More evidence of apostasy in the Church of England

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. II Timothy 3:5

As reported by Harriet Sherwood of The Guardian, July 29, 2023:

A Cornish church that banned women from applying to be its new vicar – despite once counting Dawn French, star of the TV comedy The Vicar of Dibley, among its flock – has reversed the decision under new management.

A newly elected governing council at St Fimbarrus church in the picturesque port of Fowey in Cornwall has told parishioners that a “new season” has begun.

In a statement, the parochial church council (PCC) said the previous regime’s decision to advertise for a male priest to fill its four-year-old vacancy was “misguided and unrepresentative” of the parish and the town.

The decision had been taken without consultation and many people in the parish expressed a “strong desire for change”.

The new PCC wanted the church “to be accessible to all … The PCC has voted unanimously to rescind the previous PCC’s resolution requiring male leadership … We are keen to recruit the best candidate to meet the needs of Fowey parish church, regardless of gender.”

Merisa MacInnes, a member of the PCC, said: “We are encouraged that numbers in the congregation have doubled in recent weeks and we are confident that the right person to be vicar will come forward in the coming months.”

In March, the previous PCC defended its decision to ban female applicants for the vacancy, insisting it was “not sexist”.

It said: “As an evangelical church we look to the Bible for all matters of faith. The Bible is very clear on equality – all are equal …. There is, however, debate over the roles women play within the church.”

It understood that its desire for a male priest-in-charge “can be difficult to understand looking from the outside into the church, but [we] would robustly defend that this position is not sexist, is widely established in the worldwide church, and accommodates all views in the membership of our church without exclusion”.

Andy Virr, the previous chair of the PCC and a local Conservative councillor, and two other PCC members stood down in May amid objections to the stance.

Under exemptions from the Equality Act, the Church of England permits local churches to reject female lead priests and the oversight of a female bishop.

Martine Oborne, the chair of Women and the Church (Watch), an organisation that campaigns for equality in the C of E, and a vicar in west London, said the Fowey decision was good news.

She added: “I think it’s time for church members to assert themselves and not defer to clergy who seek to limit women’s roles in the church.”

Fowey was not unique, she said. Some churches had taken decisions to reject female priests without proper consultation or transparency.

The fight for equality was not over despite 30 years having passed since women were allowed to become priests in the C of E.

“I think personally it’s time for the C of E to find a generous way to bring the arrangements that allow churches to go on limiting or not recognising women’s ministries to an end,” she said.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:24-32

As reported by Alexandra Topping in The Guardian, August 30, 2023 (links in original):

Most Church of England priests want the C of E to allow same-sex weddings and to drop its opposition to premarital and gay sex, according to a survey.

In a major shift in attitudes over the past decade, a survey of priests in England conducted by the Times found that more than half supported a change in law to allow clergy to conduct the marriage of gay couples, with 53.4% in favour compared with 36.5% against.

The last time Anglican priests in England were asked, in 2014, shortly after the legalisation of same-sex civil marriage, 51% said same-sex marriage was “wrong”, compared with 39% who approved.

Last year a row erupted at the first Lambeth conference (a meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world) in 14 years, with the archbishop of Canterbury faced sharp criticism for affirming a 1998 declaration that gay sex was a sin.

But the new poll found that 64.5% of priests in England backed an end to the teaching that “homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture”. It also found that 27.3% of priests supported an end to any celibacy requirement for gay people, while 37.2% said they were willing to accept sex between gay people in “committed” relationships such as civil partnerships or marriages, and around a third (29.7%) said the teaching should not change.

Andrew Foreshew-Cain, founder of the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England, said the survey showed there was “no excuse for further delay and equivocation” in welcoming gay people into the church.

“The clergy of the Church of England are kinder, more generous, and more welcoming towards LGBTI people than the current official position allows,” he said. “The C of E, and in particular our bishops, needs to stop wringing its hands over gay people and move forward towards blessings and, in time, to celebrating same-sex marriages in our parishes.”

The survey results were encouraging, said Robbie de Santos, director of communications at Stonewall. “We hope that church leaders reflect on these findings,” he said. “Too often, LGBTQ+ people of faith face discrimination and prejudice simply for being themselves.”

The survey also found that three-quarters of respondents thought Britain could no longer be described as a Christian country. Almost two-thirds (64.2%) said Britain could be called Christian “but only historically, not currently”.

In the 2021 census of England and Wales for the first time fewer than half of the population described themselves as Christian.

The Times poll found that two-thirds of priests in England thought attempts to stop the drop in church attendance would fail, with only 10.1% thinking it would be halted, and 10.5% believing that congregations would grow again. Average attendance for Church of England Sunday services in 2021 was 509,000, down from 1.2m in 1986.