This is not my first article on the Church of England, nor is it likely to be the last. But I have to ask how many more I will write before the CoE has officially sailed off into the setting sun, never to be seen again. Each new month finds new horror stories about this once great ecclesiastical institution.
It has of course gone the way of so many other denominations over some of the hot potato issues of the day, such as homosexuality. And now that all things transgender is the flavour of the month, it seems the CoE must hop on board this bandwagon as well.
Back in July I wrote about the slow but sure implosion of the CoE, looking at how it was massively caving in to the gender bender agenda. You can see my writeup here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/07/11/great-anglican-death-wish/
Things have not gotten any better over time. Things instead have continued to lurch downwards. Consider two recent newspaper articles coming out of the UK about the church. This article from September 21 was bad enough. It begins:
A boy wearing a dress to school is “not a problem”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. Speaking on LBC radio the most senior cleric in the Church of England said he would tell a concerned parishioner that they should help their child “understand”. He said: “I would say to them, I don’t think that’s a problem. The other family are making up their own minds. The other child is making up their own mind. Talk to your child. Help them to understand. Help them to see what’s going on and to be faithful to their own convictions.”
The Archbishop also said that he had been “struggling” with the question, and added: “I make a point of not commenting on particular cases because you just never know the whole story”.
What was that the Apostle Paul said? “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” It seems equivocating, waffling, beating around the bush, and avoiding the question has become an artform for far too many church leaders.
Instead of taking a strong stand on the controversial issues of the day with a bit of black and white, it is all a matter of 99 shades of grey. Confused and troubled children like this do not need more spineless wonders offering bubble and froth, but a clear word. Such students need help, not a pat on the back.
But wait, there’s more. It gets even worse. Just today another article appeared on similar matters, and the good ol’ CoE continues to run with the spirit of the age. Check this out – it is really quite frightening!
Primary school boys should be allowed to wear tutus and high heels if they want to, the Church of England has said in its first guidance for teachers on transgender issues. Children should not be restricted by their gender when dressing up, and girls should be able to wear a tool belt and fireman’s helmet if they choose, the document says.
The guidance for teachers in Church of England schools, endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, says that children “should be at liberty to explore the possibilities of who they might be without judgement or derision”. The document comes as a growing number of children coming forward to express doubt about their assigned gender.
Figures released earlier this year by the Gender Identity Development Service show that the number of under-18s referred to the north London clinic has grown from 314 in 2011 to 2,016 last year. The guidance says: “For example, a child may choose the tutu, princess’s tiara and heels and/or the fireman’s helmet, tool belt and superhero cloak without expectation or comment. Childhood has a sacred space for creative self imagining.”
The document, which gives teachers guidance on how to challenge transphobic bullying, also says young children “should be afforded freedom from the expectation of permanence. They are in a ‘trying on’ stage of life, and not yet adult and so no labels need to be fixed.”
Teachers in Church of England schools should “avoid labels and assumptions which deem children’s behaviour irregular, abnormal or problematic just because it does not conform to gender stereotypes or today’s play preferences,” it adds.
Introducing the document, entitled Valuing All God’s Children, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “All bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying causes profound damage, leading to higher levels of mental health disorders, self-harm, depression and suicide. Central to Christian theology is the truth that every single one of us is made in the image of God.”
Um, try telling us something we don’t already know Arch. Of course we all are. But what in the world does that have to do with allowing vulnerable and impressionable young people to be so very greatly harmed by the radical gender bender anarchy of the sexual militants?
Why not stand up and seek to protect them, instead of throwing them to the social engineering wolves? Have you no duty of care? And what did Jesus say about harming one of these young ones? Something about a millstone wrapped around the necks of the perpetrators?
The hardcore sexual and secular left have declared war on our faith, our freedoms and our families. They certainly have declared war on our children. I would have thought that any church worth its salt would do all it can to protect our children, and not abandon them to the gender revolutionaries.
Things have gotten so bad that an aide to Welby has just quit, lamenting the liberal drift of the church. As one recent news report states:
A close adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury has quit over a ‘liberal’ Church of England ‘agenda of revisionism’ that fails to ‘articulate the Gospel message’. Lorna Ashworth, who opposes gay marriage, resigned saying the church’s ‘core message’ is ‘no longer believed’.
‘We have a liberal agenda because the church is not anchored in the Gospel,’ she said in The Sunday Times. ‘There is no more conversation about heaven, hell, sin, forgiveness, judgment.’ Though she claims her departure is about more than gay marriage, the resignation could boost the agenda of conservatives fighting accommodation with gay rights.
A motion to permit the blessing of same-sex marriages has been submitted to the General Synod ahead of its next meeting in February but it is yet to be adopted for debate.
Mrs Ashworth says the true message of Christianity risks being drowned out by people who don’t want to talk about sin, preferring instead to discuss social justice because ‘if we talk about sin, then we have to talk about bad behaviour and people don’t want to be judgmental’. She added: ‘When you try to say the simple Gospel in Synod you get booed down.’
But of course these are not the only areas in which the CoE has been struggling of late. It has plenty of problems, as do so many other major denominations today. Instead of holding strong to biblical absolutes and affirming 2000 years of Christian ethical and doctrinal teaching, many have simply caved in to the surrounding culture.
They have put up the white flag of surrender and have abandoned millions of their own flock to the hordes of wolves from without who are intent on having them for dinner. What a massive case of capitulation, compromise and carnality. Shame.
It seems the CoE has nearly given up the ghost. Sure, I realise there are still many valiant Anglicans in the UK seeking to stem the tide and fight the good fight. Various groups are seeking to remain true to biblical teachings, such as Anglican Mainstream. See their helpful site here: http://anglicanmainstream.org/
These brave troopers deserve all the support they can get. But whether it is enough to turn things around remains to be seen. The CoE may well be another major church body for which the Hebrew term Ichabod clearly applies. For those not in the know, consult 1 Samuel 4:21 and Ezekiel 10:18.
16 Replies to “Time to Bury the Church of England?”
Makes you wonder how many ministers are homosexual.
John Abbott
The truth is the truth is the truth, we may lose our way at times but God’s word can and will not change. Seek the truth in God’s word and do not let the church of any denomination steer you in the wrong direction. The Bible warns us that false prophets and false teachings will abound in the last days. I don’t know if we are in the last days but fI do know that the destruction of the family our culture and our beliefs are being eroded at an alarming rate. Pray for guidance and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. This is not a popularity contest it is holding onto what God intended .
Bill Its not just this LGBT stuff the church of England is pushing. The church also supports pushing Christian children into being taught about Islam (only the peaceful side.) Not only that but in some U.K schools they are pushing kids into converting to Islam. Is it any wonder why the church is dying in the west when you have (and I’m sorry for saying this but) useful idiots?
It’s also been reported that a Christian teacher in the UK has been suspended for referring to a girl as a girl, and addressing her by name rather than pronoun. Apparently she self identifies as a boy and her mother is unhappy that the teacher ‘misgendered’ her. Not sure if it’s a CoE teacher or not.
Hi Bill, thank you again for all of your research into what is a difficult issue. Even well before the era of the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield, the C of E was on a slippery slope. I know that you’ve confined your comments to the state of the C of E in the U.K. Have you already or are you planning to write anything on the state of the C of E in the African Nations? From my understanding they do hold to Biblical Laws & Principals, and there was talk about a major break away from their colleagues in the U.K. To the best of my understanding, the Africans have a strong grip on what is black & white in terms of Biblical Doctrine, “99 shades of grey” doesn’t come into it. Thanks again Bill for a good article, regards, Kel.
Thanks Kelvin. In the article I link to early on in my piece above, I mention GAFCON and those biblical Anglicans from the developing nations.
“The whole world is going mad except me and thee…..and I’m not that sure about thee” as the saying goes. I am afraid – though not fearful as the Holy Spirit has all under His Wings – that the above may well soon (if not already) be able to be written about the Roman Catholic Church. With our present Pope the whole subject of doctrine is deliberately being pushed onto the back burner, while the mis-concept and malpractice of ‘Pastoral Mercy’ is exalted.
It all begins with a crack in the wall and will, if Revelation is to be believed (which It is of course, though is so complex to understand about whom St John was writing in any one particular passage), the whole dam bursts. The end times mean just that. The End. And that means the end of the Church of Rome too, unless those like me inside Her want to exalt the Body over the Head, Who Is Our Lord and Redeemer, our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ (St Paul to the Church at Ephesus).
There are of course many inside the Mystical Body here on earth who believe ALL doctrinal matters. As St Thomas Aquinas from the 13th Century wrote in his poem, ‘Pange Lingua’: “Truth Himself speaks truly, or there’s nothing true…” But find me one Bishop (with the notable exception – and relief – of the Most Rev Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan) wiling to stand up to Francis’s this-world-ly teachings and preachings (though his his silencing of all critics without exception seem, for now at least, to be holding), and I’ll eat my clerical hat.
The Little Remnant appears to becoming more and more essential and we must hold on to each other whilst holding onto complying with Our Lord’s Divine Teachings (Doctrines, from the original Latin).
You can quote me on this, a priest-monk-hermit who aches and aches to go Home again from whence I came, where I may gaze upon, adore and be lost (and found – Luke 10) in the Blessed Light of The Most Holy Trinity’s Countenance.
The rainbow was given to Noah after the Flood as the sign of God’s promise not to destroy the world by water. Perhaps though the rainbow itself will implode upon all those who leeming-like hand onto that banner.
Rev Father Kim Watson
Probably yes. It seems to have passed its use-by date. Having grown up in the Church of England, I always found that there was a sort of emptiness in it, even though the ceremonials were in a way inspiring. For me personally, this was part of my journey to my true faith home in the Roman Catholic Church. I feel that this emptiness has led to a radical vs traditional divergence with a middle ground struggling for identity and existence.
While it’s true that certain sectors here in the UK are valiantly fighting to save the CofE, I’m afraid that with the likes of Jovial Justin in charge, I see little hope. He really is spouting out a load of trash and I see similar stuff, albeit watered down, issuing from my monthly parish magazine. The rot has reached the heart of the tree and all the trunk can do now is fall down and scatter its seed. I can fully understand the fears that people have…that Christianity will somehow collapse and be destroyed…but they need to realise that church institutions didn’t exist in Christ’s time, nor for a long time afterwards.
The archbishop is worried about bullying –but not the bullying inflicted on the decent, law abiding majority.
So the minorities are allowed to bully the majority. No one addresses’ THIS’ bullying problem, so, ‘go figure’. The devil has done a fine job with the c.o.e. clergy, it seems to be full of homos, weaklings, cowards and lunatics. May the God of the Holy bible have mercy on us all.
My father was an Anglican Priest, as was my grandfather on my mother’s side, as is a brother-in-law now retired. My father died in 1976 before the main PC waves swept over the C of E, but he was already expressing irritation with the persistent reference to the notion of “women” priests instead of the correct word: “priestesses”. He was opposed to the idea and, if he had lived, he would surely have moved to the Catholic Church. Especially over the whole weird alphabetical mess of complicated unusual sexual combinations and permutations… He would most certainly have refused to have any truck with same-sex “marriages”!
As usual, we have an institution that is no longer living up to the Bible standards (which as a Church, I would have thought was their purpose) but rather is becoming increasing humanistic. These institutions are a disgrace to the whole message of Christ and the teachings of God as expounded in Holy Scripture – read 2 Tim. 3:16-17 where ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD BREATHED (Inspired), that is, not subject to interpretation or updating by so-called people and their Synods. It seems that the Church is tantamount in attempting to define gender and sexuality and to instill it in children using ‘Anti-bullying’ arguments as some type of a reason for doing so but really only offering a weak excuse to back up their humanistic worldview. The Church, which is made up of Christians, was never meant to court favourtism but this is just what we are witnessing. Get rid of the Church and all that it currently promotes or at least strip it of all its tax benefits and other benefits that it may incur as a ‘Religious Institution,’ for it is no longer a ‘Religious’ body but a body of people who are akin to any other humanistic, secular organization. By all means, LGBT groups should stand up for the LGBT folk – that is their purpose. But ALL CHURCHES need to uphold the teachings of the Holy Bible and not promote anything that is contrary therein – and promoting some under the so-called ‘LOVE EVERYONE, ACCEPT EVERYTHING’ banner
Teresa, you say, “I don’t know if we are in the last days,” . My response is that God has already told us when those days are. If you go to Acts 2: 14-20 you will see clearly that the last days began on the day of Pentecost. We are not left to our own understanding, God gives us certainty through His written word. What He did on the day of Pentecost is His sign that the last days had now begun. We tend to at the world situation, line it up with much of Matt 24, and say, “These are the end times etc.” But as I have said, God does leave us to try and figure it out alone, as all the things spoken of in Matt 24 have been happening all through the ages.
As I write this, the results have just come through for the same sex “marriage “ survey, and already the crowing of the deluded has begun, and it is disheartening. However, even though events are happening at an accelerating rate, I think it gives the faithful remnant time to adjust and prepare to choose life, resist evil and affirm the continuing Lordship of Christ. If these things happened overnight, we would be in deep shock with it’s subsequent psychological paralysis, whereby the enemy would gain more ground.
The devil will be banging his drum for all his worth now, so watch and see where the noise is coming from, and what is being said. It is now that the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet 5:8. His intention is the further destruction of your morale and faithfulness Matt 24:12-13. Exercise your senses to discern between good and evil Heb 5:14b. Take heart, God is saving us and He will have the last word Romans 14:11.
All of the points mentioned above is why The Free Church of England, which believes in the inerrancy of scripture and maintains orthodox doctrine, continues to grow, along with the GAFCON jurisdictions. But the Anglican Church of Australia is well on its way to leading theologically uneducated members down the path trodden by the American Episcopal Church and the Canadian Anglicans. Heresy and worldliness.
Let’s just call this what it is: apostasy.
The best thing that could happen is for the new “Bishop” of London to back gay marriage, because if she does, the affluent, large and biblically sound St Helen’s Bishopsgate has vowed it will leave the denomination. Many more remnant C of E churches will likely have the courage to follow, and hopefully the Church of England will be left with nothing but apostate “churches,” and will be just a figurehead, like many state churches in persecuted countries. At least that will clear up a lot of this confusion.
That is my prayer. The Church of England is not Christianity and these leaders are a disgrace. I work as an evangelist in this city, and I have more respect for the prostitutes I speak with in Soho than for Justin Welby. These C of E leaders are the lowest form of humanity in this nation right now (like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day), and it is largely because of them that so many people think homosexuality is not a sin.
Makes you wonder how many ministers are homosexual.
John Abbott
The truth is the truth is the truth, we may lose our way at times but God’s word can and will not change. Seek the truth in God’s word and do not let the church of any denomination steer you in the wrong direction. The Bible warns us that false prophets and false teachings will abound in the last days. I don’t know if we are in the last days but fI do know that the destruction of the family our culture and our beliefs are being eroded at an alarming rate. Pray for guidance and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. This is not a popularity contest it is holding onto what God intended .
Bill Its not just this LGBT stuff the church of England is pushing. The church also supports pushing Christian children into being taught about Islam (only the peaceful side.) Not only that but in some U.K schools they are pushing kids into converting to Islam. Is it any wonder why the church is dying in the west when you have (and I’m sorry for saying this but) useful idiots?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/04/26/ban-parents-pulling-children-religious-education-classes-church/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5066695/Stepfather-refuses-let-child-complete-homework.html
It’s also been reported that a Christian teacher in the UK has been suspended for referring to a girl as a girl, and addressing her by name rather than pronoun. Apparently she self identifies as a boy and her mother is unhappy that the teacher ‘misgendered’ her. Not sure if it’s a CoE teacher or not.
Hi Bill, thank you again for all of your research into what is a difficult issue. Even well before the era of the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield, the C of E was on a slippery slope. I know that you’ve confined your comments to the state of the C of E in the U.K. Have you already or are you planning to write anything on the state of the C of E in the African Nations? From my understanding they do hold to Biblical Laws & Principals, and there was talk about a major break away from their colleagues in the U.K. To the best of my understanding, the Africans have a strong grip on what is black & white in terms of Biblical Doctrine, “99 shades of grey” doesn’t come into it. Thanks again Bill for a good article, regards, Kel.
Thanks Kelvin. In the article I link to early on in my piece above, I mention GAFCON and those biblical Anglicans from the developing nations.
“The whole world is going mad except me and thee…..and I’m not that sure about thee” as the saying goes. I am afraid – though not fearful as the Holy Spirit has all under His Wings – that the above may well soon (if not already) be able to be written about the Roman Catholic Church. With our present Pope the whole subject of doctrine is deliberately being pushed onto the back burner, while the mis-concept and malpractice of ‘Pastoral Mercy’ is exalted.
It all begins with a crack in the wall and will, if Revelation is to be believed (which It is of course, though is so complex to understand about whom St John was writing in any one particular passage), the whole dam bursts. The end times mean just that. The End. And that means the end of the Church of Rome too, unless those like me inside Her want to exalt the Body over the Head, Who Is Our Lord and Redeemer, our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ (St Paul to the Church at Ephesus).
There are of course many inside the Mystical Body here on earth who believe ALL doctrinal matters. As St Thomas Aquinas from the 13th Century wrote in his poem, ‘Pange Lingua’: “Truth Himself speaks truly, or there’s nothing true…” But find me one Bishop (with the notable exception – and relief – of the Most Rev Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan) wiling to stand up to Francis’s this-world-ly teachings and preachings (though his his silencing of all critics without exception seem, for now at least, to be holding), and I’ll eat my clerical hat.
The Little Remnant appears to becoming more and more essential and we must hold on to each other whilst holding onto complying with Our Lord’s Divine Teachings (Doctrines, from the original Latin).
You can quote me on this, a priest-monk-hermit who aches and aches to go Home again from whence I came, where I may gaze upon, adore and be lost (and found – Luke 10) in the Blessed Light of The Most Holy Trinity’s Countenance.
The rainbow was given to Noah after the Flood as the sign of God’s promise not to destroy the world by water. Perhaps though the rainbow itself will implode upon all those who leeming-like hand onto that banner.
Rev Father Kim Watson
Probably yes. It seems to have passed its use-by date. Having grown up in the Church of England, I always found that there was a sort of emptiness in it, even though the ceremonials were in a way inspiring. For me personally, this was part of my journey to my true faith home in the Roman Catholic Church. I feel that this emptiness has led to a radical vs traditional divergence with a middle ground struggling for identity and existence.
While it’s true that certain sectors here in the UK are valiantly fighting to save the CofE, I’m afraid that with the likes of Jovial Justin in charge, I see little hope. He really is spouting out a load of trash and I see similar stuff, albeit watered down, issuing from my monthly parish magazine. The rot has reached the heart of the tree and all the trunk can do now is fall down and scatter its seed. I can fully understand the fears that people have…that Christianity will somehow collapse and be destroyed…but they need to realise that church institutions didn’t exist in Christ’s time, nor for a long time afterwards.
The archbishop is worried about bullying –but not the bullying inflicted on the decent, law abiding majority.
So the minorities are allowed to bully the majority. No one addresses’ THIS’ bullying problem, so, ‘go figure’. The devil has done a fine job with the c.o.e. clergy, it seems to be full of homos, weaklings, cowards and lunatics. May the God of the Holy bible have mercy on us all.
My father was an Anglican Priest, as was my grandfather on my mother’s side, as is a brother-in-law now retired. My father died in 1976 before the main PC waves swept over the C of E, but he was already expressing irritation with the persistent reference to the notion of “women” priests instead of the correct word: “priestesses”. He was opposed to the idea and, if he had lived, he would surely have moved to the Catholic Church. Especially over the whole weird alphabetical mess of complicated unusual sexual combinations and permutations… He would most certainly have refused to have any truck with same-sex “marriages”!
As usual, we have an institution that is no longer living up to the Bible standards (which as a Church, I would have thought was their purpose) but rather is becoming increasing humanistic. These institutions are a disgrace to the whole message of Christ and the teachings of God as expounded in Holy Scripture – read 2 Tim. 3:16-17 where ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD BREATHED (Inspired), that is, not subject to interpretation or updating by so-called people and their Synods. It seems that the Church is tantamount in attempting to define gender and sexuality and to instill it in children using ‘Anti-bullying’ arguments as some type of a reason for doing so but really only offering a weak excuse to back up their humanistic worldview. The Church, which is made up of Christians, was never meant to court favourtism but this is just what we are witnessing. Get rid of the Church and all that it currently promotes or at least strip it of all its tax benefits and other benefits that it may incur as a ‘Religious Institution,’ for it is no longer a ‘Religious’ body but a body of people who are akin to any other humanistic, secular organization. By all means, LGBT groups should stand up for the LGBT folk – that is their purpose. But ALL CHURCHES need to uphold the teachings of the Holy Bible and not promote anything that is contrary therein – and promoting some under the so-called ‘LOVE EVERYONE, ACCEPT EVERYTHING’ banner
This “Yes, Prime Minister” UK video clip pretty much nails what is wrong with the Church of England, today. Very cleverly put: https://www.facebook.com/BritishComedy/videos/1967023973514898/?hc_ref=ARR8hnwTuzWKr-M1w9XwjT9SfNG7zLdqZ7TFRQXQmw7ya3h0WJKw2B7ziKqlDv77MBE&pnref=story
Teresa, you say, “I don’t know if we are in the last days,” . My response is that God has already told us when those days are. If you go to Acts 2: 14-20 you will see clearly that the last days began on the day of Pentecost. We are not left to our own understanding, God gives us certainty through His written word. What He did on the day of Pentecost is His sign that the last days had now begun. We tend to at the world situation, line it up with much of Matt 24, and say, “These are the end times etc.” But as I have said, God does leave us to try and figure it out alone, as all the things spoken of in Matt 24 have been happening all through the ages.
As I write this, the results have just come through for the same sex “marriage “ survey, and already the crowing of the deluded has begun, and it is disheartening. However, even though events are happening at an accelerating rate, I think it gives the faithful remnant time to adjust and prepare to choose life, resist evil and affirm the continuing Lordship of Christ. If these things happened overnight, we would be in deep shock with it’s subsequent psychological paralysis, whereby the enemy would gain more ground.
The devil will be banging his drum for all his worth now, so watch and see where the noise is coming from, and what is being said. It is now that the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet 5:8. His intention is the further destruction of your morale and faithfulness Matt 24:12-13. Exercise your senses to discern between good and evil Heb 5:14b. Take heart, God is saving us and He will have the last word Romans 14:11.
All of the points mentioned above is why The Free Church of England, which believes in the inerrancy of scripture and maintains orthodox doctrine, continues to grow, along with the GAFCON jurisdictions. But the Anglican Church of Australia is well on its way to leading theologically uneducated members down the path trodden by the American Episcopal Church and the Canadian Anglicans. Heresy and worldliness.
Let’s just call this what it is: apostasy.
The best thing that could happen is for the new “Bishop” of London to back gay marriage, because if she does, the affluent, large and biblically sound St Helen’s Bishopsgate has vowed it will leave the denomination. Many more remnant C of E churches will likely have the courage to follow, and hopefully the Church of England will be left with nothing but apostate “churches,” and will be just a figurehead, like many state churches in persecuted countries. At least that will clear up a lot of this confusion.
That is my prayer. The Church of England is not Christianity and these leaders are a disgrace. I work as an evangelist in this city, and I have more respect for the prostitutes I speak with in Soho than for Justin Welby. These C of E leaders are the lowest form of humanity in this nation right now (like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day), and it is largely because of them that so many people think homosexuality is not a sin.
They will all answer to God one day.