Well a good morning descended into an indulgent afternoon! Suddenly a ‘Richard &Judy’ esque couple were smugly introducing news about church planting et al in a purely evangelical manner. It was as if the appeall to Catholics had died at lunch and I was left bored and wondering so what!
Perhaps my real narkiness stems from the fact that the issue of women’s ordination is being brushed under the carpet
I have to say that I think that FiF Anglo-Catholics are on a fool’s errand if they believe that they have close connection with (some of) these Evangelicals (beyond the fact that both groups are broadly Christian). Take, for example, Jesus’ instruction to us to celebrate the Eucharist: the one single instruction about post-Jesus services that he gave. In many such Evangelical churches this is observed, maximum, once a month. ‘Fidelity to the Bible’ is such a flexible concept. For such people, the concept includes rejection of homosexual practice and – for many – rejection of WO. What it doesn’t seem to include is the above.
Contrast the following. Any member of FiF can go into practically any C of E cathedral or ‘liberal’ or ‘Affirming Catholicism’ church several times a week and participate in proper celebrations of the Eucharist. All he or she has to do is avoid celebration by a woman priest (and such ‘events’ are always published in advance). In all other respects, such members can feel completely at home – and, of course, the converse applies. I think the lesson is obvious.