Is unilateral action now the best option for Anglicans?

Anglican evangelical groups, like the CEEC, must have been deeply dismayed at the disclosure by Dr Malcolm Brown (Director of Faith and Public Life for the Archbishops’ Council) that the College of Bishops was resistant to ‘the idea that structural differentiation should be a desired outcome’ of the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ implementation process.

After all, in late January this year, the CEEC had issued a press release in response to the Church’s intention to forge ahead with blessing services for same-sex married couples, known as Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF). The CEEC statement announced that they would ‘continue to advocate a settlement, without theological compromise, based on a permanent structural rearrangement resulting in visible differentiation’.

In contrast, the College of Bishops has deemed that such proposals for a structural settlement ‘would be a concession to disunity’.