A Rubicon has been crossed

A Rubicon has been crossed

 As legend has it “crossing the Rubicon” refers to “the point of no return” because once Julius Caesar crossed this shallow river in Northern Italy in 49BC war was inevitable.

A ruling from the High Court in England has in effect declared war on traditional Christian values, the very values which shaped much of the law of our land: the dignity of humankind; the right to hold to private beliefs and express them publicly; and the abiding wisdom of God’s 10 commandments, to name just a few.

Mr and Mrs Johns believe that Christianity teaches that homosexual conduct is wrong.  They believe that this is what the church teaches and they think that this is to be found in the bible.  To teach a foster child in their care that homosexuality was right would be in contradiction of their faith.  As Mrs John’s says: “All we were not willing to do was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality was a good thing” (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-12598896).

The high court has ruled that protecting a person from being discriminated because of sexual orientation trumps protecting a person against discrimination because of their religious beliefs.

So now it seems: Christianity is an oppressive and an unhealthy place to bring up foster children.  The downward spiral our society has experienced is-

• Denial of Christian beliefs;
• Loss of Christian behaviour;
• The conviction that Christian beliefs and behaviour are not good but bad for society and even to teach a child Christian morality is harmful to their well being.

A foundational part of equality is the right to hold your own views and not to contravene your own conscience.  But modern England today, like ancient Rome has “exchanged the truth for a lie” (Romans 1:25):

My conscience and common sense dictate that I must continue to say:

1)     That children thrive in heterosexual relationships when brought up by the good role models of a mother and a father who have pledged to stay together for life;

2)     That homosexuality is bad for the body (anatomically), and it fails to recognise genetic and biological differences between men and women;

3)     Ultimately society requires opposite gender sexual intercourse in order to produce children and generally people are still agreed that traditional husband/wife families are good for society.

The dilemma is that if Christians continue to appeal to the Christian values which have shaped not only the Church but our legal system and the foundation of society, then I will be judged by many to be holding to oppressive and inhuman views.

We may feel that we have reached a point of no return.  But we should also bear in mind that our society has not quite yet got to the degenerate state of the Roman Empire (as described in Romans 1).  Paul’s conviction was that the message about Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation for all believe.  Many have argued that despite Caesar’s great conquests, it was the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which ultimately contributed to the Fall of Rome.  The Rubicon may be crossed but ultimate victory belongs to God.

See more Christian responses to the Mr & Mrs Johns High Court ruling over Foster Care:

Peter Ould on popular reportings of the case misreading the judgement http://www.peter-ould.net/2011/03/01/breaking-christians-with-traditional-moral-views-can-still-be-foster-parents/;

Cramner blog on the challenge of privileging Discrimination laws http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2011/03/laws-and-usages-of-realm-do-not-include.html

Also:

http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/blog/fostercouple;  http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/

Wycliffe Hall for the Church, the Academy and the World

At our meeting in January I gave all staff the challenge of summarising the purpose of Wycliffe Hall in fewer than 160 characters (the length of a text message).  It is hard to be succinct but I thought that the final answer was good: “Founded in 1877 Wycliffe Hall is an international evangelical college in the University of Oxford, equipping Christian leaders for the church, academy and world.”

 For the last 130 years Wycliffe Hall has been doing three things: training God’s people for ministry; stretching human minds with theological truth; and equipping godly ministers for mission in the world.

{Christ} gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service , so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith … (Eph 4:11-13).

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed (2 Tim 2:15).

Church

The Church of England faces serious challenges in its funding of ministerial training.  We will need to wait until after the July General Synod to hear the outcome of the Bishop of Sheffield’s recommendations.  These are critical discussions.  The church needs well educated clergy.  Retaining high quality full time training in historic theology faculties in our leading universities is absolutely important. 

We have already anticipated some of these challenges with our new part time and mixed mode training programme.  This will use the University validated Diploma in Theological and Pastoral Studies primarily taught on Monday delivered over three years.  We are delighted that Ministry Division has approved this training pathway and we are actively recruiting candidates from around the country (more at www.wycliffe.ox.ac.uk). 

Academy

The biggest challenge facing higher education at the moment is responding to the Browne Review outlining changes in HE funding to be implemented by the academic year 2012.  The University is cautious about announcing its new fee structure until it has been reviewed by the appropriate committees.  However, few people will be surprised if the University charges the full £9,000 annual undergraduate fee.

Clearly there are implications for Wycliffe Hall but we are optimistic that the Permanent Private Halls will continue to be treated favourably in training of ministerial students.  In the future I expect we will need greater partnership with candidates’ sending churches for ongoing support, including financially.

 World

 The great end for which we teach, study and work is the glory of God.  It is because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) that we follow in the Apostle Paul’s example in seeking to make Christ known.

 Wycliffe Hall responds to world’s crying needs by training ministers for “works of service”.  We particularly emphasise the acronym LEAP (Leadership, Evangelism, Apologetics, Preaching).  Our Tutorial staff are scholars gifted in core theological disciplines (biblical studies, doctrine, church history etc.).  We are also united in the aim of sending men and women into the world for mission.