Archbishop of Canterbury issues call to prayer at NEAC

This article appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on 25 September 2003 and is reproduced here with their permission.

James Jones welcomes Archbishop Rowan williams to historic event
The Archbishop of Canterbury opened the fourth National Evangelical Anglican Congress in Blackpool last week with a call to prayer.

With concerns about the future of the Church in the minds of many, he issued a call to prayer and signalled that unity can come from listening to the voice of God. "We are here, I hope, to listen to God telling us who he is, thinking about the Bible, Cross and mission so that we can hear again what is his nature and his name.

"Only so, as every generation of Christians has recognised, will we discover who we are - created by love, ruined by sin, forgiven and transfigured by suffering and sacrifice and the gift of the Spirit, so that it is given to us to be with Jesus wherever he is."

The Most Rev Rowan Williams told the 2,000 delegates in the Winter Gardens: "The Reformation's first principle was that the believer must listen to God. Because of our fallen state, our minds shy away from listening; and sin infects our institutions as well as our minds, so that even the Church can become a conspiracy to avoid listening to God."

Dr Williams led the prayers and readings, which included Psalm 71: 6: "I am become as it were a monster unto many," causing wry smiles around the packed hall, as months ago the leadership had earlier debated calls not to invite the Archbishop.

However, he was greeted with warmth by the delegates and the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, echoed his call to pray. The Bishop went on to urge NEAC to hold three conversations: with each other, pointing out that evangelicals did not all share the same views on every issue; with other traditions; and with the world at large.

He signalled that evangelicals should not be gripped by fundamentalism as he quoted advice given to him in advance of his speech by John Stott. The evangelical elder statesman told him to urge the delegates: "to be open to what further truth may break upon us from scripture."

Nevertheless, Bishop Jones revealed his hesitation at using the word 'evangelical' because of the negative way it is used today. Many of the delegates left Blackpool hoping that their Congress had gone some way to dispelling the unhelpful images associated with the tradition.