From the Press

Gay debate is on

By Paul Gardner

This article first appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on Thursday 17 July 2003 and is reproduced with their permission.

Who could have anticipated that the fourth National Evangelical Anglican Congress in Blackpool (Sept 19-23) would, in God's Providence, come at such a critical time in the life of our denomination? The Congress, which is for all Anglican evangelical lay people and clergy, is now almost upon us. The preparations are all but complete.

Recently, clergy and lay leaders from Oxford have specially encouraged the Church of England Evangelical Council to urge everyone to attend NEAC. (Those urging us in this way included those whose concerns about the presence of the Archbishop at NEAC have not gone away, and those who always believed he should be invited.) Their belief is that this Congress is a God-given place where the evangelical unity they have recently enjoyed can be reflected among us all. This is where we can reassess how we should best stand for the Lordship of Christ, Biblical truth, the redeeming grace of God, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit for service and holiness of life. In a denomination where a minority now seem to have scant regard for these matters, most evangelicals are at last recognising that we must unite as never before.

The programme has always been shaped to allow for discussion of any urgent matters that might arise. Following wide requests from all corners of our constituency, we have decided to take one of our evenings to study issues surrounding the homosexual debate. Though the debate has been rather forced upon us, with the publication of Some Issues In Human Sexuality officially due in the autumn, it would be irresponsible not to tackle these matters. They will be addressed exegetically, theologically and pastorally by evangelical leaders who have been key persons in current debates. But what are we hoping for in the Congress?

First, we hope for a greater degree of unity and understanding between us all. Simply listening to each other, networking and meeting others will be so valuable during increasingly difficult times in our Church.

Secondly, the Congress themes of Bible, Cross and Mission will remind us again that our true unity lies in the unchanging Gospel that we proclaim in a rapidly changing world. Real unity only exists around our commitment to God's truth. We will be looking at how we take the same Lord and the same Gospel to a world that rarely even knows the basic Christian stories.

Thirdly, we hope the Congress will help us all be much clearer in our understanding that we are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Two evenings will provide the central focus for this as we hear from the world Church and then from the suffering Church. Archbishops, bishops and others from the Communion will be with us.

Fourthly, we shall be worshipping together. Worship will be reflected throughout all that we do.

Fifthly, we hope that this gathering will model a Christ-like way of handling differences between us. We are tackling some of these in seminars and forums, but our speakers will model how to debate and discuss in ways that deal with the issues rather than attacking the person.

With over 100 speakers, the broadcast of a BBC service, a Matt Redman concert, a large exhibition and sales area, there is something for everyone. Numbers are approaching 1,500, but there is still time enough to join us. A book of preparatory essays, Fanning the Flame, is sent free to all applicants. We specially hope that churches will pay for young lay leaders and potential leaders to come to their first-ever gathering of this sort.

Ven Dr Paul D Gardner is Archdeacon of Exeter and Chairman of the Congress