Fulcrum Response to CEEC's statement and motion of 4 December 2008

Fulcrum Response

to the CEEC Statement and Motion

of 4 December 2008

Fulcrum welcomes the tone and constructive attitude of the Church of England Evangelical Council’s statement and motion (4 December 2008). We hope this will mean new beginnings for the way evangelical Anglicans take counsel together.

Fulcrum believes it is vital CEEC becomes recognized as a genuinely representative, authentic and authoritative voice for all evangelical Anglicans and is committed to working with it and other evangelical bodies and networks.

We wish to offer the following appreciations and questions.

We appreciate:

1. the apology for a ‘serious mistake’ in not circulating its motion on the Jerusalem declaration in advance of the NEAC 2008 meeting

2. the resolve to fulfil CEEC’s stated purpose of ‘taking counsel together about matters of particular concern to evangelical Anglicans’

3. the affirmation of the Church of England’s solid doctrinal foundation in canon A5 (par 1), the CEEC Basis of Faith and the Lambeth 1998 resolutions on Holy Scripture (3.5) and on human sexuality (1.10)

4. the recognition of the need for ‘prayerful solidarity with faithful Anglicans across the globe’ (par 2)

5. the wisdom of naming and affirming more than one strategy as acceptable for evangelical Anglicans in response to the current Anglican crisis (par 3)

6. the call on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates to recognise the urgency of the situation of Anglicans and this extends to Brazil and Canada as well as the USA (par 4)

We question:

1. The wisdom of affirming the entire Jerusalem Declaration (par 2) because although we can endorse most of the Jerusalem Declaration, the preamble (on strategy) and paragraph 13 (on rejecting authority) are problematical to us and many whom CEEC claims to represent.

(a) The preamble explicitly states: ‘we agree to chart a way forward together…’ The ‘we’ clearly refers, in the context, to those at the GAFCON meeting. CEEC affirming the Jerusalem Declaration could be read as committing CEEC to the GAFCON strategy as well as the doctrinal statements of the Declaration. We are not convinced this is the best way forward for the Anglican Communion or evangelicals in the Church of England.

(b) Paragraph 13 of the Jerusalem Declaration states: ‘we reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed’. While accepting that ecclesial authority derives from orthodox faith, we believe this statement needs more careful articulation and application. It is a blunt instrument allowing the ‘we’ (GAFCON and now, it seems, CEEC) to give judgement on whole churches and on unspecified leaders.

(c) Given these concerns were widely held at NEAC we hope CEEC may now facilitate further dialogue on these aspects of the Jerusalem Declaration.

2. The wisdom of calling on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates to give ‘immediate and serious consideration’ to granting recognition to the new province in North America.

(a) We express our support for the Anglican Essentials Federation in Canada and Communion Partners in the USA who (continuing the original aims of the Anglican Communion Network) bear faithful witness within the American church and have not felt it necessary to create a new province.

(b) We believe that any discussion of recognition must await a fuller statement of the province’s structures and composition, follow due process, and be related to the Anglican covenant.

In conclusion, Fulcrum:

1. Welcomes the motion’s clear desire to hold together the various ways in which evangelical Anglicans are responding to the issues facing the C of E and the Anglican Communion

2. Looks forward to contributing to the work of CEEC in further addressing these significant matters and strengthening the Council and Executive as they use their powers to advance the Council’s object.

For articles giving the wider context of this response, see Fulcrum Coverage on NEAC 2008