From the Press

Rallying round the banner

By Vaughan Roberts

This article first appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on Thursday 11 September 2003 and is reproduced with their permission.

It has not been an easy few months for evangelicals in Oxford Diocese. None of us enjoyed the controversy surrounding Jeffrey John's nomination as Bishop of Reading. It pulled us away from our core business of evangelism and pastoral care, forced us to disagree strongly with colleagues and friends, and provoked a fierce backlash. We worked hard to engage in the controversy with humility and integrity, but still found ourselves dismissed as bigots by opponents, both outside and inside the church. Yet, reflecting on those hectic few weeks, there is something for which I am deeply grateful to God: the remarkable evangelical unity that emerged.

If I am honest, I had not held out much hope for NEAC 4. The divisions and mutual suspicions of the different tribes had made it look unlikely that many would attend in the first place, and there seemed little prospect of substantial agreement among those who did. Evangelicalism was too broad -- less a theological movement bound by certain common convictions, than a sociological collection of disconnected groups.

The warning signs were all there on the grapevine. Increasingly strong language was being used to dismiss conservatives as aggressive fundamentalists, charismatics as woolly experientialists with no doctrinal backbone and 'open evangelicals' as thinly disguised liberals. The caricatures still remain, of course, as well as some of the weaknesses which produced them, but the whole scene looks rather different post-Reading. Our experience in Oxford diocese gives me greater hope for evangelicalism in the nation as a whole.

The crisis in our diocese forced us to put secondary disagreements to one side and to work closely together. As we did so, many of the old suspicions gradually broke down. The conservatives did not have horns and were capable of both intelligence and compassion. The charismatics were prepared to engage in controversy and stand up for truth and the 'open evangelicals' did have deeply held convictions. We were united in standing for the primacy of the Bible, the uniqueness of Christ crucified and the priority of mission. Of course, differences remain; sometimes sharp ones.

It would be naïve to deny that there are significant tensions among us, but I am hopeful that we have established the bonds of fellowship within which those tensions can be addressed. Now that we know each other a little, I like to think that we will be less inclined to believe the worst about one another and more prepared to talk and grow together. Some, no doubt, will part company from us, not feeling at home with our evangelical priorities of Bible, cross and mission. The challenge for the rest of us is to go forward together, not simply in opposing error, but in proclaiming the good news of Christ crucified.

My dream for evangelicals in Oxford Diocese is also my dream for evangelicals across the country. I believe that NEAC could have a significant part to play in fulfilling it by drawing us together, refocusing us on the great truths that unite us, and then joining us in mission. That will only happen if large numbers are there. You may, like me, feel unable to attend the opening session when the Archbishop of Canterbury will bring a greeting. But that need not prevent you attending the rest of the event. I hope you will join us - it is not too late to apply.

I am praying that at NEAC an unashamed banner will be raised proclaiming an infallible Bible; a unique crucified saviour; and the urgent importance of evangelism. If we rally around that banner, our other differences will be put into perspective and far more importantly, we will be bring to impact a Church of England in desperate need of reform, and a nation in desperate need of Christ.