REASONS FOR STAYING IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Cranmer's Curate has been challenged to explain why he is staying in the Church of England rather than joining the Baptists. Your curate would politely refute any comparison between staying in and propping up the bar in the hospitality suite of The Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Here is why cc is not leaving:

• Why should it be assumed that the institutional Church of England will continue on its liberal trajectory indefinitely? God has not revealed his secret will for the Church of England or for his Church in England. It is quite possible that in the future the Church of England, if it still exists, will decide to reverse the liberalising measures passed by the General Synod in the past 25 years. It is quite possible that a future Archbishop of Canterbury will be a member of Reform, and that the Reform Covenant will be included in the official doctrine of the Church of England. The biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God involves believing that the Church of England is reformable.

• A new orthodox Anglican denomination in the UK following the advent of women bishops would benefit from gospel partnership with those staying in the Church of England and vice versa. A new parallel structure is becoming necessary for the deployment of young Anglican evangelical ministers in Bible teaching, evangelism and church planting. Starting off in ministry as a confessing Anglican in the Church of England is certainly a different proposition from staying in once established. It would be for the over-all benefit of orthodox Anglican ministry in the UK for some of us to stay in the institutional Church and continue to contend for the gospel.

• Because the confessional basis of the Church of England is sound, it is possible to contend for the biblical gospel within it. Our historic formularies in our 39 Articles of Religion, our Book of Common Prayer, and our Ordinal are biblically faithful. Those historic repositories of biblical truth mean that in disputes with liberal revisionists in the denomination one can argue for biblical orthodoxy from a sound basis not only about the content of what one is teaching but also the manner in which one is teaching it. If any one claims that the Church of England disparages robust biblical instruction, then they should read the BCP exhortation before the invitation to the Lord's Supper. Here is a flavour:

Dearly beloved in the Lord, ye that mind to come to the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, must consider how Saint Paul exhorteth all persons diligently to try and examine themselves, before they presume to eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup. For as the benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament; (for then we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood; then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us; we are one with Christ, and Christ with us:) so is the danger great, if we receive the same unworthily.

• The Church of England remains represented in some of the most socially, morally and economically challenging parts of the country. In some areas it is the last Christian presence left standing. A new orthodox Anglican denomination is going to have to work very hard not to get confined to affluent suburban areas. The Church of England provides platforms for the biblical gospel, or to pursue the nautical analogy, life boats for the salvation of souls drowning in the icy waters of militant secularism. If applied properly, the system of accountability in our connectional Church, with large church ministers operating under the same episcopal licence as small church ones, serves gospel growth in a diversity of settings.

• Because women were not ordained presbyter when our historic formularies were framed, one can remain in the Church of England in good conscience as an opponent of women presbyters and now bishops. What happens if cc were to find himself in a diocese with a women bishop? Unfortunately, he would not be able to recognise her orders, and then it would be for the institution to decide what to do with the curate. If the diocesan authorities wished to deprive him of office, then that would be a matter for them.

• The current Supreme Governor of the Church of England is a formidable opponent of political correctness. Her latest declaration that the established Church is 'under-appreciated' is a superbly timed shot across the bows of the Coalition's same-sex marriage galleon. Her speech at Lambeth Palace last week could have upheld Article 18 - 'Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ' - with greater clarity and force. But while she remains Defender of the Faith, the Church of England has a skilful advocate of Christian truth in Her Majesty. She is also, as her Christmas broadcast demonstrated, arguably the best mass-audience Christian evangelist in the country.

So, the curate stays at the crease until he is given out in the proper manner or forcibly removed by the ecclesiastical Praetorians of political correctness. He intends by God's grace to keep on preaching the glorious and eternal gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and teaching the infallible and inerrant Holy Scriptures as a Church of England minister until he is called up to higher service.

And that is not a reference to the Baptist Union of Great Britain.