Anglican church planting
The new Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), recently recognized by the General Synod of the Church of England, has just announced its intention to plant a 1000 new anglican churches in the USA over the next few years. At a church-planting gathering in Plano, Texas, it pledged itself to promoting the Gospel in America via sending out trained and able Gospel workers to start new churches. It’s a breath-taking vision, a bold move that could, under God, see it continue to grow and eventually overtake the Episcopal Church (TEC), the theologically liberal and deeply unfaithful anglican body from which ACNA has departed.
What about Ireland? What’s happening here in connection with planting new churches? There are some indications that some are taking this seriously, with ‘fresh expressions’ of church being encouraged in some dioceses. This is certainly to be welcomed, but by and large the picture of the Church of Ireland is of a denomination that is very little interested in evangelism or church-planting. For one thing, theological liberalism has a strong grip on many bishops and clergy. This has the effect of deadening any move towards promoting a Gospel which liberals see as mere ‘fundamentalism’. Yet while they write off the biblical gospel, they have nothing to promote in its place beyond a sickly ecumenism and watery socialism.
Imagine how Ireland would be effected if the Church of Ireland were full of bishops, clergy and churches seeking to reach a dispirited and disillusioned people with the wonderful news of Christ crucified. There probably has been no more opportune time in Ireland’s history to reach out to the people of Ireland with the biblical gospel than right now. Growing disillusionment within Irish society with many once trusted institutions has left a real void. Where is the Church of Ireland in all this? What has it got to say? It’s simply not enough to mouth the kind of platitudes and words that any politician could easily say better. Surely, it must be speaking of Jesus.
Despite the attempts of liberals to create a church with no biblical doctrine, the Church of Ireland does have a biblical doctrine and a powerful message to proclaim - at least on paper. Isn’t it time that the Church of Ireland rediscovered that? Now is not the time to retreat from the amazing message of Jesus Christ that can make people new, turn lives upside down and right way up!
So, what about church-planting? What about the Church of Ireland developing a more evangelistic approach to the needs of Irish people? It will take imagination in how to reach different kinds of people in different kinds of situations. It’s not just a matter of saying “Our doors are open for people to come in,” for by and large people are simply not going to walk in. The Church of Ireland has got to take seriously Jesus’ command to ‘go and make disciples.’ This will mean evangelism. This will mean church-planting. This will mean re-discovering Christ’s commands to go out and be fishers of men, disciples who make disciples, churches that plant churches. The Church of Ireland will need to become generous in promoting this, more flexible in releasing all kinds of people to be involved, less clergy dependent, less centralized in its organization, and more willing to resource local churches which take the risk of undertaking such church-planting.
How about it? Does the Church of Ireland see the need? Is it ‘up’ for the challenge? Is it even willing to get a conversation started, a debate going, never mind taking the amazing step of promoting an Anglican church-planting conference?