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LONDON: Evangelical Parishes to boycott pro-gay bishops
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
THE TELEGRAPH
10/13/2004
Church of England evangelicals prepared for guerrilla warfare over homosexuality yesterday by backing plans to boycott liberal bishops. Reform, the conservative evangelical network, put itself on a collision course with the Church's leadership by endorsing the radical plans at its annual conference in Swanwick, Derbys.
Under the proposals, parishes could refuse liberal bishops entry to their churches and instead invite in like-minded evangelical bishops, possibly from Africa or Asia. Parishes would be encouraged to stop sending their church "taxes" to central diocesan funds and instead set up their own schemes for training clergy independently of mainstream theological colleges.
The 200 delegates voted overwhelmingly to welcome the document Ways Forward. Although the network's membership is relatively small, its actions will resonate with many of the Church's evangelical clergy, which make up between a quarter and a third of the total.
Spokesmen for Reform have already made clear that it will be particularly targeting the eight diocesan bishops who signed a letter last year supporting the appointment of the gay cleric Dr Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading.
Dr John was later forced to withdraw from the post after huge international pressure.
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