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Saint Peter’s Church Folkestone |
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A
Forward in Faith Parish Under the Pastoral Care of the Bishop of Richborough History
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From the Joint Chairmen of Canterbury Forward in Faith
Fr Stephen Bould and Margaret Tilley
July 10th, 2008 Dear Canterbury FiF Member, We both greet you with concern at this difficult time for the
Church, and assure you that all FiF members are in our prayers. Both of us were in fact present during the General Synod
debate of last Monday a debate that ran from 2.30pm, with only one brief
break for dinner, till 10.15pm at night. Fr Stephen was in the public gallery
with Bishop Keith, and Margaret was in the chamber. We attach a letter from the national Chairman of FiF,
Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham, and a letter from Fr Simon Killwick, Chair of the Catholic
Group on the synod, members of which went to York early so that they could
plan strategy before the Synod formally opened at 4.00pm on Friday. That
planning included inviting all members of the Synod to receptions, to
explain our position and hopes, and to introduce them to some of the young
priests and ordinands who have, since 1992, committed their lives as priests
in good faith to the Church of England as a part of the Catholic church. During
the long debate, which many of you will have seen, heard, or read about, both
the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York spoke in support of
adequate provision for us, as did some other leading figures, but – it might
well be argued – without enough vigour, or in too coded a manner to be
effective. Be that as it may, as the day wore on it became alarmingly clear,
with powerful voices raised in favour of women in the episcopate, that the
majority of Synod was not prepared to offer anything beyond a bare “code of
practice,” with all the flimsiness and arbitrariness that that implies (and
many speakers saw even that as a generous concession). e simple fact is that
the General Synod has decided that the Church of England will proceed to have
women bishops - and that should come as no surprise to us. But it has also
decided that the Church of England will not make proper provision for that
part of itself that cannot accept women bishops. Instead of that, the Synod
wishes a code of practice to be drawn up, which will allow dissent but not
recognise our position as legitimate. It is remotely possible that the House of Bishops might
persuade Synod to moderate its actions (see Fr
Killwick’s letter), and, when it meets in February 2009, ensure that we
are given satisfactory status within the new arrangements - but we have to
tell you that we do not think that that is likely. However, even if the
process goes ahead unamended, the legislation will not complete its journey
to the Royal Assent for a few years, and the earliest a woman could be
ordained bishop in the Church of England is Christmas 2014. If you want to know more, or have further
questions, do please contact either of us. With our blessing and best wishes,
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