From the Press

United for Action

By Wallace Benn

This article first appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on Thursday 15 May 2003 and is reproduced with their permission.

I have been reading with growing joy and excitement the preparatory book for NEAC4 'Fanning the Flame'. Amongst some outstanding chapters addressing 'Bible, Cross & Mission' the opening chapter by the Rev Dr Tim Ward on 'The Bible, Its Truth & How it works', is worth the price of the book alone! And, by the way, you get the book free if you register for this event!

I am so looking forward to our Congress (September 19-23 in Blackpool). Evangelicals have become a very large movement in the Church of England. We have not met in such a form since 1988 and it is time we did. This congress gives us a chance to refresh our roots and face the challenges of Mission in our day and generation. We need to take counsel together.

And we are doing that centred around the right themes - Bible, Cross & Mission. We are, as John Stott has said, "Bible and Gospel People" and we need to refresh and deepen our roots here, always in the context of looking outward to the great task of mission and evangelism.

Because we are now a large and diverse movement we need to consult together, to get to know one another and our concerns better and to address some of the problems that cause disagreement amongst us. But that must not become navel-gazing but rather a prayerful attempt to grow together in unity and truth so that we may play our part more effectively in the mission of the Church. To that end, we should care deeply about our Church, that under God we may help in its renewal and reformation, so that it may become a more effective mission agency to our nation,

Some tensions have already appeared amongst us in the run-up to NEAC. These have been mostly centred on the invitation to the new Archbishop to bring us greetings and pray for us during the opening session. Voices have been raised against him coming and in favour of more involvement with some threatening noises coming from both quarters But in all this we need to remember the importance of evangelical unity -- we all ought to be there in Blackpool Given the circumstances, I believe that the invitation of the Steering Committee to Archbishop Rowan Williams was the right one. Whilst I fully understand the problems that some face, nothing should keep us away from this Congress, and given the opportunities and agenda of this event I believe it would be foolish (and indeed missing out) to stay away.

I look forward also to the input of the Archbishop of York and some 160 speakers, covering a wide range of excellently planned and relevant seminars and main stage events.

Personally, I hope each evangelical church in the Church of England will be represented and that groups s of leaders will come from as many as possible. The agenda is right and the time is opportune. Don't miss, it - I hope to see you there!

Rt Rev Wallace Benn is Bishop of Lewes & President of Church of England Evangelical Council.