powers over young people’s out-of-school meetings. The proposals originally rose out of understandable alarm at what may be taking place in madrassas (Islamic religious schools) in Britain where, it is believed, some young Muslims are being radicalised and then sent to Afghanistan, Syria and other countries to engage in the most heinous and despicable atrocities. The Government’s consultation document, “Out of school education settings: call for evidence”, focuses on the necessity of teaching “British values” and of exposing terrorist extremism. However, the suggested legislation appears to spread its net far wider than this remit, when we read what is being proposed in relation to church groups. And, very importantly, what does the Government really mean by “British values”? In our post-Christian secular society, British values have drifted very far from biblical absolutes.
The head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, wants Sabbath Schools, madrassas, and after-school clubs to be registered. “We won’t inspect every one of them but we will know they exist. If there are concerns – if whistleblowers tell us there is an issue – then we will go in,” he warns. Reports indicate that Sir Michael is a Roman Catholic, so that could ring alarm bells. Last year, Prime Minister David Cameron threatened, “If an institution is teaching children intensively, whatever its religion, we will make it register; and if it is teaching intolerance, we will shut you down”. Registration would become mandatory for church groups meeting for tuition, instruction or training for six hours or more a week, although that may only be for one week in the year.
The Evangelical Times notes, “Should the Government proceed, Ofsted would have authority to inspect such groups. A Christian youth group where attendees are told, ‘The only way to heaven is through Jesus’, could be accused of promoting intolerance”. The charity CARE’s chief executive, Nola Leach, while acknowledging the problems the UK Government faces in combating “Islamic extremism and the radicalisation of citizens”, says, “These proposals are a major concern. No attempt has been made to define ‘intolerance’ or what ‘British values’ are. Given the hostility of Ofsted to Christian and Jewish schools in the last year, it is hard to imagine them taking kindly to a church teaching that ‘Jesus is the only way to God'”. She adds that the Government is using “extraordinary intrusiveness” in its response to extremism.
While these proposals at present only concern our neighbours south of the
border, where Ofsted regulates education, they could soon spread to Scotland; and while the proposals at the moment focus on young people meeting for six hours or more, that could change. If so, there would be serious implications for our youth conferences and especially for our Sabbath schools, which many young people in our Church have found to be a means of blessing to their souls. It is not inconceivable that at some point in the future we may find inspectors sitting in on our Sabbath Schools and labelling our volunteer teachers extremists and intolerant, as they faithfully teach the biblical truths on the one way of salvation and on vital core issues such as the sanctity of marriage. The proposed legislation definitely embraces “unsuitable teachers and undesirable teaching” as defined by Ofsted’s own subjective criteria.
Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute, has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, complaining that “the idea of having an Ofsted inspector sitting in on your church youth group or [Sabbath] school to see if you are an extremist is highly offensive. It would represent an unprecedented attack on freedom of religion in our country.” A spokesperson for the Evangelical Alliance, Dr David Landrum, has added his voice to those criticising the proposals; he has stated, “These proposals are of deep concern. Whether intentional or not, this strategy could be interpreted as the wholesale nationalisation of youth work and the indirect state regulation of private religious practice.” In January a group of MPs wrote an open letter to The Daily Telegraph expressing their worries that these plans “could have a seriously-detrimental effect on the freedom of religious teaching . . . and challenge established church teaching”.
We need to pray that God would give the Government wisdom to protect our communities and young people from unwarranted state intrusion while maintaining the balance of protecting our society from extremism and terrorism. We live in “perilous times”.
KHM
Protestant ViewRome and the Reformation
It is reported that the Pope is being attacked by traditionalists within his own Church who are alarmed at his willingness to make apparent concessions to Lutherans, particularly in view of next year’s five-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. Leading figures from both Rome and the Lutheran Churches have announced that a “common prayer” is to be used in services commemorating the anniversary in both denominations. One ultra-
traditionalist source criticised the “prayer” for being dominated by “Protestant material” and “one-sided praise for the Reformation” while “not accepting any concessions about elements of Catholic history, theology and heritage”.
The critical point to bear in mind is that, however conciliatory the tone being adopted by the present Pope towards Protestants and others may be, there is not – and never can be – the least movement to adopt the biblical teaching of the Reformers on justification by faith alone or any of the other scriptural doctrines which were recovered at the time of the Reformation. Rome would cease to be Rome if the gospel of free and sovereign grace were preached in her midst. She will fall irrecoverably in God’s appointed time, when His Spirit will powerfully bless those truths once more. AWM