Bishops affiliated with the Church of England Evangelical Council have written in an open letter that “for many evangelicals, change in the Church of England’s teaching and practice has serious consequences.”
The 11 bishops wrote to the Rt. Rev. Christopher Cocksworth and the Living in Love and Faith Coordinating Group, which is charged with completing its work shortly before the Lambeth Conference in 2020.
“[R]ecent history tragically demonstrates that introducing changes in teaching and liturgy has consistently divided Anglicans globally and within provinces,” the bishops wrote. “It is therefore clear to us that both the substance and the method of LLF’s work is of great significance. What it produces will not only prove vitally important for our witness here in England and in the world church but will either enable or undermine our quest for unity-in-truth within the Church of England and Anglican Communion.”
The council was founded in 1960 by John Stott (1921-2011), former rector of All Souls, Langham Place, and a leading teacher in the global evangelical movement.
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Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
