(Psephizo) Andrew Goddard–Resetting LLF: Whose unity? Which doctrine?

What is to be welcomed in this latest article is that it seems to acknowledge our problems are ultimately doctrinal and that our understanding of unity has to face that reality. This is because unity and doctrine belong together: different doctrines will, it acknowledges, require different spaces within one church. This represents a significant development that opens up conversations with ecumenical theology and practice but it is also one whose logic needs to be carried through carefully and consistently. There is the danger of rushing forward and falling into an unprincipled and incoherent pluralism which seeks to give equal standing to contradictory doctrines and practices. There is also the danger of failing to give the proper degree of space necessary to secure the highest degree of communion possible. 

If we are to proceed properly with this “reset” we need the bishops, members of General Synod, and the Church of England as whole (including various “stakeholders” already creating their own “space” in the new networks of the Alliance and Together) to:

• find a way forward which will allow both “freedom for each group” and “genuine expression of our unity in the Body of Christ, and in our shared Anglican heritage”;
• recognise that consensus “usually emerges, even though it may take time”;
• take seriously the “call to be careful and to respect and value the processes of the Church for collective discernment”;
• show that we believe both that “unity matters – it really matters” and that it is “important…to contend for right doctrine” and unity and doctrine cannot be separated.

There are still real risks. These include an over-emphasis on a supposed “new spirit of generosity and pragmatism”, the continuing influence among bishops of a flawed understanding of what it means for them to be “a focus of unity” detached from them upholding doctrine, and the desire on the part of many simply to “get PLF/LLF done” (in the way they want). 

If unity matters, can that be based on anything other than agreed doctrine? Do Martyn Snow's proposals for a reset address the challenges facing the LLF process? Can we avoid another car crash at Synod? @goddardaj @simonsarmiento https://t.co/A5Y5RaezVR

— Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) June 11, 2024