Following the example of their close neighbours in Wales, Church of England bishops are preparing to welch on their promise to provide acceptable oversight for those who do not accept their church’s departure from traditional orthodox teaching.
In the Church in Wales there was no replacement for the highly respected Provincial Assistant Bishop David Thomas after his retirement. Not being a defender of the faith himself, their politically motivated Archbishop convinced himself and those around him that the Bench of Bishops could provide satisfactory pastoral and sacramental care for all, including those who thought that their bishops had erred in their ways and simply did’t care.
Today the Church of England has published the report of the Revision Committee which has been considering legislation to permit women to become bishops: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr4210.html . There are new provisions requiring each diocesan bishop to draw up a scheme in his or her diocese that takes account of the national Code of Practice and provides local arrangements for the performance of certain Episcopal functions in relation to parishes with “conscientious difficulties” - as if there were something abnormal about being orthodox.
In their proposals they demonstrate that they have no understanding whatsoever of the needs of those who expect the pastoral and sacramental care of a bishop who shares the faith of the majority of Christians in the wider Holy Catholic and Apostolic church. Any “difficulty” is of the Anglican church’s making and has nothing to do with being sexist or anti-women as is often implied.
Hello! I just stumbled across your blog and have enjoyed it a great deal so far! I must say, however, that I don't quite understand why traditional Anglican want to remain within the mainstream Church of England (or the Episcopal Church or the Church in Wales, et cetera). If the Church of England is obviously violating historic Christian norms (through the consecration of female bishops or whatnot), then how can a truly traditional Anglican remain in communion with such people, whether it's under a like-minded priest/auxiliary bishop or not? Just the fact of being in communion with such people is a violation of historic Christian norms. Just curious as it why there is such concern over making such arrangements with as far off course a body as the Church of England...
ReplyDeleteHello Jon Marc.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. As a cradle Anglican with more than his three score and ten already clocked up there are few if any opportunities for change. If I wished to 'convert' to Roman catholicism I would have done so as a matter of conviction, not over the ordination of women. For the majority of people in the UK there is little, or more often, no opportunity to explore the merits of the Orthodox church so where else to turn? Hence our desire for the Anglican church to make adequate provision for those who in conscience are unable to accept the ordination of women.