St Silas Church in the West End of Glasgow has voted to discontinue its status as a licensed private chapel within the Scottish Episcopal Church. After a process of consultation and prayer, a members vote was held and an emphatic majority of 86% voted to leave.
St Silas describes itself as a growing, welcoming, diverse church family of many nationalities and all ages. The Rector, Martin Ayers, says, “We welcome anyone and everyone to spend time with us and discover how Jesus answers the big questions of life.” The church has a congregation of 225 on average each Sunday, making it one of the largest churches in the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway.
The Church has made the following statement:
Recent decisions of the Scottish Episcopal Church have made clear to us that the denomination does not regard the Bible as the authoritative word of God. With deep sadness, we have therefore decided that for reasons of integrity we can no longer continue as part of the Scottish Episcopal Church. We want to leave with goodwill towards those with whom we are parting company, and sincerely pray for God’s blessing for the SEC in the future, and its renewal around God’s word.
Mr Ayers, said: “There are many presenting issues that have caused difficulty within the Scottish Episcopal Church in recent years, but for us this is simply about the central place of Jesus and his words in the life of our church. We feel that the Scottish Episcopal Church has moved away from the message of the Bible, and that we cannot follow them.”
Mr Ayers added, “We have taken the decision to leave because of our commitment to Jesus Christ and his word. Above all, though, our vision remains unchanged. We are a community of ordinary people who believe in an extraordinary God, and we are seeking by our words and actions to make known in Glasgow the life-transforming news of His love, revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
St Silas Church now says it will accept the offer of alternative oversight and fellowship from the Anglican Archbishops who lead the “Global Anglican Future” movement (Gafcon), which represents over 50 million of the 70 million Anglicans worldwide.
Mr Ayers said, “Our goal now is to be part of a network of faithful Anglican churches in Scotland, serving our communities, making Jesus known, and working in partnership with bible believing churches of any denomination. We welcome others to join us.”
Further Information
The congregation was established in 1864 as an independent private chapel committed to the 1662 English Book of Common Prayer. For much of its history, it was under the oversight of Bishops from the Church of England, particularly the Bishop of Carlisle, but a few decades ago the congregation took the decision to join the Scottish Episcopal Church as a Private Chapel. It is the fourth congregation to decide to leave the Scottish Episcopal Church since 2016. However, the Rector, Martin Ayers, identified the decision of the denomination in the 1980s to move away from the 39 Articles, the historic Anglican basis of faith which continues to be an essential part of the SEC’s sister denomination south of the border, the Church of England, as a key moment.
Private Chapel. It can withdraw with its property.
It is very heartning to see congregations like St Silas’ taking a stand like this under the wise and Godly leadership of its Pastor, the Revd Ayers. God is with you in this journey.
I keep saying it is high time for GAFCON to get its act together and gather under its wings congregations like St Silas’ and many others around the Anglican world). This gathering needs to happen within a clearly defined structural framework like that of ACNA, and as that of the Christchurch Diocese in NZ. GAFCON, along with its structure, as I’d said repeatedly, needs to change its name too.
The future conference/s have happened over two decades, and you have the foundational documents to be the Communion God has called it to be.
To be very honest, I now get very annoyed to hear the acronym GAFCON!
As I’ve posted elsewhere, it is time for the orthodox Anglican churches in the UK to get their act together first. GAFCON already stepped in once and was soundly rebuffed.
alphaTomega, Global Anglican Communion is a great for a name. ☺️
The name can be improved, as was suggested in episode 509 of Anglicans Unscripted. However the most important thing is that GAFCON stays true to the Gospel, united in purpose and actively supportive of both individuals and congregations who share their values. (Episode 510 is worth watching!)
I think that goes with the ‘hierarchical church’ structure.
In fact I have been pondering this since watching that episode. It seems to me (a non Conformist) that where you have a church system built on class – clergy/laity, and a Church which is the established Church of the nation, social class and ecclesial appointments make for an unhealthy mix of snobbery and deference.
I think the Book of Acts shows a Church which is much more of a brotherhood of believers, wherein Apostles are acknowledged in their role of leadership (Peter, James and John, then Paul) but not unhealthily revered as of a different class of Christian.
It says in Acts 1…”4 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.[c]
and Acts 2.. 41 “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Acts 6..2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers,[b] pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering,
And on and on.
I think the point is that the Body of Christ is one body, and there are no parts that can do without the other parts or are in some way ‘superior’. What we should be doing (and I think it is going to happen), is that we recognise men and women by their saintliness, humility and their walk with the Lord, rather than any title they may hold.
You know, our Lord could have chosen twelve disciples from among the priests, the pharisees and sadducees, but He chose very ordinary unlearned men.
And anointed them not with a clerical title but with the Holy Spirit..
Not to disagree, as I think your comment is well thought through, hut I would like to emphasize one point. It is important to keep in mind, when developing governing structures or processes “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
That is, the apostle’s teaching is a key to unity, fellowship and governance of the church. This is often lost in the arguments put forward by bishops and laity alike, who would focus only on Holy Communion and corporate prayer. A decision, whether arrived at by fiat of some appointed church leadership, or by consensus of an entire denomination, that contradicts apostolic teaching is in error.
Oh I agree with you TJ. Apostolic teaching is essential to a congregation. We use the pastoral letters to get a balanced view of how a church congregation ‘ought’ to function. The Apostles were truly touched by the Holy Spirit, and enabled to be both bold and wise, doing signs and wonders.
Our problem is that there are apostles and prophets who are not Apostles and Prophets, (mainly in the USA I’m afraid) There are bishops who are not Bishops all over the place!
An Anglican church with a godly vicar and ministry team can do wonderful things in a parish. The act of Holy Communion partaken by congregants who are at peace with God and with one another can be a wonderful and edifying experience. But when a congregation is simply going through the motions, it is a ritual, nothing more.
I would look for godly priests and pastors and ministers, who might be gifted as teachers or pastors or evangelists or prophets and so on.
Our Lord said we are to serve one another, and not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, nor seek the recognition of others.
Again, in the pastoral letters we see how Paul and James, Peter and John all emphasise their reliance on God’s grace, and take their roles as elders as something they have been called to, and not something that gives them any entitlements from other Christians.
I think a truly anointed minister is always aware of their reliance on the Holy Spirit and always keen to encourage the flock to follow Christ.
That’s all good, but on what basis do you elect these people?
If the leadership has wandered away from the true faith then people will not be elected to ministry on the basis of their faith and how they apply it, but more likely on who they know or how much they fall in line with the leadership’s views.
That’s the problem.
And has been for a long time..
GAFCON is incorporated in the UK as ‘The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans’
Everyone says “GAFCON,” but that is the legal name.
THANKS BE TO GOD!, for St. Silas!
– a faithful remnant
– doubtless they will be conferring with like minded believers in the UK.
(and GAFCON certainly has its rightful place in the renewing of God’s work… better to pull together on answering global revisionist heresies)
I`m not sure but the Scottish Anglican Network is the home of the Anglican realignment in Scotland.