The Alliance has issued a warning to the archbishops of Canterbury and York that if a further departure from the Church’s doctrine takes place, it will face no choice but to rapidly establish a ‘de-facto parallel Province’ within the Church of England and take further actions to protect and secure orthodoxy.
The Alliance, a broad coalition of leaders and networks across different traditions, supported by more than 2,000 clergy within the Church of England, and of which CEEC is a part, has sent multiple letters to the bishops over the last year cautioning them against a departure from the Church of England’s historic and biblical doctrine of sex and marriage.
The Alliance’s letter follows hot-on-the-heels and in support of a letter, also sent yesterday, by 11 orthodox bishops urging the College and House of Bishops to rethink any further departure from church doctrine, follow proper canonical process (on such a contentious issue), and to preserve unity.
The Alliance’s letter outlines its chief concerns:
- The intention of the House of Bishops to proceed with plans contrary to the canons and doctrine of marriage in the Church of England (an essential matter);
- The Alliance’s repeated warnings have not been heeded;
- The by-passing of proper legal and canonical processes (requiring a two thirds majority in all houses for a change of liturgy);
- The letter highlights issues of Western elitism and unlawfulness, evidenced by the House of Bishops ignoring the views of the Global South and failing to follow the canons of the Church of England.
The Alliance has warned that should a further departure take place (as is suggested in the July Synod papers), it will ‘rapidly establish a de facto ‘parallel Province’ within the Church of England’ and ‘seek oversight from bishops who remain faithful to orthodox teaching on marriage and sexuality’. The Alliance says it will take action, ‘with immediate effect’ to create a new pre-ordination stream for potential ordinands, in partnership with orthodox bishops to ‘reverse the decline caused in part by the unconstitutional and unorthodox process.
Rev. Canon John Dunnett, National Director, CEEC, said:
“This is critical moment for the Church of England. Many of our bishops appear to be supporting a departure from biblical and Anglican doctrine and are willing to risk the disunity that it will precipitate. Our prayer continues to be for a bible believing united Church of England.’’
The Alliance stresses that this is a positive move to maintain unity and not schismatic. The new Province would operate within the Church of England and the wider Anglican communion – highlighting its loyalty to the one holy and apostolic church throughout the world.
The Alliance highlights that its motivation is to allow orthodox churches to grow and flourish, raise up ordinands and encourage the re-evangelisation of the nation.