The Church of England’s blessings for same-sex couples, which stop short of marriage rites, have prompted a comparable protest from low-church evangelicals.
St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, a large church in Central London, has turned to “lay presidency,” a practice long favored by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. The church commissioned laymen for “Christian leadership in Church of England churches,” including overseeing informal services of Holy Communion. Leaders of sympathetic parishes, including All Souls Langham Place and Holy Trinity Brompton, attended the commissioning service.
St. Helen’s published a video — narrated by the Rev. William Taylor, its rector — that explained the rationale behind the commissioning service on July 23.
“Yesterday’s commissioning was the second of its kind, and I suspect many others will now follow — and, in due course, ordination services,” Taylor said.
He said the service was part of a broader movement led by the Alliance, a coalition of conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic leaders and institutions founded to form alternative structures within the Church of England.
“Already another selection panel is being formed for selecting more men and women to serve in Church of England churches. We anticipate other groups of Alliance churches more establishing selection panels across other dioceses.”
As Taylor described the ministries of the seven men, they will preside over family meals that include the liturgical symbols of bread and wine — rites he says are different from liturgical celebrations of the Holy Eucharist.
Several writers and organizations responded sharply to the commissioning service.
“Permitting a form of Holy Communion in the Church of England presided over by those not ordained makes a mockery of the sacraments,” said Matt Parkes, chairman of Affirming Catholicism. “We would hope that action taken by the bishops and archbishops would be commensurate with that faced by clergy who entered a same-sex marriage.”
“The evangelicals really are revolting,” theologian Theo Hobson wrote in The Spectator.
“How should liberals respond? Should the conservatives be denounced for breaking with Anglican tradition? Yes, but this should done with care. For of course the liberals are also vulnerable to the charge that they are breaking with traditional doctrine. Most clergy would rather keep quiet, rather than risk alienating conservative parishioners.”
Hobson added: “How should the rest of the Church respond? The Bishop of London issued a dry statement: ‘Incumbents have been reminded before and following these services of their responsibilities to ensure that the law of the Church of England as expressed in canon and liturgy is observed, and that all safeguarding requirements are fully met.’ It’s a sort of writ-rattling, a reminder that our lawyers are watching.”
“An illegal event has taken place to further a political agenda,” the Rev. Stephen Parsons wrote on Surviving Church. “There is a long-term struggle to make the Church of England conform to an agenda of ‘biblical orthodoxy’ which flies in the face of Anglican history and tradition. Seven idealistic young men appear have allowed themselves to be identified with this struggle.”
Douglas LeBlanc is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
