Announcements
Sunday 20th October 2024
The Worcester Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship is made up of many laity as well as nineteen clergy who are a mixture of Incumbents, Priests in Charge and Curates, stipendiary and NSM. We lead churches in a diversity of settings – city-centre, urban, market town, and rural. Combined, we have an Average Sunday Attendance of over 1200 adults (of whom 119 are young adults) and 239 children and young people. This represents about 19% of the Worcester Diocesan ASA of adults and 34% of the Diocesan ASA children.[1]
We are grateful for the huge amount of hard work put in by all those who have helped produce the recently published Statement of Needs. It cannot have been an easy task and the SoN helps to give a snapshot of a small but diverse diocese. As with any C of E profile, we need to read between the lines.
Our diocese is theologically diverse, previously held together by Bishop John. +John’s more recent revisionist views on marriage became very public, sending fracture lines through teams, PCCs, parishes, benefices and diocesan relationships. We find ourselves within a diocesan structure that has a predominantly revisionist senior staff team and which in practice often seems reluctant to allow that there are those who see marriage as an issue of first order ethical or doctrinal integrity.
The SoN is particularly concerning on page 40. The reference to a “sense” has been given disproportionate weight in the section in which it appears, and an appeal to ‘unity in diversity’ fails to recognize the theological impossibility of contrary primary doctrines or ethics co-existing without significant provision. We recognise that the Statement has been approved by the Vacancy in See Committee, but we wish to make our concern clear in order that the CNC might take note of it. As the Archbishop recently said (in a completely different context and on a different subject): “There will be people who look at that and say the Church is totally out of touch, that they totally disagree with us, and say they are going nowhere near a church, but we don't do things on the basis of opinion polls.”[2]
We are aware that many of our DEF clergy are in churches with mixed views on this subject. But we are also aware of the traditionalist laity in our diocese who find themselves in churches led by revisionist clergy with whom they disagree. And we are aware of other (non-DEF) traditionalist clergy who quietly and faithfully fulfil their roles.
As the Worcester Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship our heart is for our diocese to be in awe of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to be committed to prayer, confident in the gospel, clear on the Scriptures and honouring of the apostolic faith as received in the Church of England’s doctrines, and passionate about evangelism and discipleship. Please join us in praying that our new Diocesan Bishop will have a track record of humbly growing churches in these things, things in which the future of our diocese and the C of E rests.
[1] 2022 Stats for Mission: 6200 adults and 700 children.
[2] www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9dn42xqg4o, accessed 16th October 2024.
Respond
Pray for our Diocese, the Crown Nominations Committee and for our new Bishop.
Support:
If you are in agreement with the need for provision for those who are orthodox: support "the Alliance" here.
If you are in agreement with CEEC: join the Worcester Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship through here.
Get in contact with us if you are in support of what we have said but not wanting to join anything in particular!
Released: Sunday 20th October 2024
Approved and agreed by the W-DEF committee.