English Christians Celebrate Orthodoxy and the Millennium
Episcopal News Service. August 22, 2000 [2000-122G]
(ENI) Two leading prelates of the Church of England, Archbishop of York David Hope and Bishop Richard Chartres of London, took part in a gathering of traditionalist Anglicans at a time when the church remains split over women priests and bishops.
According to a report, the Forward in Faith movement, which organized the "Christ Our Future" gathering, opposes the ordination of women as priests and bishops, although the Church of England has had women priests since 1994. So far there have been no official moves to ordain women to the episcopate in the Church of England, although several other provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion have women bishops.
The event on June 10 was one of several high-profile church events in Britain which were linked to the feast of Pentecost and to celebration of the Christian millennium. It attracted nearly 10,000, including 36 bishops and 700 clergy.
Chartres spoke against the "great preoccupation" of making worship more "accessible." "People, we are told, are put off by anything that is difficult to grasp at first hearing," he said, adding that this was a rather "condescending" view of "the capacities of the person in the street to understand." He also urged the congregation to "be impatient for unity among Christians. Do not retreat into a sectarian mentality."
Bishop John Broadhurst, the chairman of Forward in Faith, said that the mass gathering was conceived for worship, not as a political demonstration. But he agreed that the two prelates would have been aware of the signals conveyed by their presence.
"It was a great leap of faith to hold this service," he said. "This shows we are not a tiny group. We are not going away."