Statement from the Committee of the Oxford Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship on the appointment of the new Bishops of Buckingham and Reading
The prayers of all the Oxford Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship will be with Revd Canon Dave Bull and Revd Canon Mary Gregory as they prepare for their new roles as Bishops of Buckingham and Reading. These are very challenging times in which to take up senior roles in the Church of England and we wish them well.
The deep divisions caused by the introduction of Prayers of Love and Faith are experienced in parishes and dioceses across the country. In our own diocese, the challenges have been heightened because, until now, all our bishops have declared their support for a change in the Church’s doctrine and have promoted both blessings of same sex unions and same sex marriage. We welcome the appointment of a bishop who publicly upholds the doctrine of the Church. This is a great encouragement to our members in the Buckingham episcopal area, but it remains unclear how those in the other episcopal areas might benefit from his ministry.
Our biblical convictions persuade us that the doctrine of marriage, including the sexual ethic that is part of it, is not adiaphora and that we cannot “walk together” in two different directions on such a core matter. This has already led many to be in impaired or broken communion with their bishop and that number will rise significantly if standalone services and same sex marriage for clergy are introduced. These responses are spurred by a deep desire to preserve the precious unity of Christ’s church and to remain in communion with the vast majority of the Anglican Communion which, like the global church, holds firmly to the teaching of the church down the ages and regards the current actions of the Church of England as schismatic. The 180 clergy and lay leaders who attended the Alliance gathering in the diocese last week greatly enjoyed the tangible unity we felt across charismatic and conservative evangelical and traditional catholic traditions.
We are still waiting for the promised provision for those who cannot, in conscience, receive the episcopal ministry of bishops whose actions have created a state of impaired communion. We fully support the recent letter of the Alliance to the House of Bishops, which speaks of 6 essential criteria which will need to be met to enable the flourishing of those who continue to hold to the doctrine of the Church. As the letter states: “these 6 criteria can only be met through the powers of the ordinary of an orthodox diocesan bishop”. While we wait for principled permanent provision of this nature, we warmly welcome the appointment of Dave Bull as Bishop of Buckingham, which will be a significant help in this interim period.
Revd Will Pearson-Gee (Chair ODEF)
Revd Martin Davy (Reading)
Revd Canon Vaughan Roberts (Oxford)
Revd Keith Dunnett (Dorchester)
Revd Martin Khurt (Buckingham)
Revd Joy Mawdsley (Reading)
Statement on the Bishop of Oxford's "Together in Love and Faith"
In his essay 'Together in Love and Faith', Bishop Steven explains how he came to change his mind in relation to same-sex relationships and argues that they should be fully celebrated by the Church of England, with the ban on the marriage of same-sex couples in church being removed. We are grieved by this publication, believing that it departs from the clear teaching of the Bible in relation to sex and marriage.
We are grateful that Bishop Steven recognises “the validity and integrity” of the traditional view and affirms the ministry of those who uphold it, as bringing blessing in many ways “often including the welcome and care extended to LGBTQ+ people”. We also appreciate his recognition that a change in the Church’s position will require, not only the protection of conscience of those who could not support this, but also a differentiation of ministry and oversight. There are those in the Diocese who have already felt the need for this, believing these matters to be first-order issues and, very sadly, as a result of this publication, that number is bound to increase.
We encourage our members to engage with this debate with the same spirit of grace that Bishop Steven has himself exhibited. We should always remember that this is not firstly a political issue but, above all, a deeply personal and pastoral one.
Vaughan Roberts, writing from his own experience of same-sex attraction, has written a response to Bishop Steven’s piece, which is available for free download here.
Will Pearson-Gee (Chair)
Martin Davy
James Kennedy
Martin Kuhrt
Joy Mawdesley
Vaughan Roberts
Henry Scriven
ODEF Meeting on Thursday 23rd November 2023
Our Autumn ODEF meeting is being held on Thursday 23rd November at St Andrew’s Church, North Oxford. General Synod will have met and so this is a vital moment to take stock and discuss our responses
The agenda for our meeting is:-
09.30 - Registration & coffee
10:00 - Welcome, worship and Bible thought
10:15 - Notices
10:20 - 11:20 – Presentation on General Synod and the CEEC response – John Dunnett
11:20 - Break (and move cars)
11:50 -12:30 – Future options and Q&A
12.30 - 12.50 - Feedback
12:50 - The Oxford Good Stewards Trust
13:00 - Lunchtime regional groups and prayer
14:00 - Depart
Registration
Please contact admin@oxforddef.co.uk for details of how to register.
Parking
There are 2 & 3-hour free parking bays in Linton Road, Charlbury Road, Bardwell Road, Chadlington Road and Belbroughton Road, all within 5 minutes’ walk of St Andrew’s Church. Once the time is up, you can move to another parking bay in the same area.
There is also parking in Summertown Car Park but this is very expensive - £15.20 for 4-6 hours. A cheaper option if you are coming from the north or east is to park at Oxford Parkway Park & Ride and either catch the park and ride to St Margaret’s Road East (5 mins from St Andrews) or walk to the railway station and get the 2A to Linton Road or the S5 Gold to St Margaret’s Road East.
Annual ODEF meeting
The annual ODEF meeting is held each year in November.
Regional ODEF meetings
Regional meetings are held each year in May.
For further details of meetings, please check the website calender or contact your area leader via the link on the ODEF groups page.