'MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD' MINISTRY TRAINING MEANS MEDIOCRITY

The interests of the local churches that comprise the federation of churches that is the Church of England and the concerns of its institutional hierarchy and supporting bureaucracy are now rapidly diverging.

Local churches want to preserve the traditions they have been used to and get the kind of ministry that supports their spiritual agenda. Increasingly the institutional CofE, due to financial constraints, cannot supply the clergy local churches want.

In the case of churches that are not being faithful to the biblical gospel and are running mission-blocking and in the worst cases downright toxic religious clubs, the fact that they cannot get the clerical brand they want is to be welcomed. But good biblical ministry in and through good gospel churches needs to be cherished and developed, especially when those churches are paying for it through their parish share.

That is fundamentally why the move by the institutional Church of England to standardise pre-ordination theological training and post-ordination ministry training should be setting conservative evangelical alarm bells loudly ringing.

The Phase 2 Report of the Ministry Council Working Party into the CofE's Higher Education (HE) practices as they impact on Initial Ministry Training (IME) is about to go before the General Synod, meeting next month. The report was approved by the House of Bishops last December.

For the uninitiated, which Cranmer's Curate rather was until he was asked to look into this, IME 1-3 is theological training at college or on a course before ordination; IME 4-7 is post-ordination training for curates. When cc was a younger curate than he is now, he seems to remember IME 4-7 was called Post-Ordination Training (known as Potty Training).

The Working Party's stated vision is as follows:

We believe that there are compelling reasons for the Church of England, with our partner institutions, to develop a suite of HE Awards with a single validating HE partnership which would provide the main highway of training and formation for IME 1-3, which would also provide dioceses with an option for IME 4-7 and for Reader training; and would also make provision for independent students pursuing a variety of vocations in discipleship and ministry.

The Working Party recommends that

the Church of England, with our partner churches establish a single suite of HE awards suitable for IME 1-7, Reader training and independent students, with a single HE set of validation arrangements as outlined in this report.

The concern for conservative evangelicals is what impact standardisation would have on the two theological colleges our constituency is (or should be) supporting - Oak Hill and Wycliffe Hall.

Will they have to water down the sound evangelical training they are wanting to give their ordinands? Will they have to water down their commitment to sound biblical studies, including biblical theology, and their passion for expository preaching, biblical evangelism and apologetics?

Which raises the wider issue about the standard of preaching and biblical knowledge in the Church of England.

Our conservative evangelical churches are Bible teaching churches. They are often net-givers to dioceses in terms of parish share. They are generally churches that want to encourage gifted men and women to go forward into full-time gospel ministry. They are generally churches that are reaching young people and pro-actively arguing for Christianity.

Our churches require well-trained evangelical ministers - will the institutional Church of England be able to deliver them?

It won't if residential theological training is cut back in favour of cheaper part-time courses and standardised education syllabi are imposed that squeeze out our distinctive evangelical emphases.

So this issue of theological training really does impact on the future of conservative evangelical ministry in the institutional Church of England.

Oh, but your churches are too middle-class and dominated by book culture people.

Maybe, but the answer to that is not to lower the standards of theological education and ministerial training. It is actually to raise those standards and encourage the gospel workers our constituency is nurturing to fan out more widely and be prepared to serve in a range of socio-economic and regional contexts.

Our conservative evangelical churches - which should be springboards for church planting and pioneer evangelism - need the best-trained gospel ministers our constituency can provide. We have a responsibility to plan for the future.

'Middle-of-the-road' theological education and ministry training means mediocrity. And that is not good enough for the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This piece on the mission benefit of the agreed biblical agenda in Jos appeared in Friday's Church of England Newspaper.

Also cc's letter in Friday's CEN:

Sir, Just in case it appears that on the Cranmer’s Curate blog (What The Blogs Say – 20 January) I was conceding Dr Peter Head’s contention that the Apostle Paul did not forbid the appointment of women presbyters, may I please include the complete
paragraph? - "Sure there is an issue as to the ways in which ecclesiastical terms in general usage correspond to the NT terminology. But if ‘presbyter’ means a person with biblical teaching responsibility over God’s church, then Paul clearly did forbid the appointment of women in that role."

LIBERAL ANGLICANS DO NOT WANT AFRICAN ORTHODOXY ON THEIR LAWN

African Anglicans should not be deceived by the supportive noises from Western liberals.

The true opinion of Western Anglican liberals towards two thirds' world biblical orthodoxy came out at the Lambeth 1998 Conference. African Anglicans' commitment to biblical orthodoxy on Christian faith and morals is 'pre-scientific' and 'primitive'.

The former Anglican Bishop of Newark in the United States, Dr John Spong, spoke for them all when he denounced you for bigotry over Lambeth Resolution 1.10.

The reality is that the theological liberals dominating the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Western Anglican Provinces do not want your passionate biblical orthodoxy on their cultivated elitist lawns.

If they were genuinely affronted by Islam, then they would proclaim the supremacy and uniqueness of Christ in their own Provinces and wholeheartedly oppose Sharia Law.

If they were genuinely impressed by your biblical orthodoxy, then they would not promote the 1960s' feminist agenda in their own Provinces.

If they were genuinely impressed by your church growth, then they would not promote the critical attitudes towards the Bible that undermine the gospel and displease God.

Western political correctness is in a dilemma over Africa and that is reflected in liberal Anglican attitudes towards you. You are perceived to be the victims of white Western imperialism and financial exploitation. But they do not like many of your attitudes.

When you are victimised, then the supportive noises became louder but such noises do not negate the fact that, fundamentally, they dislike your biblical orthodoxy.

Also, because many of your countries are in the Commonwealth, institutional church liberals in the English hierarchy do not want to risk upsetting the Queen by being too rude about you.

So please keep on contending for the biblical gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ against theological liberalism in the Anglican Communion. If you allow revisionism any house room whatsoever, then it will became a parasitic tapeworm within you and sap the biblical vigour of your churches.

UKIP SHIRKS BATTLE FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE

The UK Independence Party is refusing to join forces with Conservatives opposed to Coalition plans to introduce same-sex marriage, calling such opposition 'morally discriminatory'.

In the light of press reports that around 100 Conservative MPs are planning to rebel against a same-sex marriage bill, Cranmer's Curate asked UKIP, which is proving a magnet for disillusioned Conservatives, about its stance.

A press spokesman told cc:

We are at heart a small-state organisation and we don't feel we should be interfering in people's private lives. We believe wholeheartedly in the married persons' tax allowance. We feel there are other ways of strengthening marriage that are not necessarily morally discriminatory.

He continued, suggesting that same-sex marriage is the logical progression from civil partnerships (a different legal entity from marriage):

We feel that civil partnerships are a fact and we believe that gay partnerships should be recognised in law, particularly when it comes to inheritance. Ten years ago sitting here I would have been very happy to support a position of no gay marriage but that is no longer the case. The party has become broader.

Apart from the fact that a 'morally discriminatory' stance in favour of good against evil is nothing to be ashamed of, UKIP's failure to uphold traditional heterosexual marriage as the spiritual, moral and cultural bedrock of a stable society is tragically ironic. Without the teaching of Christ and the Bible once again undergirding our nation's laws, customs and morals, there will be no independence for the UK but only slavery to what the Book of Common Prayer calls 'the unruly wills and affections of sinful men'.

Those truly serving UK independence are Parliamentarians of various political parties who are contending for Christian values against socially Marxist political correctness.

With the UK descending into the unrighteousness that debases a nation, that wonderful BCP Collect (for the 4th Sunday after Easter) urgently needs to be prayed by and for the Church:

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men: Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

INTERVIEWING A SELF-SUPPORTING MINISTER

With the financial situation in many dioceses now becoming increasingly serious, a growing number of churches, even net-giving ones, are being faced with a choice: accept an unpaid vicar or get nobody.

But PCCs have a responsibility to ask questions about the biblical and theological knowledge of self-supporting ministers (SSMs) because the ministry of the Word of God is essential to the final salvation of them and the members of their church. That is clear from the Apostle Paul's exhortation to Timothy, who was in pastoral charge of the church at Ephesus: 'Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold fast to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers' (1 Timothy 4v16 - RSV).

So here are three suggested questions for an SSM at interview:

1) Can you recite the Ten Commandments in the correct order?

2). Can you name the epistles of Paul in their correct order in the New Testament?

3). Can you name the topics covered by seven of the Church of England's 39 Articles of Religion?

Unsatisfactory answers to the first two questions reveal that the candidate has not spent sufficient time in the Old and the New Testaments; unsatisfactory answers to the third reveal that he or she has not bothered to read the 39 Articles.

Furthermore, the inability to answer question 1). reveals not only scant attention to the Scriptures but also unfamiliarity with the Book of Common Prayer, for the Ten Commandments are set out at the beginning of the Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion.

Probing those who are willing to pastor local churches unpaid may seem harsh. But the ministry of the Word is so important that no one, whether they are paid or not, should be bringing culpable ignorance to the pulpit.

Of course, it is quite possible that stipendiary ministers may not be able to give satisfactory answers to the above questions. In which case that would be revealing of the inadequacy of the growing number of part-time regional courses both paid and unpaid clergy are being trained on.

Finally, it needs to be said that any minister who takes pleasure in exposing the ignorance of other ministers is not fit to be a pastor of Christ's flock - on the ground that pride is a disqualification (see 1 Timothy 3v6-7). It should be a source of profound grief to any Christian that Jesus' people are being pastored by people who are not up to the sacred calling of ministering the saving Word.

OUTSTANDING OAK HILL JOURNAL ON LEADERSHIP

The latest twice-yearly journal from Oak Hill Theological College is quite outstanding on pastoral leadership in a post-modern culture.

In an anti-authority age, the exercise of authority - its cultural acceptance and the right way to negotiate the cultural minefield - is a difficult area for pastors wanting to avoid the Scylla of self-pleasing autocracy and the Charybdis of man- or, in the usual context of Anglican volunteerism, woman-pleasing appeasement. Principal Dr Mike Ovey's introduction to the Winter 2011/12 edition of Commentary deftly sets up the issue:

We become very used in our post-modern mood to being suspicious of leaders and their power, very understandably so. But I'm not sure if we have yet got to the point of being suspicious of the suspicions held by us who are led towards those who lead us. Perhaps it's as hard to be a humble led as it is to be a humble leader? And perhaps it's as necessary?

As a minister of Christ in an Anglican parish, Cranmer's Curate was particularly edified by the interview with the Revd Martin Woodroofe, whose book on church leadership Beyond Nice is due to be published this year. Mr Woodroofe observed:

One of the challenges for a pastor is the complexity of their relationships. So one moment you might be a buddy, and the next moment, in staff or volunteer terms, you might be a boss. If we compare it to secular work, I think that adds to an element of complexity, So how do you cope with that? I think you have to set boundaries and make clear what's happening in that space and at that time.

He continued with a specific practical example:

Say a pastor has a performance issue with a member of staff, or with a leading volunteer. If they go into the room and they're trying to play all the notes on the instrument - if they're trying to be their friend, their pastor, and their boss at the same time, then the messages will be all over the place. So they have to clear the space and say, this is what we're talking about and this is the context of what we're talking about.

It doesn't mean to say that I'm negating my other roles. I'm always your pastor. I'm always supportive. That's always the background narrative. But at this moment, we're talking about the fact that you don't turn up on time, or that you haven't fulfilled the tasks I've asked you to fulfil, or whatever the issues are.

It is hard to over-state how helpful that is for a parish plodder like cc.

MEN ONLY MINISTRY TEAMS ARE CANONICAL

Are male only ministry teams, whether a house of bishops at a denominational level or the board of a mission society or the clergy of a local church, pastorally defective?

If they are to be so regarded, then one must logically argue that the New Testament epistles to the Philippians, the Colossians and the Thessalonians are also pastorally defective.

For these epistles are the fruit of a men only team of pioneer missionaries and church planters. The letters to the churches at Philippi and Colossae open with a greeting from Paul and Timothy; the two letters to the church in Thessalonica cite Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.

The Apostle Paul, as should be clear to any unprejudiced reader of the New Testament, was no misogynist. He warmly affirmed women's ministry, for example that of Phoebe, servant (translated by the RSV as 'deaconess') of the church at Cenchreae (see Romans 16v1-2) and the contribution to the cause of the gospel from Euodia and Syntyche, who had sadly fallen out (see Philippians 4v2-3).

So the issue here is not the value of women's ministry. According to the New Testament, women's ministry is invaluable.

Nor is this to argue for men only churches. Local churches should reflect the fact that the gospel of God's grace is for all people who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, so a church that excluded women would demonstrate a profoundly defective understanding of the gospel. That would indeed be true of any strictly homogeneous church, whether socio-economically, ethnically or culturally.

This is about whether male only ministry teams are spiritually, pastorally or relationally deficient.

A canonical New Testament epistle is more much more than an act of ministry to a local church in the 1st century. But it is not less than that.

Was Paul, Silvanus and Timothy's ministry to these congregations pastorally defective because they were a team of men?

One would have to say yes to that proposition if male only ministry teams must of ecclesiastical necessity be regarded as pastorally defective.

But, given that these four wonderful letters are included in the Canon of the Holy Spirit-inspired Holy Scriptures, a claim on whatever ideological or philosophical ground that that they are defective for not being co-authored by a woman should be abhorrent to any person claiming the name of Christian.

Though written by men only, they are the Word of God.

BACK FROM NIGERIA

Dr Livingstone Cranmer's Curate is not. So he is thankful to be back at his own English fireside after his trip over the New Year to Jos, Nigeria. It was an amazing experience and cc thanks the Anglican Diocese of Jos and in particular St Luke's Cathedral Church for their generous Jospitality. It was so spiritually refreshing to meet brothers and sisters in Christ serving Him so faithfully and enthusiastically under difficult circumstances. The agreed agenda for biblical evangelism in the diocese was also most inspiring and humbling for an English Anglican. Below is cc's piece on Christian Today:

When Nigeria's Islamist terror was confined to its northern states, politically correct Western opinion was able to get away with spinning the violence as six of one and half a dozen of the other.

An outrage in Jos, for example, would be put down to 'religious tensions' between the Muslim and Christian communities. It was almost as if elements in the Western media were desperate for stories of Christians behaving badly.

But the politically correct spin is now becoming increasingly untenable following Islamist terror group Boko Haram's Christmas Day attack on St Theresa's Roman Catholic Church in central Nigeria, close to the federal capital, Abuja. It is now becoming clear that the group is moving its terror south.

And the closer the group takes its terror to Lagos, the more open US and UK opinion becomes to the view Nigeria's Christian president Dr Goodluck Jonathan is keen to promote that Boko Haram represents a threat to Western interests.

Dr Jonathan faces massive internal political hurdles in his stated aim to 'crush Boko Haram'. He needs Western help, particularly from US and UK intelligence agencies. The State of Emergency he announced on New Year's Eve, including the closure of Nigeria's borders with Niger, Cameroon and Chad, is welcomed by the Christian community but Christians know that the long-term security of the nation they love depends on co-ordinated and united action by the various arms of government.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's churches remain in the frontline of the battle between the Judaeo-Christian values underpinning Western civilisation and the forces of medieval barbarism wanting to impose Sharia Law.

In a move to foil further attacks on their worshippers over the New Year celebration, churches changed the times of their watchnight services on New Year's Eve and both federal and individual state security services stepped up their presence. On New Year's Day and Eve I attended services at Luke's Cathedral Church in Jos, where I am visiting the Anglican diocese.

The services were wonderfully joyful but the tension over the security situation was palpable following Boko Haram's attack on the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in the city on Christmas Day. One could not help watching the door. Leading the New Year's Day service, Jos Archbishop Dr Ben Kwashi was characteristically positive. Read here.