The CEEC has news:
Chairman stands down.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND EVANGELICAL COUNCIL HELD ON THURSDAY 4th DECEMBER 2008:
´The Executive Officer of the Church of England Evangelical Council informed the meeting that Dr Richard Turnbull had tendered a letter of resignation as chairman. The letter was read to the meeting and was received with great surprise and regret. “Richard has contributed significantly to the life of CEEC, for thirteen years as a member and for the last three of those years as its chair. The Council is very grateful to him for all that he has done over those years; and records that it is not the Council´s wish that he should discontinue as its chairman.” Having due regard to Richards priorities for home, for family and for his responsibilities as Principal of Wycliffe Hall, it was resolved that his resignation be accepted with great regret; and that Richard be invited to continue as a member of the Council.´
A statement from Bishop Wallace Benn, President of CEEC will be available shortly.
And, the Council has issued this statement:
The Council met on 4th December – its first meeting since the NEAC5 Consultation meeting at All Souls Langham Place on 15th November 2008. The following statement summarises our deliberations concerning the Consultation.
CEEC apologises for the fact that we failed to circulate the proposed resolutions prior to the Consultation day. We acknowledge that this was a serious mistake which understandably caused consternation on the day.
We appreciate the fact that, following 15th November, many people availed themselves of the opportunity to make their views known by e-mail to comments@ceec.info. CEEC have heard a summary of what was said by this means.
We understand that what happened at the Consultation together with associated press reports has undermined the credibility of the Council. Though we are sensitive to the accusation that CEEC is not properly representative of evangelicals, over half the membership is elected and all those who subscribe to the Council’s Basis of Faith are eligible to stand for election.
We resolve to do all we can to fulfill our stated purpose of taking counsel together about matters of particular concern to evangelical Anglicans.
The Council, having listened to all that was said on 15th November, has adopted the following Resolution:
- “CEEC affirms and rejoices that the Church of England professes the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds and its historic formularies (the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons) and set out in Canon A5 and the Declaration of Assent.
- Further we affirm (1) the CEEC’s own Basis of Belief, (2) Resolution 3.5 of Lambeth 1998 (concerning the authority of Holy Scriptures), (3) Resolution 1.10 of Lambeth 1998 (concerning human sexuality), and (4) the Jerusalem Declaration, and as members of the Anglican Communion, we acknowledge our obligation to stand in prayerful solidarity with faithful Anglicans across the globe.
- We recognize that evangelical Anglicans will pursue a variety of strategies for dealing with the current crisis in the Communion, and we support those who are seeking to work through the existing Anglican Communion structures, those who are working within the framework set out in the GAFCON Statement, and those supporting both.
- We call on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates to recognize the urgency of the situation as it affects parishes and clergy, particularly in the USA, Canada and Brazil, and to give immediate and serious consideration to granting recognition to the new Province in the USA.”
Nothing, of course,on Lambeth V:13 – “Episcopal Responsibilities and Diocesan Boundaries”. The usual GAFCON “cafeteria” approach to Lambeth resolutions.
The fact that “Richard [Turnbull has been] invited to continue as a member of the Council” shows his resignation up as the piece of shop window-dressing it very clearly is.
Ah, if Richard is going to resign in this context, (see my earlier analysis), perhaps he will do the honourable thing and resign from Wycliffe (for the same reasons)
I think he’s done the right thing.
Rachel Re vis.e re form
All this commits Evangelicals who recognise CEEC as representative to supporting the breakaway, and not all do.
Hmm beneath all the talk about a misstep in procedures, I discern a deeper indication. Turnbs attempt to collapse even the NEAC big tents did not work out as he wished. Letting him stay leaves open his possible repentance from the erstwhile sins of being a tent collapser in the first place, all in God’s name, by powerful ends which are not seen to justify his means. From outside NEAC, this looks like a lab exercise which might point towards the global Anglican big tents staying up despite the hard realignment winds attempting to blow them all down. Huff, puff,… Read more »
I know it’s unChristian, but one has to laugh. It’s also a salutary reminder of the completely elementary but often forgotten truth that these disputes don’t actually polarise between Catholic-Protestant, Liberal-Evangelical, etc. etc. There is endless boundary-crossing in all directions. If the C of E fails, it will still be necessary to invent it, because it represents – and celebrates – an absolutely inevitable reality. Keep the faith/Faith, guys and guyesses.
Wallace Benn issues threats.
You do not give us what we want so we will be even more awkward, uncooperative and fissiparous, and we will take away our money.
Someone really needs to nail this blackmailer.
I wonder who actually formulated the CEEC’s Apologia for the NEAC Crisis fallout? It would seem that, though bowed by the wishes of most Thinking Evangelicals, Dr. Turnbull is still Head of the Theological Think-Tank at Wycliffe Hall.
Also, the newly-promoted Credo still contains the word ‘GAFCON’ and so still may be Gaffe-prone – hardly what one may consider loyal to Canterbury.
Mr Turnbull will “spending more time with his family…” as they say in Politics ;=)
Turnbull has nothing to fear with the Bishop of liverpool chairing the investigative committee. Within the next five years he will be one of the continuing bishops working within a Church of England Confessing network.
Er, no. The Bishop of Liverpool chairs the College Council (and is not associated with GAFCON). There is no “investigating committee”. Wycliffe Hall has been undergoing an inspection by Ministry Division on behalf of the House of Bishops. These inspections happen regularly (though this one has been brought forward in order to examine the recent controversy). Richard Turnbull has resigned as Chair of CEEC. The Council is currently going through an election period. Presumably a new Chair will be elected once the new final composition of the Council is known. The CEEC resolution reflects the reality, namely that among evangelical… Read more »
Robert, could you please clarify here. Are you making a prediction that Dr. Turnbull will be made a Bishop in the Church of God? Or are you guessing that the Bishop of Liverpool will become a leader in a new faction in the Church of England?
One does need to be quite clear about this – especially if one happens to be a Roman Catholic observer only.
One big bag of sugar says GAFCON and its strategies and the breakaway group, and one small bag of sugar includes different strategies. Result, if you accept CEEC, the main GAFCON results and this faithful versus faithless (?) Anglicans so far.
I fear that Pluralist is beginning to believe the GAFCON propaganda. It is actually the other way round. There are many more evangelical Anglicans who would prefer a Communion-based solution to this mess. Explicit GAFCON supporters tend to be from among the small minority of ultra-conservative evangelicals, who are more vociferous. GAFCON may of course become a solution for more people if the Communion solution fails. But I’m glad to say that the bags of sugar simply aren’t weighted in the way he suggests.
They are in the paragraphs. That’s what they want.
“GAFCON may of course become a solution for more people if the Communion solution fails.”
Pete, that sounds like a threat.
I appreciate +Pete’s observations. I find that the observations from the UK generally fit the state of the English Church. Over in the US we Evangelicals are a minority that has been decreasing over the last years of conflict as more and more heterodox teachings make TEC less a place where orthodox Christians want to stay, particularly if they want traditional Christian morality taught to their children. WE are also much more united with the charismatics and Catholics. There is not an easily definable Evangelical party. We do have those who are now differentiated as insiders and outsiders – Communion… Read more »
Pete:
As with anything there is always a small minority that drives the the majority in a frenzy. There are the leaders and the lemmings all scurrying fast to make that jump of the nearest cliff.
I’m not sure that Pete Broadbent’s definition of the bags of sugar is right. Aticle 13 of the Jerusalem Declaration states: ‘We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.’ This rejection of the authority of some churches and all that implies (presumably the US and Canadian churches — who else?) is already to opt for a non Communion-based solution. A rejection of the authority of a church is pretty strong stuff, and this spirit… Read more »
I’ve just challenged Wallace Benn in the newspaper Evangelicals Now. He wrote defending GAFCON from an attack by Calvinist writer, Iain Murray… I pointed out that he never condemns the Anglo-Catholic activities of his own Bishop..even though he regards these as heresy.
Watching the coverage of the death of Patriarch Alexiy of Moscow and All Russia, it is interesting to see that one the achievements most praised by his eulogists was the rapprochement with the Orthodox Church in Exile, as this was a move to bring schism to an end. Why do we not have the same spirit? Some Anglicans are talking up a break in our shared communion on the basis of extremely presumptuous judgements about the faith of others: what a tragic failure of Christian witness that is! In the Orthodox (real Orthodox) tradition, schism is a great sin.
Ian Montgomery wrote: “… particularly if they want traditional Christian morality taught to their children.”
Please stop calling “traditional morality” Christian. It is all but.
Like it or not, it is Hellenist. The famous mixis of religions of 2000 years ago.
Ron..Bishop Turnbull of course. When you are out of the wood ..sometimes you see the trees better.
“CEEC apologises for the fact that we failed to circulate the proposed resolutions prior to the Consultation day.”
So the resolutions on 15 November came about through organisational ramming techniques. Hardly gentle or compassionate, or truly consultative.
Relatively few principals of Wycliffe have been raised to the episcopate. I think the last one was F J Taylor who was bishop of Sheffield between 1962 and 1971. His episcopate was marred by serious illness, but rumour suggested that it was not a happy time for the diocese nor for those within it who were not conservative evangelicals. Rochet and chimere don’t seem to go with the territory quite as much as with the headship of some other colleges.
What a shame it is that anglican evangelicals have lost all credibility as organized entities.
I no longer expect much from that quarter that is honest or practical. And I began life in the Brethren !
A spent force
(I do speak of the movements and organizations of Evangelicalism and not all individuals, all
churches and all organizations – not quite).
The genius and imperatives of Evangelicalism led me out of its narrow confines decades ago.