[12 Oct 2023] The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) welcomes the dissenting statement made by 11 bishops from the House of Bishops this morning. CEEC is grateful for the courage of those who signed it, for the substantive issues raised in the statement and for the time spent getting to this point.
The statement, printed in full below, was signed by around a quarter of those in the House of Bishops and marks a rare moment with bishops officially registering their opposition to the process and decisions made in the House of Bishops. The dissenting statement follows a press release issued by the Church of England on Monday announcing that the House of Bishops had agreed in principle that prayers asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples – known as Prayers of Love and Faith – should be commended for use.
Revd Canon John Dunnett, National Director, CEEC, said: “I am very grateful to these bishops for critiquing the process by which the House of Bishops is pursuing their agenda for change.
“It is not very often that bishops from the House of Bishops express their dis-ease at something being proposed by the rest of the House. The statement is significant because of what it says.
“First, they name the deep disagreement that exists within the House of Bishops. To publicly acknowledge the depth of disagreement is significant, given the seismic changes the House of Bishops is pursuing.
“Second, they raise a question about the legitimacy of these proposals and the possibility that they are indicative of a departure from Church of England doctrine. A specific point they make is that the legal and theological advice that the House of Bishops has received may not support the employment of these prayers. In other words, they could be indicative of a departure from the doctrine in the Church of England. That’s a massively significant concern.
“Third, they talk about the bishops needing to have ‘due regard to the obligations of good and proper governance’. In other words, this letter is saying that how the House of Bishops makes decisions matters as well as the decisions made. One of the things we’ve been talking about for several years in the Church of England is the need to ‘pay attention to power’. There must be proper and fit use of power, not misuse and abuse of power. I wonder if there’s a hint here that good process in respect of the use of power has not always been at the top of the agenda.
“I share with the signatories the deep desire that we remain true to the gospel as entrusted to us”.
The Right Revd Julian Henderson, President, CEEC, said: “I am personally so grateful and delighted that these members of the House of Bishops have clearly and courageously expressed their opposition to the proposals and direction of travel that the rest of the House seems intent on pursuing. This feels like an historic moment for the Church of England.”
