My final comment in the interview on Radio Nottingham was that cases like Jeremy Pemberton’s are forcing the collapse of the two realities at a pace no-one is ready for””so I think all sides would prefer that such cases do not arise. But the immediate question for the House of Bishops now is: do their statements actually mean anything? I hope they do, for many reasons, and I cannot see that it is in anyone’s interests for the bishops to be told (possibly by lawyers) that they are powerless to enforce Canon Law.
Prayer needed for all sides”¦
Moderate evangelicals like Ian Paul and Andrew Goddard are indeed facing a difficult time. I suspect they are simply going to discover what many of us have known for a long time – the bishops of the Church of England (with a very small number of exceptions) are simply unprincipled. They will not attempt to enforce Canon Law, yet at the same time they will not attempt to face up to contradictions (e.g. by adopting an openly liberal stance). They will simply find new ways to assure us that black is white, every day.
And the steady exodus of parishioners from the pews of the CofE will continue.