THE
P RTAL
December 2018
Page 11
Anglican
Forward in
Faith National News
Assembly
The Revd Paul Benfield
F
orward in Faith held its National assembly for 2018 at St Alban’s, Holborn. After a concelebrated
mass of the Holy Spirit at which the Chairman, the Bishop of Wakefield, presided and the Vicar of St
Alban’s, Fr Christopher Smith, preached, the business of the day began.
We first heard from the officers of the charity
(Chairman, Lay Vice-Chairman and Treasurer) about
its work during the preceding year. This included
monitoring the practical implementation of the House of
Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops, Priests
and Deacons as it affects parishes, and issuing a statement
concerning the seal of the confessional. Forward in Faith
is now in a much stronger financial position than it was
a few years ago with increasing investments providing
an income stream and reduced expenditure due to good
financial management. The contract of Mrs Anne Gray,
the Projects Officer, is to be extended to October 2019
and from that date she will be employed to co-ordinate
the 2020 General Synod Elections campaign.
We then heard from two lay people of good
experiences of parishes working well during vacancies
to pave the way for the appointment of a parish priest.
The parishes were St Peter’s, Folkestone and Holy
Trinity, Ramsgate, both in the Diocese of Canterbury
where the Bishop of Dover is effectively in charge.
Fostering a range of creative and imaginative mission
projects which both strengthen our inheritance and
open up new possibilities; Simplifying rules and
procedures to support and enable rather than inhibit;
Giving renewed voice and hope to the people of God
and the communities they serve).
We then heard presentations about a newly
published edition of a booklet entitled ‘Vacancies in
Society Parishes. Advice from Forward in Faith’. This is
aimed at helping lay people in parishes whose priest
has left to ensure that priestly sacramental ministry
is continued during the vacancy and to help them
through the complex appointment processes under
the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986.
We then turned our attention to the seal of the
confessional. Fr Robin Ward, Principal of St Stephen’s
House and Fr Philip Barnes, priest in charge of
St Stephen’s, Gloucester Road gave presentations
and then I moved a motion calling on the House of
Bishops to re-affirm the Seal of the Confessional
as an essential principle of doctrine of the universal
Church as received by the Church of England and
calling on Society priests to reassure the faithful that
they will maintain absolute confidentiality with regard
to what is confessed in sacramental confession. In a
short debate, Fr David Houlding SSC urged that there
be better training for those hearing confessions and
that there should be some sort of authority or faculty
to hear them and Bishop Nicholas Reade, sometime
Bishop of Blackburn pointed out that the sacraments
are non-negotiable and spoke of the transforming
power of the sacrament of reconciliation. The motion
was passed unanimously.
After lunch, we heard a keynote address from Mr
William Nye, the Secretary General of the General
Synod and the Archbishops’ Council. He is the senior
church civil servant and explained something of the
work of the Council and the Reform and Reform
Initiative. He explained how the mission strategy
of the Society under the Patronage of St Wilfrid and
St Hilda (Forming God’s people; Nurturing young
disciples; Offering excellence in worship; Celebrating
sacramental priesthood; Being intentional in
evangelism: Serving the common good) dovetails into
the Archbishops’ Council strategy (Growing disciples
in every place who are committed to conforming
their own lives to the pattern of Christ and confident
in sharing their faith with others and making Christ
After concluding remarks by the Chairman, the
known; Calling more clergy and lay leaders into a day ended with benediction given by the Bishop of
wider variety of ministries; Re-directing money to Fulham with a meditation by Mother Mary Luke CHC.
where it is most needed and makes the most difference; Members returned home in good heart.