Stott tells Anglicans to be bold
"Young people are floundering in a swamp of relativity"
By
ChristianWeek staff
From reports
PRINCE ALBERT, SK–Renowned Anglican preacher and theologian John Stott pulled no punches when he challenged clergy at a recent conference to be bold in their presentation of the gospel. "The church today is as blushingly insecure as an adolescent teenager," he told participants at "The Vanishing Centre? Fragmentation in the Church."
 Menno Fieguth photo Strong words: John Stott recently told Anglicans that the church today is "blushingly insecure." |
"Young
people are floundering in a swamp of relativity
and even the preachers don’t seem to know
what they believe." The 78-year-old English minister was keynote speaker at the October 18-21 conference, organized by the Essentials movement of the Anglican Church of Canada. More than 100 clergy and lay people, mostly Anglicans, attended the conference, hosted by the Anglican Diocese of Saskatchewan. The conference theme addressed the concern of some Anglicans that their church is becoming too polarized. "Our instinct as Anglicans is to think of the centre as the mean between two extremes," said Anthony Burton, bishop of the Prince Albert-based diocese. "But extremes move and in whatever imaginary centre we try to place ourselves, we will forever be in flux." |
The conference was the latest effort of the Essentials movement to challenge and encourage the Anglican Church. Formed in 1994, the group strives to encourage theological orthodoxy and spiritual renewal.
Stott rose to that challenge. In a public lecture, he described the "living church" as a learning church, a caring church, a worshipping church and a church that is committed to evangelism.
Using the imagery of shepherds and sheep, he also told clergy to encourage parishioners to do their own Bible study. "[Shepherds] don’t spoonfeed their sheep; they lead them to a pasture where they can feed themselves."
Among the other speakers was Victoria Matthews, bishop of Edmonton, who stressed that she is not a member of Essentials but an interested observer. She acknowledged, however, that Essentials is making an impact on the church. "There is something about Essentials that has caused a lot of us to wake up and take notice."
She also agreed that relativism in theology is a danger to the church. "We can’t blame people for seeing our truth statements as relative if we act like they are," she said.
