GAFCON - Richard Coekin's Reflections

Richard Coekin, the Senior Pastor of the Co-Mission Initiative of which Christ Church Balham is a part has written his personal reflections on our time in Jerusalem at the Global Anglican Future Conference. You'll find his observations here.

Dear Friends - July

Dear Friends

In recent weeks the media has been awash with stories of the further disintegration of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. As is often the case, the carefully worded statements of principled biblical leaders are presented as the bigoted ranting of schismatic homophobic militants at the lunatic fringe of mainstream Christianity. Not by everyone, admittedly. Rather wonderfully some of the press reporting, particularly by the BBC’s Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Piggott, has been very fair. One of the newsworthy items has been the Global Anglican Future Conference [GAFCON] held in Jerusalem at the end of June.

I had the privilege of attending with the Co-Mission Senior Pastor, Richard Coekin. It was more enjoyable and encouraging than I ever imagined it would be. Though it was hard to be separated from church and especially from family, it was wonderful to be among old and new friends from all around the world. There were so many highlights that it seems miserly to limit them to a few. But chief amongst them must be the private tour of the biblical sites of Jerusalem by Australian historian and theologian Paul Barnett, conversations on the bus with Archbishop Josiah Fearon from Kaduna, Nigeria and relaxing by the hotel pool with the great and the good from the English evangelical church scene!

One of the key things to come out of GAFCON was the Statement on the Global Anglican Future. For those of us who are cynical about such things or overly pedantic about the precise details of statements of faith you need to remember that when the draft statement was read to a room of approximately 1,200 people, grown men whooped, wept, jumped for joy and hugged one another. The British did it on the inside. One senior clergyman said to me, ‘this is the best thing to come out of Anglicanism in all my years of ministry’. Another said, ‘for the first time in my ordained life I’m not embarrassed to be an Anglican!’
Let me suggest that this is a great statement for at least these three reasons.

1. It’s a reassertion of authentic Anglicanism
Opponents of GAFCON are already suggesting that the motivation behind the movement is schismatic separation. It is most definitely not that. These orthodox Anglicans are going nowhere. Though the statement launches a Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the document states that ‘our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion’. Instead they are committed to the preservation, recovery and growth of authentic Anglicanism. This is defined not by recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury but by a doctrinal commitment to the authority of the scriptures as expressed in the Creeds and the 39 Articles. This ought to be music to evangelical ears. It means that the Church of England belongs to people like us and not the liberal revisionists who currently wield so much influence. In actuality they are like a parasitical cuckoo that has flown uninvited into the biblical nest of Anglicanism and is in the process of forcing out the rightful heirs to the denomination. It’s a deliberately provocative metaphor, but it’s accurate.

2. It’s a potentially divisive statement
Though lots of faithful Anglicans may agree that things are a mess at the moment, not everyone will like what’s been suggested. And therefore self proclaimed evangelical leaders like the Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright, who has written many useful things and with whom we would agree on a whole range of issues, have come out strongly against what’s been proposed. But over the last ten years there’s been a growing consensus that evangelicals cannot simply stay in the Church of England and accept further compromise. For the sake of Christ and his gospel we must contend, graciously but firmly. And in so doing we’re not doing anything un-Anglican. Anglicanism ought to welcome evangelical Christians. And yet in some dioceses the central structures are opposing gospel work and even persecuting gospel churches. Courageously, the leaders of GAFCON have decided that they cannot stand by whilst others preach another gospel, whilst principled Anglicans are forced to seek alternative Episcopal oversight and whilst no effective disciplinary measures are taken against the liberal revisionists. In my view, GAFCON is realistic about the mess that we’re currently in and it promises help in those situations.

3. It’s a distraction from the job of ministry
I’ve deliberately overstated that in order to make unmistakably clear that though this is a political statement of real substance it won’t bring anyone to faith and it won’t grow anyone in Christian maturity. That’s our job. It will be tempting for us to become distracted and forget that Christ commissioned us to make disciples of all nations not make us familiar with the endless round of opinions expressed in the ‘blogosphere’. Let’s be informed on the issues but not sidetracked by them. The Jerusalem statement is significant, please don’t misunderstand me. It’s especially encouraging and supportive of the gospel ministry that we’re trying to do in launching new congregations and raising up future church leaders. But it will not do it for us. We must encourage one another to keep going in the demanding but rewarding work of gospel ministry. Of course, we still think that the Church of England is worth fighting for. We’d like there to be Anglican churches up and down the country in years to come so that our children and grandchildren can hear the gospel in them. But the battle for the Church of England will not be won on pieces of paper, but on the ground. If Anglican Evangelical churches like ours keep growing and producing informed and godly mums, dads, workers, pastors and kids then we’ll have a massive influence on the direction of the Christian faith in this country. Ultimately that’s our aim. We seek not simply the preservation of an ancient denomination but the glory of Christ through the salvation of sinners. It’s just that we think the Church of England is still a great place to do that from.

Conclusion

If you’ve not already done so, why not read the Statement on the Anglican Mainstream web site. You’ll find it so encouraging. And if you sign the petition and express your support, you’ll encourage others.

With best wishes in Christ

richard

Dear Friends - June

Dear Friends
At the holiday Bible club, Going Bananas, we looked at the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus. Jesus’ determination to pursue sinners provoked outrage amongst the religious elite. In their opinion if Jesus was a godly man, as he claimed to be, he shouldn’t be found amongst the ungodly. It seems logical. But that doesn’t make it right. Jesus explained that his behaviour was entirely consistent with the ministry that God had given him. To explain what he was about, he used the words, ‘the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost’. When we came to teach the kids we really struggled with explaining the concept of ‘lostness’. What does it mean for a person to be lost? How would you articulate it? We realised that when something is lost, it’s not where it’s supposed to be. The keys ought to be in the key plate and when they’re not, they’re lost. In the same way, people are lost when they’re not where they should be. They should be living lives in glad and obedient submission to their loving Creator. But they’re not. And so they’re lost. Jesus came to find these people and put them back where they belong. He’s done it for us. And now we’re keen that he should do it for others. This is one of the most important convictions that underpins church life at CCB. We’re not primarily about looking after those of us who’ve been found, we’re primarily about seeking the lost. In fact, we’re prepared to leave the found to seek the lost, just as Jesus was. Not every church accepts this. But wonderfully this is not a battle that we have to fight at CCB. The month of May was largely taken up with trying to share in Jesus’ mission. The three major events in the church calendar all had the intention of seeking the lost.

1. The Away Day

This was held at the Factory, the new church building in Raynes Park. It was planned and implemented to perfection by Anna. It was attended by a huge proportion of both congregations. Dan Strange, a lecturer at Oak Hill Theological College, helped us with a subject he described as, Cultural Apologetics. In essence it’s a way of describing Peter’s command to defend the reason for the hope that we have [1 Peter 3:15]. It means that in interacting with our society, we’re trying to do two things. In the first place we’re trying to remove distortions to the gospel and thereby clarify people’s understanding. And secondly, we’re trying to remove false assurance and thereby convict people of the truth. It has value for both unbelievers and believers alike because we both share idolatrous heart commitments. In other words we worship things that aren’t God. What we worship or love manifests itself as a worldview, a framework of assumptions through which we understand everything. A worldview always takes shape as we create a culture in which those things are given significance. Cultural Apologetics helps us to identify, understand and evaluate these idolatrous influences. It’ll help us deal with idolatry in the hearts of unbelievers and in our own hearts. If we want to seek the lost we need to be able to critique the culture and work out what it tells us about what’s replaced God in our affections.

2. The Park Party

In essence The Park Party was a glorified Church Fete, though I’d never want to hear it called that! It conjures up unhealthy stereotypes that we’re keen to leave behind! The intent behind our inaugural Park Party was to try and connect with the local community. Most people in Balham have no contact at all with CCB. In a small way, we wanted to address that. But though we sought to promote CCB, what we really wanted to promote was Jesus Christ and his gospel. We were able to do this especially through the children’s talk from Luke 14. Wonderfully a huge number of people stayed on and came to the church meeting. At that event, loads of people heard that God has invited everyone to his heavenly feast. Christian and his team of helpers did a wonderful job of planning and implementing the event. The teams from the various Knowing God groups made invaluable contributions on the day. The band provided a wonderfully varied musical programme. And we are deeply indebted to those who cooked cakes and biscuits. There will be lots that we can learn from our first attempt at this scale of event but above all, it was a tremendous success.

3. The Holiday Club

We took a bit of punt pitching Going Bananas at Primary School aged children. CCB only has two kids in that age range! But if we always let reason win over risk we’d never get anything started! Alright, we let their slightly younger siblings come along as well, so that boosted numbers. But even that concession meant that only 6 of the 20 children who came are part of Christ Church Kids. Wonderfully through our involvement at Telferscot, friendships with parents at Henry Cavendish and the regular Christ Church Kids’ Parties we were able to promote the holiday Bible club wider than we’d hoped. We even had one family who came as a result of The Park Party. Polly did a fantastic job in planning the three mornings and running the team of willing and talented volunteers. Many took time off work to be involved. It was a great team effort and a reminder that as a church we are one body with many parts [1 Corinthians 12:12]. As with many of the things we’ve done, if we start small, pray and back it the Lord will use our efforts for His glory. God willing, this will be the first of our Holiday Bible Clubs and an integral part of a growing children’s ministry. Conclusion It won’t always be easy ‘seeking the lost’. It cost Jesus his life. We’ll find it’ll cost us as well. But as we know personally, the experience of salvation is worth every sacrifice that we could possibly make.
With best wishes in Christ
perks