"Does my lord bishop really think that God cannot change His mind in keeping with an upwardly evolving society, the joys of multiculturalism, pluriformity and the rich diversity now found in England?"

"Is the member not mightier than the sword, my lord Bishop."

The recent prayers and blessings approved of by the church was just another move in the Church of England chess game to fully approve that which God has said a resounding no too, along with 2,000 years of church teaching. To hell with it all. We will have our way. It is written.

But evangelicals in the CofE claim to have a strategy. When asked, What kind of provision do you want for evangelicals?

John Dunnett, National Director of the Church of England's Evangelical Council told Premier it's placed an enormous burden on local churches:

"The bishops have exported this division down to every single local parish. You're going to have fractious debate at parochial church council meetings. You're going to have vicars having to explain to people why they're not doing this.

"This is going to be a recipe for distrust. It's going to bring fracture to relationships that have up to now been good in local parishes.

"Already we're hearing from clergy person after clergy person and from PCC members in dioceses all over the country that they are fearing what is now going to happen."

"We need to be able to teach and preach what has always been understood as the Christian position on marriage, and call out other views as errant. The ordination and licensing of orthodox clergy should be overseen by an orthodox bishop and orthodox churches must be free to partner with other orthodox churches. They must not be forced to work with churches that have a view that has always been seen to be contrary to Scripture. There must also be a secure orthodox pipeline so that ordinations and training take place within an orthodox context, and senior appointment processes must be adapted to ensure orthodoxy into the future."

But will this strategy work?

Not really. An article in Anglican Futures which you can read here https://virtueonline.org/2023-four-lessons-learned outlines the alternatives for evangelicals, none of which offer much hope. Here are seven myths to think about:

Anglican Myth 1: It's my church - I'm the incumbent
Anglican Myth 2: "But can't we have "Alternative Episcopal Oversight"?
Anglican Myth 3: The bishop is the focus of unity
Anglican Myth 4: We can bankrupt the diocese
Anglican Myth 5: St Luke's is leaving the Church of England
Anglican Myth 6: The louder the better
Anglican Myth 7: The temporal-spiritual divide
Anglican Myth 8: Overseas bishops will be the answer

In all, the answers are no.

This reminds me of The Eagles famous hit song, Hotel California; "You can check out any time but you can never leave."

Church of England evangelicals think they can win by staying and swaying the majority or having a "church within a church." That is not going to happen. It did not happen in the US or Canada and it won't happen in England. Episcopal Resolution B012 forever put the kibosh on opposition to homosexual marriage and Bishop Bill Love of Albany paid the ultimate price. He was handed his marching orders.

The Church of England is doomed. Archbishop Justin Welby's Secretary for Appointments, Stephen Knott is officially married to a (Scots)man and no appointment would be made without his say so and approval. Can you imagine a straight white evangelical male who dared to say that homosexuality violated Scripture and Article 20 of the 39 articles which openly declares that "it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written...repugnant to another" getting approval?

Fortunately, GAFCON GB & E and the ANiE has been established for those who want to risk all for Christ and His kingdom and take the plunge and leave. It worked for the late Melvin Tinker who established a successful independent evangelical Anglican parish in Hull.

As Dr. Gavin Ashenden observed at the time; "[Tinker] saw more quickly than most that the capitulation to the hydra-headed pollutant of progressive values, wrapped up in the lethal weapon of cultural Marxism, was a poison that would destroy the integrity of the Church and render it spiritually infertile."

He is right. This alone should be enough for evangelicals to realize that they have no future in a morally compromised church that has the stigmata of death written all over it.

END