BE FAITHFUL:
Remaining steadfast in the Church of England
today
By Mike Ovey, Mark Pickles, Lee Gatiss
Lost Coin (Church Society). 72 pages. £5.00
ISBN 978 1 784 983 185
This book derives from talks given at a Church Society conference and therefore is of primary interest to Anglican evangelicals.
However the chapter by Mike Ovey is of wider relevance because it contains excellent reflections on the way ‘gospel’ is defined by evangelicals and Christians more broadly, as well as Mike’s customary insights into the environment in which we serve Christ today (‘Our culture is juridified and bureaucra-tised’ – p.32). We will miss such material from Mike!
Present turmoil
Mark Pickles reminds us of what being faithful involves and stresses that the gospel of grace lies at the heart of this. He is particularly concerned in the context of Anglican turmoil that ministers do not ‘jump ship’ and walk away from difficulties both within and without the congregation. That is indeed vital, although of course it does not address the issue of what a minister who is resolved to be faithful to his pastoral responsibility should do with the congregation in difficult circumstances.
Fighting on?
In the last chapter, Lee Gatiss looks at the example of J. C. Ryle as a faithful Anglican. He reminds us that, prior to being Bishop of Liverpool, Ryle served in small churches, and he provides some thought-provoking quotes from Ryle’s lesser-known writings. The chapter concludes with an affirmation of Ryle’s call to stand firm and fight on for the cause of the gospel within the Church of England. However, times have changed since Ryle’s day, and one wonders what Ryle himself would have advised when faced with a sermon such as that preached by Jeffrey John in Liverpool Cathedral in 2016, which asserted the righteous nature of breaking the law of God (referenced by Mike Ovey on p.26).
