But what has changed since then? The fact that at February’s General Synod it emerged that since January the Bishops are requiring all ordination candidates to sign their internally contradictory five guiding principles on women in the episcopate. The principles are to be ‘held in tension’ and are designed to ‘create space’, conservative evangelicals are being told. But the first principle clearly commits signatories to agree with women bishops contrary to their understanding of Scripture:

“Now that legislation has been passed to enable women to become bishops the Church of England is fully and unequivocally committed to all orders of ministry being open equally to all, without reference to gender, and holds that those whom it has duly ordained and appointed to office are the true and lawful holders of the office which they occupy and thus deserve due respect and canonical obedience.”

Conservative evangelical ordinands who rightly refuse to assent to all five, having spent three years in theological training, could find themselves jobless and even homeless in June. They undertook theological training on the basis that they would not be required to deny their theological integrity.

The first duty of any candidate for the See of Maidstone is to make clear that he would refuse to sign the five principles himself. If the requirement is waved for Maidstone, his task would then be to work flat out to get the Bishops’ decision overturned for our ordinands. Whilst he must be humble and gracious, he must approach this duty prophetically rather than diplomatically. If conservative evangelical ministry gets strangled at source, our churches will be without godly pastors.

If that is on the cards, our growing, planting, net-giving churches may as well take steps to leave the institutional Church of England now and join the Anglican Mission in England. That may involve leaving their present buildings, but it would be better to take the hit now rather than get boiled to death like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating pot.

With the full and united support of our constituency, Maidstone would need to make clear to the Archbishops that this is now the choice facing growing conservative evangelical churches and that the possibility of radical action is not about trying to get our way by issuing bullying threats. The Bishops themselves have made a decision that presents us with the choice of institutional compromise or biblical faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Julian Mann is vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire, UK - www.oughtibridgechurch.org.uk