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Person Spec for a Conservative Evangelical Church of England Bishop
By Julian Mann
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
August 25, 2014
With the Archbishops of Canterbury and York reportedly determined to see a conservative evangelical suffragan bishop appointed 'within a matter of months' (Anglican Update, September's Evangelicals Now), here is a suggested person specification for the Dioceses Commission:
He should be publicly committed to the Reform Covenant.
He should be passionately committed to serving the local church, having been at least ten years in one post as a parochial incumbent.
He should already be a recognized Bible teaching leader within the UK conservative evangelical constituency.
He should be combat-fit for spiritual battle, having been threatened with the Clergy Discipline Measure at least once by a revisionist in a senior position in his current diocese for taking a stand for biblical truth and/or for the priority of evangelism.
He should have received at least one poisoned-pen letter from a member of his congregation or parish because of his biblical faithfulness in teaching and action.
He should have refused to take Holy Communion at least once at a central diocesan event because of his commitment to the Church of England's 39 Articles.
He should never have baptized the child of a couple not heterosexually married.
Such a ministerial track record provides solid evidence that he is not a careerist and that he is committed to the spiritual ethos of the Apostle Paul:
Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6v14 - RSV).
