The talk and posturing over the place of evangelicals in the Church of England seems to have been endless. But after a few false dawns, a significant step towards an alternative oversight system for confessing evangelicals has been announced here.
The Anglican Mission in England (AMIE) held its inaugural event last wednesday at the Evangelical Ministers Assembly in London, and a new office will be opened in central London for the organisation which will be overseen by a number of bishops, from the UK and overseas.
Update: Rev Richard Perkins writes with some helpful explanation of what the AMIE means in practice.
The debate on euthanasia is not going to go away. Weâve blogged on how we approach the issue ourselves, as Christians: and Dr Jason Roach guest-blogged a medicâs perspective.
But what about the question asked by a friend over a coffee at work, or on the way home from football, or at the school gate?
Here, for what itâs worth, is what we think we might say:
In what was Jesus wrapped before he was buried?
God told Joshua to walk around Jericho's walls for how many days?
Which of these kings is NOT in Kings?
The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the ___ of truth?
Which book is the longest Minor Prophet?
What time was it when Peter said, "These men are not drunk, as you suppose."?
Which book finishes, "And so he died, old and full of years."
For Mike McKinley (and many others), it would be Matthew 7:21-23:
Not everyone who says to me, âLord, Lord,â will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, âLord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?â Then I will tell them plainly, âI never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!â
So Mike's written a new book, Am I Really a Christian? to help people investigate Christianity. He says,
Let's be honest, churches all over are full of (and empty of!) people who wear the label "Christian" but don't know Jesus and aren't known by him. I wrote "Am I Really a Chrisitan?" in order to help those people see their ongoing need for Jesus and his salvation.
There is also a new website, www.amireallyachristian.com, with answers to common questions like What is the gospel, What is a nominal christian and I'm a good person, is that enough?. There's also a US-only church finder.
You can preorder the book now. It's due out mid-July.
The media furore over euthanasia during the last few days has made one thing abundantly clear. Sir Terry Pratchettâs documentary on assisted dying only showed us one side of the debate.
Both disability groups and Christian ones declared that other views needed to be heard. I have to agree. My medical background and Christian convictions both push me to think about the other side of the story.
A key question for me is: âHow does a change in law affect the most weak and vulnerable?â
My medical oaths tell me to do no harm. My Christian values tell me to âhelp the weakâ (1 Thessalonians 5 v 14).
And my experience tells me that hard cases, like the ones that make it onto TV documentaries, make bad law.
Two examples illustrate the point. First, what starts as a right to die sometimes seems to turn into a duty to die. For example in Oregon, where euthanasia is legal, the percentage of people taking their lives who felt a burden on their families rose 50% in three years between 1998 and 2000. Disability campaigners are rightly concerned that the most weak may begin to feel they are obligated to end their life.
Secondly, such legislation would be intended to authorise people dying because some thought it was right; but it might lead to people being killed when we would all agree it was wrong.
I remember only too well reading the case of Philip Sutorius, a GP who helped an 86 year old woman to die. He said that she was suffering âunbearablyâ. His reasons? She had said that she was obsessed with getting older, and thought her existence was hopeless.
I wonder if, just like traffic lights rightly limit our freedom to protect other drivers, so keeping the law as it is limits our freedoms for the benefit of all.
I wonder, too, if this whole debate distracts from the great work of the hospice movement. Dame Cicely Saunders, a Christian woman, set up St Christopherâs Hospice to give weak and vulnerable patients the care, pain relief and comfort that deserve. She recognised that for the Christian our dignity isnât conditional on our productivity, but intrinsic to our humanity.
Perhaps our âBig Societyâ would do well to champion those hard-working servants in hospice care. They have certainly taught me over the years to work hard to show sick people the respect that society so often seems to decide in advance that they cannot have.
Jason is a vicar and a doctor with a particular interest in medical ethics and has worked for the British Medical Journal.
May my lips overflow with praise,
for you teach me your decrees.
May my tongue sing of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.
(Psalm 119 v 171-172)
