Jenny’s letter 17th November
Today we welcome our CMS partners, Marcio and Noemi with their children Nathaniel, Isabella and Evangeline. Sadly, their eldest son Giovani is unwell – we pray that he will be feeling better soon. Marcio, Noemi and their family are in the UK for four months. During this time, they will be visiting churches, going to the CMS office for various matters and resting. Please pray that there will be time for rest and for their children in all the adjustments to people, places and education. They will be in church on Sunday 17th November at both services and at coffee in between.
Dear Friends,
I was deeply saddened to read about the errors and failings made in the Church of England in the John Smyth case and reported on in the Makin Review, which has just been published.
In my opinion Archbishop Justin Welby did the right thing in resigning. It is not just because of his role as a leader that he resigned, but because he did not act on the knowledge he had (too much delegation and not enough follow up) along with his failure to keep the very public promises that he made to survivors.
His resignation is not, I think, the end of it – or it should not be. There are others who made gross errors of judgement in this case, including some clergy, church officers and members of various police forces. There are also several more whose cases, while in process, have yet to be brought to judgement.
It would be easy to give up on The Church. All too often it fails and whilst in this moment it is The Church of England that is at fault, we are not alone in having made grave mistakes. Frequently, individuals have been protected to maintain the good name of The Church and to ensure that the gospel message is not in some way sullied or rendered powerless. Of course, this approach is neither Biblical, nor is it godly.
Allowing people to live and act outside of the law and in a way that is damaging to an ever increasingly wide group of people is wrong. 1 Timothy 5 is helpful to us and in verse 20 it says, ‘As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all.’
It is clear there should be no place for the kind of abuse that John Smyth committed in any organisation but is it realistic to expect The Church to be perfect? I think the answer is no. Paul reminds us in Romans 3.23 that we have ‘all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.’
However, it is reasonable to expect that individually we should ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate’ (Luke 13.24). In other words, we must try to live a life according to God’s teaching and will. If perfection is not possible, love for God and one for one another should be visible. And, when people fall short, we should be willing and able to speak truthfully to each other and expect to have to pay the price of the consequence of our sin. Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride (Ephesians 5:25–27). He continues in that relationship with us even as he sheds tears over our frailty and failings.
So where does forgiveness fit in to all this? It is not an easy question to answer. C.S. Lewis writes in his book ‘The Weight of Glory’ “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single person great injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life – to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son – how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say our prayers each night “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.” We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves.”
Currently, within a formalised confession process, I am instructed that if someone confesses to murder or another kind of criminal behaviour, I am to withhold absolution until such time as the person also confesses to the authorities that they have committed the crime. Is absolution and forgiveness possible for someone whose transgressions seem so serious? The answer is yes, but in recognising the wickedness of the sin there must be visible signs of a willingness to be dealt with justly – whether that is to resign from a job, make good on a promise, serve prison time for a criminal offence or hand back the stolen goods.
Forgiveness does not mean being entirely let off. Forgiveness does not mean that a person who has made poor safeguarding judgements should be allowed to work with children or vulnerable adults. Asking for help to forgive is ok and needing to revisit the situation from time-to-time is understandable too. A failure to forgive does not harm the one who is unforgiven nearly as much as it harms the person who does not forgive.
I want to end on a positive note. There is so much that is good about The Church and so many people who live godly lives within it. What better way to conclude than with these words from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. ‘Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.’
Wishing you every blessing,
