Letter Published in the Church of England Newspaper - 17th July 2009
Dear Sir
I read with interest your report and Comment on the launch of the
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
Like Paul in Philippians, I will always rejoice when Christ is
proclaimed, but I am concerned that there is something deeply disingenuous about
the way in which FCA is setting out its stall.
It seems clear that Gafcon and FCA came about because of the
vigorous debate on sexuality which has been raging in recent years. Yet now we
are being told that their existence is due to something far more fundamental
than that – it is about basic Christian identity and uniqueness of Christ.
Bishop Nazir-Ali set the ball rolling last weekend when he was
quoted as saying that people who depart from their view of Biblical revelation
about sexuality don’t share the same faith. This was continued by Archbishop
Gregory Venables in seeking to polarise the debate as being between “those who
say that there is only one way; Jesus Christ ... and those who say there are
lots of ways.”
I am sure that I am not the only one who finds this transition of
purpose both alarming and misleading.
It is misleading because it is not debate on the uniqueness of
Christ which will cause FCA to make the further transition from ‘movement’ to
‘organisation’ – it is, in the words of its speakers, issues of gender (the
ordination of women as Bishops) and sexuality (greater acceptance of
homosexuals).
Such issues are not central to the Christian gospel, do not
enable or negate our salvation, and should not be seen as defining issues on
which we should be pushed to decide between the ‘real’ church and a church in
whose structures (in the words of Bishop Broadhurst) Satan resides.
I am a Confessing Anglican – I confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. According to Romans 10:9 that confession along with my faith that God
raised him from the dead means that I will be saved. Biblically, that is our
identity as Christians, not our attitude to gender, sexuality, or for that
matter FCA.
As a pro-gay evangelical, I will not be joining FCA (nor I would
imagine would they want me to) but I would appeal to them to affirm their
fellowship with all who declare that “Jesus is Lord!” If they refuse to do
this, I am sad to say, they will indeed be working towards schism, not truth.
Yours in Christ
Rev Benny Hazlehurst
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