Tonight the CofE has done the unthinkable.
Twenty years after it voted for women priests… after years
of debate and counter debate… after
pouring over the issue of women bishops ad nauseum… after sending the proposed
legislation to dioceses who voted overwhelmingly for it… tonight it has thrown
out that legislation to welcome women as bishops for another 5-10 years.
I wrote last night on my blog that the results of voting ‘no’
would be catastrophic - http://benny2010.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/make-or-break.html
- and have no desire to change a single word.
Today was a ‘make or break’ day for the CofE, and the House of Laity has
chosen to break with the vast majority of church members who have voted for
women Bishops in Diocesan and Deanery Synods throughout this land.
They have chosen to break with public opinion and with
Government. Worst of all they have
chosen to break with the work that the Holy Spirit has been doing in society by
enabling everyone to be seen as equal before God – each person, male and female,
made in the equal image of God.
Last night I also wrote on Facebook that I was “praying for the CofE tomorrow as it chooses between the
past or the future in its vote on women bishops. A vote for the past will be like putting a second foot in the
grave...”
But now it has jumped with both feet
into the grave.
My wife’s response to the news was
to say… “If I was still a member of the Church of England, I would be leaving
now in disgust.” She tired of CofE
discrimination some time ago and when I left parish ministry joined an MCC
Church where everyone is welcome.
My 14 year old son was even more
direct – “The Church of England is evil” were his words. Thank God that he has not given up on his
Christian faith, and now worships elsewhere too.
Such is the plight of the Church of
England. Out of touch with both God and
the people it is called to reach out to, its structures and procedures are outdated
and arcane, and it is so anchored to the past that it is increasingly incapable
of following Jesus Christ on the road of salvation.
Tonight the Church of England has
put two feet in the grave.
My only hope comes from an evangelical
author Oz Guinness, who I once heard say,
“Several times in the history of the
Christianity, the Church has gone to the dogs!
But each time, it is the dog that has died – not the church!”
As a Christian, I believe in resurrection
– and I know that God can bring resurrection to the Church even when the Church
seems to prefer death to life! But that
does not excuse the behavior of a Church who insists on presenting an image of
God which denies and undermines the Good News of Christ.
While I would not want to second
guess what Oz Guinness would think of our present situation, I would like to
finish with one more quote from him which resonates with me today.
“Sometimes when I listen to people who say they have lost their faith,
I am far less surprised than they expect. If their view of God is what they
say, then it is only surprising that they did not reject it much earlier.
Other people have a concept of God so fundamentally false that it would be better for them to doubt than to remain devout. The more devout they are, the uglier their faith will become since it is based on a lie. Doubt in such a case is not only highly understandable, it is even a mark of spiritual and intellectual sensitivity to error, for their picture is not of God but an idol.”
What picture of God has the Church of England painted today?
Other people have a concept of God so fundamentally false that it would be better for them to doubt than to remain devout. The more devout they are, the uglier their faith will become since it is based on a lie. Doubt in such a case is not only highly understandable, it is even a mark of spiritual and intellectual sensitivity to error, for their picture is not of God but an idol.”
