The Church of England

I shared an update on some issues in the Church of England at St Mary’s Evening on 9th October. Although our church family is made up of people from all different denominational backgrounds, I like to give an update and for us to have a time of prayer for the Church of England around once a year. For the benefit of those not able to be at the St Mary’s Evening here is a slightly expanded version of what I said and the things I asked us to pray.

There are many things I value about the Church of England. We have a sound biblical doctrinal basis in the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. We have the opportunity to share the gospel in communities all over the country. We have connection with Christians around the world through the Global Anglican Communion. There are also huge challenges in the Church of England, which have probably always been there but are becoming more acute.

 

Living in Love and Faith

One of the main challenges is what is known as Living in Love and Faith. This is a project to introduce the blessing of same-sex relationships into the Church of England. It has been supported by most of the bishops. Since December 2023 prayers of blessing for those in same-sex relationships have been available to be used in services. The bishops tell us this is not a change of doctrine, but it seems clear to me and to many others that it is.

At St Mary’s we are committed to welcoming all people whatever their sexual orientation or relationship situation may be. We want to love people in all different situations and help them get to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We are also committed to teaching God’s word in this and in all areas. The message that runs through the Scriptures is that God’s will for sexual intimacy is that it is expressed only within marriage, the committed union of a man and a woman. This challenges us all as we have all sinned in our minds or our bodies. Wonderfully, when we come to Christ in faith and turn from our sins in repentance, we find full forgiveness and a relationship with him that is more valuable than any human relationship. We have at St Mary’s a Same-Sex Attraction Support Group. This confidential group is for those who experience same-sex attraction and want to support each other in living by God’s word. Please speak to Rachel Meynell or me if you’d like to join that group.

Our responsibility as Christians is to help people live in repentance and faith. The problem with teaching that blesses sexual intimacy outside marriage is that it leads people away from repentance, away from Christ, and therefore away from salvation. It also denies the authority of God’s word in our lives. The Bible tells us that we cannot walk in partnership with those whose teaching leads people away from repentance and faith. This is why our Parochial Church Council (PCC), decided in March 2023 that, due to his teaching, we cannot be in gospel partnership with the bishop of our diocese, the Bishop of Oxford, or the other bishops of this diocese. This means they are not invited to preach or teach at St Mary’s, they do not conduct Ministry Development Reviews with our clergy, and we do not contribute financially to the diocese beyond the direct costs of our Vicar and Safeguarding Services.

In February of next year, General Synod, which is like the parliament of the Church of England will be considering taking further steps in Living in Love and Faith. Many are calling for the introduction of separate ‘bespoke’ services for blessing same-sex relationships, which would look more like a marriage service, and for clergy to be allowed to enter into same-sex marriage themselves, which they are not currently permitted to do. The bishops have just this week indicated that they do not intend to press for these next steps in February. This is a wonderful answer to our prayers at the St Mary’s Evening and the prayers of many others. Other voices will be calling for these changes even now, and the majority of the bishops would like to see these steps taken when they have sufficient support. There may be many more years of painful debate ahead of us on General Synod. There is much for us to pray for here, including for Daniel and Gracy from St Mary’s who are elected members of General Synod.

 

The next Archbishop of Canterbury

Please pray also for Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, who has recently been announced as the next Archbishop of Canterbury and is due to take up the post in March of next year. Anyone taking on such a demanding job deserves our love and our prayers.

Dame Sarah is an experienced leader. Before ordination she was the Chief Nursing Officer of the NHS and she has served as bishop of a very large diocese. I expect these experiences will be useful in her new role. Evangelicals in London have found her to be personally kind and straightforward and reasonable to work with. However, the big challenge is that up to now her teaching in the area of sexual ethics and marriage has not been in line with God’s word in the Scriptures. She has been one of the leaders of the Living in Love and Faith project. Her teaching has also not upheld biblical teaching on the sanctity of human life in the womb. She has described herself as more ‘pro-choice’ than ‘pro-life’. Please pray that as Dame Sarah takes on the enormous responsibility of being Archbishop she will turn back to God’s word in these vital areas.

Some have asked whether it is a problem for us at St Mary’s that the new archbishop is female. This is something we have different views on in the church family. Some will be delighted to see a woman taking on such a senior role in our national life. Others like me believe that biblically the role of bishop or overseer should be undertaken by a man. Whatever our view, this is a less important issue than her teaching on the topics I mentioned above. I am pleased that St Mary’s receives episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro. He provides leadership for evangelical churches like ours around the country. I’m sure Rob Munro will lead us in thinking through how to respond to the complexities presented in the appointment of a female archbishop. Please do pray for him in his very demanding ministry which involves much travel all over England.

 

The Alliance

The third area I would like to keep everyone informed about is really positive. This is the emergence of The Alliance. This is a network of Bible-believing Christians in the Church of England, charismatic and conservative, with leaders including Nicky Gumbel and Vaughan Roberts. It has been wonderful to be part of Alliance meetings and to see to a growing unity amongst this broad group of Bible-believing Christians, passionate about reaching the nation with the gospel of Jesus and upholding God’s word.

The Alliance are working together to urge the bishops to return to God’s word, and to secure a new structure in the Church of England for those who like us cannot be in partnership with bishops whose teaching leads people away from Christ. I think a new structure is vital for us to thrive in the Church of England as we need to be under bishops who uphold God’s word.

In summary, please pray for:

  • The leadership of the Church of England to return to God’s word
  • People not to be led astray by unbiblical teaching
  • Unity amongst Bible-believing Christians in The Alliance
  • Separate structures to be provided for faithful Christians
  • The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro
  • Daniel and Gracy from St Mary’s as they serve on General Synod.

 

I am always happy to discuss issues raised in this blog, so please do email me or contact the office if you would like to meet and talk. I will close with the prayer I led us in during our services on Sunday 5th October:

 

Loving Father,

We thank you that your Son the Lord Jesus is head of the church here at St Mary’s and head of his church throughout the world.

We pray for Dame Sarah Mullally and all who are in leadership in the Church of England. May they recognise your word in the Scriptures, walk in your ways, turn from error, and teach your truth in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We pray for all the churches in our nation, that standing on the foundation of your word, we would hold out the gospel of Jesus to those who so desperately need him.

In his name we pray,

Amen.

 

Jon Drake

17th October 2025