Can a 'parallel province' in the Church of England actually work?

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The Alliance coalition of orthodox Anglicans opposed to same-sex blessings in the Church of England says it has begun to set up its own structures in a "de facto parallel province". But the practical reality is that the powers-that-be in the C of E are able to shoot this "parallel province" down before it even gets off the ground.

Writing to the House of Bishops ahead of its meeting on October 23, the Alliance, which represents conservative evangelicals, charismatic evangelicals and traditional Anglo-Catholics, declared: "We are trying to combat the schism that a de facto change of doctrine (on sexual morality) and a disregard of due process is creating within the Church."

The letter, signed by the seven directors of the Alliance, reported: "Sadly, many across the Alliance are already experiencing discrimination towards those who hold orthodox views, with curacies being withheld, funding withdrawn, promotions denied and being told there is no place for you within the future Church of England."

It said the refusal of the bishops to back down on the same-sex blessings "has resulted in us being forced to begin setting up a de facto parallel province within the Church of England in response to the de facto change in doctrine".

It continued: "There are some who have sought to portray the Alliance as schismatic and have stated that we are looking for the widest possible separation in the Church of England. Nothing could be further from the truth. The creation of a de facto parallel province is with the purpose of enabling clergy to stay in the Church of England who might otherwise feel they are being forced to leave."

But this "parallel province" is a de facto non-entity. The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), a significant constituent in the Alliance, can commission as many "overseers" as it likes but this move to create a parallel leadership structure cannot change the legal reality in the established Church.

CEEC commissioned its first 20 overseers in July at All Souls Langham Place, the conservative evangelical flagship church in central London, to "provide informal oversight to clergy and PCCs (Parochial Church Councils) who feel a loss of confidence in the spiritual leadership of their bishop(s)".

But as long as a clergyperson remains in the C of E, he or she holds their licence to take services and to preach from the local diocesan bishop. All licensed clergy are therefore subject to the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) under which the diocesan bishop plays a major role in adjudicating over complaints.

The reality of the CDM means that it is not practically possible for licensed clergy to declare unilateral independence from their bishops.

If, for example, a clergyperson were to refuse to attend a ministry review with their local bishop or with a member of his or her leadership team, in the overwhelming majority of cases they could be subject to a CDM action.

Clergy who held the Parson's Freehold, which the General Synod voted to phase out in 2006, had more independence from their bishops than those under the Common Tenure arrangement. Whereas ministry reviews were voluntary for Freehold clergy, Common Tenure clergy are legally required to attend regular ministry reviews.

Most parish clergy are now under the Common Tenure arrangement and therefore if they refused to attend a ministry review as mandated by their bishop, they would face legal action under the CDM.

Among the signatories of the Alliance letter were: Ade Adebajo, lay chair of the London Diocesan Synod; Rev Canon John Dunnett, CEEC national director; Fr Adam Gaunt, chairman of the Catholic Group on General Synod; Rev Canon Paul Langham, a member of the national leadership team of the evangelical charismatic network, New Wine; and Rev Sarah Jackson, General Synod chair of the Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) Network of evangelical charismatic churches.

They certainly took pains to emphasise the size of the Alliance's membership in their letter to the bishops:

"The Alliance continues to grow numerically with 2360 clergy whose churches currently represent 42% of the Church of England's average Sunday attendance and 53% of all under eighteen-year-olds within the Church of England. The Alliance representatives in all 42 dioceses reflect the broad diversity of orthodox networks we are supporting, including traditional Catholics, New Wine, the HTB Network, CEEC, Living Out, Renew, the Church Society, 200 orthodox ordinands, the orthodox archdeacon group, the orthodox female clergy group and the orthodox global heritage majority group."

But the numbers of clergy and the range of orthodox churches and networks make no difference to the practical reality that every single licensed clergyperson in the Alliance is subject to the CDM. The "de facto parallel province" is in reality a de facto dead duck.

A great escape, however, of biblically orthodox Anglican churches from the C of E into their own province with their own bishops could prove to be the phoenix out of the ashes.

Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.