from the CHURCH OF ENGLAND Newspaper
Text of the All Souls Group statement

Number: 5645     Date: Dec 12,

Text of the Leadership in Society Today statement from the All Souls Group

In the current discussion and diversity of opinion on a number of questions 
in the Church of England we wish to underline what we hold in common and 
believe that the following needs to be said by the whole church:

We live in a world where change is welcomed and choice applauded. Change can 
be difficult, and in the process many landmarks for human behaviour that 
have guided communities for centuries are questioned and even removed.

In this fast-changing situation of the expansion of sexual choice, the 
church has tried to teach sensitively the biblical norm of lifelong 
heterosexual marriage and abstinence outside it, not just for its own 
members but out of concern for the health, moral life, well-being and
character of the whole community.

Is this teaching relevant today? We believe firmly that it is.

We recognise the reality and also the cost of change. As pastors and 
colleagues in the national church we see every day those who find their 
lives in pain and hurt as a result of confusion about human relationships. 
We have a responsibility and joy to listen to their
struggles, and to offer them pastoral care and the forgiveness of Christ 
where it is requested.

We are committed to human freedom, under God, for the sake of human 
flourishing. We cannot accept the prevailing individual moral autonomy where 
every self-expression is equally acceptable and valid, and which often 
positions itself as self-evident and above challenge or testing.

We believe that the Old and New Testaments are divinely inspired and seek to 
obey them as our guiding authority. With Anglicans over the centuries we 
acknowledge them as 'containing all things necessary for salvation and as 
being the rule and standard of faith.' The norms expressed in the Bible have 
been tested over generations and in cultures
around the world. Thus Anglican Bishops from around the world, reflecting on 
the Christian scriptures, 2000 years of Christian history and the experience 
of most cultures of the world said, in 1998 "In view of the teaching of 
scripture, this conference upholds faithfulness in
marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union and believes that 
abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage."

We urge that these norms are still relevant today. We look to bishops, 
pastors and lay leaders in the national church as those who are called to 
offer the best the church knows to our national life in seeking to build a 
stable and loving society where people feel honoured, respected and secure. 
If these norms of marital faithfulness are not upheld,
social cohesion and sense of belonging begins to unravel, with consequential 
threats to individual happiness, children, health, community harmony and 
social well-being. We find no other model of personal faithfulness is 
permissible as an alternative to marriage.

Therefore the biblical norms of sexuality and sexual relationships are first 
order issues in exploring the best to offer our children. We see sexual 
morals as norms which people can decide for or against. There is strength in 
deciding to follow a moral norm, in drawing on the wisdom of the ages, and 
in the mutual encouragement of following what we believe is right. This 
provides more energy for practical decisions than the hope of a distant 
ideal.

The responsibility undertaken by bishops is to uphold the teaching of the 
church, being faithful to the scriptures and to such traditional formularies 
as the creeds, and to refute contradictory teaching. This is in contrast to 
the celebrity culture where the individual
opinions and convictions of a charismatic celebrity are the basis of their 
broad acceptance by the culture.

The authority of church leaders, then, derives not from their individual 
charisma but from the authority of their teaching. As they receive, test and 
apply teaching in response to the changes and challenges of the present, 
they empower their churches and communities in a process of transforming 
lives, public culture and the state.

We are united as Christians in our commitment to the norm of lifelong 
heterosexual marriage. We seek to explore with all who share this concern 
ways in which this norm can be expressed and commended with both joy and 
compassion.

We pledge ourselves to work with, pray for and support the leadership of the 
church both in England and around the world which is faithful to this 
calling and responsibility, and with those in wider society who share these 
concerns.

We also commit ourselves to pray. We recognise our dependence on the Lord of 
the nations. We seek his kingdom and the welfare of the nations. Our 
strength is in using the spiritual resources with which he gifts us. We pray 
that God will save and protect our nations and communities and lead us all 
in his way.

Drafted by:
Revd David Banting (Chair of Reform)
Rt Revd Wallace Benn (Bishop of Lewes, President of Church of England 
Evangelical
Council)
Revd Richard Bewes (Rector of All Souls Langham Place, former chair of 
Church of England
Evangelical Council)
Mr Mark Birchall (former chair of Evangelical Group in General Synod)
Viscount Brentford (President of Church Society)
Revd Richard Crocker (President of the Evangelical Fellowship in the 
Anglican Communion in the USA)
Revd George Curry (Chair of Church Society)
Dr Philip Giddings (Member of Archbishop's Council)
Sir Timothy Hoare (Treasurer of the Diocese of London)
Revd David Holloway (Council of Reform)
Revd Martin Perris (Chair of Crosslinks)
Revd Paul Perkin (NEAC Committee and Reform Council)
Revd David Phillips (Director of Church Society)
Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (Oxford Centre for Mission Studies)
Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Oxford Centre for Mission Studies)
All Souls Day 2002.
The following express themselves in accord with this statement:
The Church of England Evangelical Council meeting on 26 November
(Frank Knaggs, Executive Officer)
Bishop Graham Dow (Diocese of Carlisle)
Archbishop Peter Akinola (Primate of Nigeria)
Bishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon (Kaduna)
Canon Andrew Lines (General Secretary, Crosslinks Mission Society).
Canon David Anderson (American Anglican Council)
Colonel Edward Armitstead (Chairman Oak Hill College Council)
Revd Dr David Peterson (Principal, Oak Hill College)
Revd Chris Green (Vice-Principal, Oak Hill College)
Revd Bob Key (General Director, Church Pastoral Aid Society)
Revd Tan Jin Huat (Academic Dean, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, Province of SE 
Asia)
Revd Professor Alister McGrath (Principal, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford)
Canon Martyn Minns (Rector, Truro Church, Fairfax, Virginia, USA)
Mr Las Newman, (Regional Secretary, International Fellowship of Evangelical 
Students; St
Andrew's Parish, Kingston, Jamaica, Province of West Indies)
Canon Professor Oliver O'Donovan (Christ Church, Oxford).
Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair (former presiding bishop of the Southern Cone)
Bishop John Howe (Central Florida)
Bishop James Stanton (Dallas)
The Right Revd David R. J. Evans (General Secretary of SAMS GB International 
Coordinator
of EFAC)
Mr Howard Gracey (Chairman of SAMS GB)
The Very Revd Dr Peter C. Moore (Dean and President Trinity Episcopal School 
for Ministry, Ambridge, USA)
The following Primates warmly welcomed the statement as a contribution to 
the current discussions:
Archbishop Yong Ping Chung (SE Asia)
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya)
Archbishop Emman .








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