Anglican Mainstream Adrift

Anglican Mainstreams leadership have given a fulsome welcome to the announcement that Canon Stephen Cottrell is to be the next Bishop of

Reading, but is it not odd that they are welcoming the appointment of a

man who is reported as holding a completely contrary view to theirs on

the very issue which led to the formation of Anglican Mainstream, namely his support for the attempt to appoint Jeffrey John It is true that the new bishop designate has a high-profile commitment to evangelism and accepts the practical boundaries laid down by the House of Bishops Report Issues in Human Sexuality, but he has not committed himself to maintaining orthodox and biblical teaching on homosexuality. Indeed, his reported comments make it clear that he regards this as provisional: We need to listen to what God is saying, what the scriptures are saying. We need to listen to gay and lesbian people in our church - we need to listen to what the world says.

The substantive theological differences between Stephen Cottrell and Jeffrey John ? both of whom are members of the liberal Affirming Catholicism group, do not seem to be of any great significance, yet the one is warmly welcomed while the  other triggers the formation of an unprecedented international coalition.

Why should this be? Perhaps the reason why evangelicals managed to came together over the Jeffrey John episode was that it was a remarkably unsubtle appointment the attempt to prefer a man with a track record as proponent of the gay/lesbian cause in a diocese with a strong evangelical presence. Stephen Cottrell represents a much more institutionally savvy way of doing things because he is theologically of a similar mould to Jeffrey John, but sails under an orthodox flag of

convenience which has misled some into thinking he is actually an evangelical.

Anglican Mainstream has therefore got itself into an incoherent position. It claims to be upholding biblical truth, but in practice has shown that what really matters is the appearance of orthodoxy rather than the substance. It does not seem to matter what a bishop teaches, or fails to teach, so long as he observes the current institutional rules.

This is a view of Christian leadership which is clearly at variance with the New Testament requirement that those who exercise oversight should have the personal integrity of  holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Tim 1:19). In fact, this failure to follow through the biblical logic of their opposition to Jeffrey Johns appointment has left Anglican Mainstream vulnerable to the revisionist accusation of homophobia. Much has been made of the fact that Stephen Cottrell is a family man so it would seem that what you teach does not matter very much, but who you chose to share your bed with does.

That Anglican Mainstream has come ? intentionally or not - to split off biblical teaching from biblical practice should not be a total surprise.

There seems never to have been a recognition on their part that the Archbishop of Canterbury is himself a significant part of the problem because this is exactly what he has done ? sought to separate his ecclesiological practice from his personal (yet well publicised) views.

The bitter consequence for him was that he had to publicly abandon Jeffery John, a longstanding friend, for the sake of institutional unity; the bitter consequence for Anglican Mainstream will be that it loses its way in a marshland of ecclesiastical compromise unless it can quickly put its house in order.

The church I now lead, Christ Church Kidderminster, came into being as the outcome of a principled decision to disassociate from the spiritual authority of the current Bishop of Worcester, albeit a family man, who actively and openly supported the gay lesbian agenda and therefore rejected the authority of Gods Word which is the basis of his office.

Despite pressure to compromise from certain senior evangelicals, I have never regretted taking that stand and I am convinced that it is only when we take action on issues of belief and are willing to put issues of   faith before order that the Church of England will see the deep change it so urgently needs.

The Rev Charles Raven is the former vicar of St John the Baptist, Kidderminster, Worcestershire. He is now the vicar of Christ Church, Kidderminster.