The Church of England announced on 8 August that a new group, ‘Living with Difference’, had been created with the task of offering ‘insight and reflections’ on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process. This group comprises both evangelicals and liberals, bishops and clergy (membership here).
The group is set to meet three times in September and is being tasked with helping to ‘define those aspects of differentiation that will deliver the required levels of reassurance’.
Those participating in this group from a CEEC perspective will be advocating the concept of ‘settlement’ as the only way to avoid the otherwise crisis if the Bishops pursue their current direction of travel. This ‘settlement’ will have to be without theological compromise and involve structural differentiation.
Please do pray for this group – and particularly for those involved who are seeking to ensure the continuing presence of orthodoxy in the Church of England. Please do also pray for the College and House of Bishops’ meetings, which are taking place next week and in second week of October (respectively).
Alliance Group continues to challenge the archbishops
Following the letter sent in July by a broad alliance of leaders across different traditions within the Church of England, we have received a reply from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the alliance has sent a further letter pressing the archbishops and bishops to pursue the only legitimate route through General Synod.
This broad alliance of signatories, from a wide range of CofE organisations including CEEC, the HTB network, Forward in Faith, New Wine, Renew, Living Out and both the Catholic and Evangelical Groups on General Synod, among others, remains committed to both promoting a legal route that respects the integrity of General Synod and its decision making (especially around potential doctrinal changes), and upholding the authority of the bible on matters of sexuality.
