CEEC is grateful to the group of 11 bishops who have today published* a warning, ahead of General Synod, that the LLF proposals currently on the table would go against church doctrine, further endanger the unity of the church and by-pass proper canonical process.
We commend the courage of these bishops as they write, “we are among a number of bishops unable to support the direction of travel presented to the bishops at our most recent meeting, or the proposals to be brought to General Synod later this month.”
We support the assertion of this group as they state that while they support the emphasis on and importance of unity highlighted in the proposals, they believe that the proposals will not “protect our unity in mission to the nation or our partnerships within the wider Church.”
We are also thankful to these 11 bishops for calling out concerns around the by-passing of proper canonical process, which is designed to “guard our unity”. In particular, we share the bishops’ “regret” at the plan to reverse the House’s October decision, supported by Synod in November, to introduce standalone services by Canon B2. We agree with these bishops that the current proposals are indicative of a change of doctrine in an essential matter and therefore should follow proper canonical process.
As CEEC has outlined previously, we agree with the group of bishops, that the proposed structural change to episcopal oversight is not sufficient to protect, both in conscience and practice, those who hold to the traditional, historic, biblical teaching of the Church of England.
Finally, we are grateful that this group of bishops has highlighted that the significance of these changes is not being recognised by the House of Bishops and we support their call for a rethink.
* the orthodox bishops’ article was published in Premier Christianity magazine on 26 June 2024
