From the Press

The hope in our unity

This article first appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on Thursday 21 August 2003 and is reproduced with their permission.

By John Coles

We have just spent two weeks at New Wine, with 11,000 attending at each week. Over the last six years our conferences have doubled in size. Both weeks were filled to capacity and we will be trying to make more spaces available next year. Many came from churches which have seen a steady growth in attendance over the last year, and they had stories to tell around their evening barbecues of the lost being saved, and the poor helped, the sick healed, and the oppressed set free. Most have gone back to their churches with fresh trust in God, believing the promise of our Lord Jesus to 'build his church'.

While we were enjoying celebrating God's goodness and grace there were regularly doom-laden headlines in the national press such as 'Gay summit will seal church's fate' (The Times, August 9). We held two special discussion forums on the consequences of the pre-emptive decisions on human sexuality made in the Dioceses of Oxford, New Westminster, and New Hampshire. Most of the 400 Anglican church leaders who gathered were saddened and alarmed. They were saddened by the way that the church is now perceived as being 'homophobic' when Jesus was so gloriously and graciously welcoming of everyone, including those trapped in unholy lifestyles; they were appalled that the church could depart so far from its Scriptural, historic, and orthodox roots.

From our perspective the 'the church's fate' is already sealed. Its 'fate' has been sealed by the shed blood of Jesus - and its future growth is, as always, under the grace of God, in the hands of those who remain faithful to his victory on the cross, to the Bible as his word of truth, and to the gospel mission he has entrusted to us. If we stay together and remain faithful, courageous, prayerful and humble God will surely continue to restore it to its biblical foundations, and make it the 'salt and light' to our nation. The only question is whether in 20 years' time its organisation and structure bears any resemblance to the Church of England as we know it today. And that is where NEAC fits in.

I confess I am a late developer - initially I was unconvinced of the need for NEAC! But since becoming involved in the work of the Steering Group last November I have become increasingly aware of the significance of both the event and its timing. It has been a privilege and pleasure to pray, plan and prepare for this event in fellowship with people who are faithfully serving our Lord Jesus within another stream of evangelicalism than the one I am in. On the essentials we have found again that wonderful unity for which our Lord prayed. This unity amongst God's people comes only as we submit to the Lord Jesus, who is full of grace and truth, and to his Word to us. There is clear link between God's word, holiness, unity and mission in Jesus prayer in John 17.

Those of us who are committed to biblical, historical and orthodox Christianity need to learn to work together with a renewed trust and mutual respect.

My prayer for NEAC is three-fold; first that all of us come away with renewed hope; second that we will be known not for what we against, but for what we are for - the name and fame of Jesus; and third that that each of us would be better equipped, envisioned and empowered to see the Kingdom of God growing in our own local communities. I hope that you will be able to join us.