COULD ST AUGUSTINE'S PLEASE BE A SOCIETY THE REFORMERS COULD JOIN?

Thinking Anglicans has found a website for the new Society talked about at the Reform national conference this week. St Augustine's is apparently the name. But the most pressing question now emerging in the wake of the Reform conference is not whether the new Society is being named after Hippo or Canterbury but who will actually own it.

Will it be owned by Reform or by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and thus potentially be an amalgamation of Conservative Evangelicals, Charismatics and Anglo-Catholics?

In essence, the question is whether St Augustine's will be a distinctly Reformed Evangelical Society within the Church of England or whether it will embrace theological diversity under a broadly orthodox banner.

It is easy to pontificate from the safety of the blogosphere. The vision for a Society for Conservative Evangelicals within the Church of England, which the Reform national conference supported by resolution, will not translate into reality without positive and proactive leadership. The man, under God, most capable of delivering such leadership is Reform chairman Rod Thomas. He produced a masterly address on the Tuesday of the Reform national conference, and is a godly and able leader who deserves the support and confidence of our movement.

Eschewing the jeans and baseball boots which seem to be becoming increasingly de rigueur among contemporary church leaders, Mr Thomas sported a smart suit and tie, which seemed both respectful and appropriate given his desire to move Reform from being an informal 'network of networks' to a more structured, united and effective Anglican Evangelical movement.

Cranmer's Curate was not there on the Wednesday of the conference, so cannot comment on the further deliberations about the Society on that day. It was very good to meet members of the youth group on the Tuesday.

Your curate is one of those who would very much hope that St Augustine's will be a distinctively Reformed Evangelical Society, with members required to subscribe to the 39 Articles of Religion and the Reform Covenant.

That does not rule out co-operation and co-belligerency where appropriate with our Anglo-Catholic friends in the new Missionary Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda.

But please could this be a Society that our Reformation martyrs Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer would in good conscience be able to join?

Rod Thomas in particular deserves our prayers for the challenging months ahead and last Sunday's Collect is most appropriate:

O Almighty and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that thou wouldest have done; through Jesus Christ our Lord.