“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field”. Matt 13:44.
Christ Church Huntingdon is a family of believers from many different ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities who have come to discover the most wonderful news in the world, that in his amazing love, and just as he had promised, the God of the universe has stepped into our world to rescue us from our broken selfishness into friendship with himself. That’s the real reason why Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!
We seek to love and welcome all people into our church whatever their age, physical ability, ethnicity, sexuality, or background, and long to share with all the discovery that we have found, of Jesus, the greatest treasure, the pearl of great price. We are all seeking to follow Jesus, our wonderful Saviour and Lord, and we find his good plan for our lives in his Word, the Bible.
As created beings in his image, God has a view on how we should use our bodies. We believe that the proper place for sexual intimacy is within heterosexual marriage, a relationship which points to Jesus’ love for his bride, the church. Many of us are not married, and therefore we seek to remain pure by living a celibate life. Though this can be hard, and we are all broken people, we want to battle to obey Jesus in this area, knowing him to be such a loving Lord and gracious Saviour. Others of us are married, and also want to battle for purity and obedience to Jesus in this and all other areas of our lives (in our homes, workplaces and communities). Following Jesus is costly, but wonderfully worth it.
With this in mind, as we have closely followed the developments of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, and the recent votes in the General Synod of the Church of England to recommend and accelerate the offer of prayers of blessing, we have with great care sought to think through how we should respond. As well as the process being rushed and inconsistent, the move towards same sex blessings are unloving, unpastoral and actually “un-Anglican” because they are unbiblical.
As a 5 year old church plant within the CofE, operating under a “Bishop’s Mission Order”, we cannot in conscience simply refrain from using these prayers, but with great regret we find ourselves unable actively to sign up to the next 5 years of partnership with the (Acting) Bishop of Ely and the Diocese of Ely. As a result, we have found a home within the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) which is part of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), a grouping from the
Gafcon Movement.
We want to stand shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers in the Church of England Evangelical Council grouping (
CEEC), who choose to stay within the CofE, as we all work towards the renewal and reformation of the CofE back to its biblical roots. Our argument is not with LGBTQIA+ people (whom we love dearly) but with those who unlovingly suggest that we should ignore part of what God has said in the Bible, all of which contains his loving will for our lives.
Charlie Newcombe, 3rd December 2023 (Advent Sunday)