Do Evangelicals still have an important contribution to make to the Anglican Church?
Do Evangelicals still have an important contribution to make to the Anglican Church?
Anglican, Christian life (general), Faith
Author John Went writes as a convinced Evangelical and Anglican, addressing the many significant changes, both theologically and ecclesiologically, within Anglicanism and Evangelicalism today. Drawing from the author’s life of ministry as a parish priest, a theological college lecturer, an Archdeacon, and a Bishop, and set within a historical framework, True Evangelical explores some of the distinctive characteristics of those changes, seeking to sustain an understanding of Anglican ecclesiology that embraces both a rich diversity of church traditions and a focus on the parish as the heart of her self-understanding.
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Bishop John and I grew up in the same Anglo-Catholic Church in Brightlingsea in Essex and have been life-long friends. Now both of us, well past retirement age, look out at a radically changed and still changing Anglican Church and neither of us is convinced that it is wise to ignore the DNA that makes the Anglican Church distinctive and holds the potential for resilience in an age in which the Christian narrative is no longer strong in society. Bishop John has written a timely book that addresses a cry from the heart shaped, as all best Anglican theology is, on the anvil of lived experience interpreted in the light of scripture and in the light of tradition. ~ Professor Leslie Francis
Bishop John’s Apologia for a humane evangelicalism should be read by anyone who cherishes the Evangelical and the Anglican tradition, not least those who might be tempted to dub him a “back-slider”. In earlier days after an Anglo-Catholic upbringing he acknowledges coming to a living faith in Jesus but also a somewhat independent ecclesiology. He has since argued for a deeper Anglican ecclesiology which gives space for the experience of Christians as members of the Body of Christ. All members of the Church are in St Paul’s words “in Christ” and part of the community or communion of the Church. This experience means that doctrine is not static. Tradition is a living and changing experience. This does not mean that anything goes because the “consensus fidelium” remains subject to Scripture. At the same time Scripture and tradition require a hermeneutic. Bishop John thus pleads for a generous orthodoxy which is expressed in an Anglican tradition of ordered liturgy composed of Word and Sacrament. The mission of the local parish must be to serve the whole community rather than become a gathered congregation of the elect. This will require a new evangelism of the Pilgrim Church by definition far from static. After setting out this manifesto Bishop John expounds the detail chapter by chapter and deals with particular, sometimes contested issues. This courageous theological autobiography is highly relevant to contemporary Church of England Evangelicals and all Anglicans in a divided communion. ~ The Right Revd Christopher Hill, retired Bishop of Guildford, co-secretary of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (1974-1981)
The Church of England faces new challenges alongside questions on which Christians are deeply divided. This is the context within which we are called to proclaim the gospel afresh. In his timely book Bishop John offers us a great gift. He reminds us that there are within Anglican theology and ecclesiology truths that can enable us as Christians while holding significantly different theological and ecclesiological views to remain in fellowship with one another. He shares a vision of a Church of England that is united at the same time as allowing for an enormous richness of diversity. It is a vision rooted in scripture, Anglican tradition and deep theological reflection; a vision which offers the Church of Jesus Christ a compelling model of a community of rich diversity being united in the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the sake of a divided and hurting world. ~ The Right Revd Dr Michael Volland, former Principal of Ridley Hall, Bishop of Birmingham
This short book of wisdom drawn from Bishop John Went's life and ministry as an Anglican Evangelical offers an important voice into a divided church. It challenges those who are serious about following scripture in the Church of England's evangelical tradition to do so in a way that serves the church rather than divides it. Bishop John pulls few punches in his observations about recent developments in the Church's mission, which makes this a significant contribution, worth reading across the breadth of the church but especially by those who share his own evangelical commitment. ~ John Witcombe Dean of Coventry
In this personal and theologically sensitive reflection on his ministry and the changes affecting the church during his time, John Went makes an eloquent and persuasive appeal to the Church of England to re-engage with the distinctive contribution of Evangelical Anglicanism to the church of Christ. This will be encouraging reading to many within that tradition but also from the Church of England’s ecumenical partners. ~ Prof. Judith Lieu Methodist lay preacher and Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity Emerita, University of Cambridge, email
John Went writes out of the deep experience of a varied, dedicated and distinguished ministry with the authority of a life shaped by scholarship and scripture. This is a quietly passionate book, it is important, timely and it has a splendidly generous heart. ~ The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle MBE, FSA Dean of Westminster, email
