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Dear Friends
When the present Archbishop of Canterbury took office he made it clear that he would like to see the Anglican Church disestablished. This would mean that it would no longer be part of the state apparatus, no longer require parliamentary approval for its affairs, bishops and deans would no longer be quasi-political appointments and the church would lose its constitutional tie with the monarchy. Supporters of this view would say that the church should be free to get on with its job unfettered by these factors and by a great deal of tedious and expensive legal red-tape. In principle, this argument has much to commend it. I suggest, however, that disestablishment in practice would be disastrous for the Church of England of today.
One of the great advantages of state involvement is that it can act as a brake upon ecclesiastical extremism. The Queen as head of the Church of England is seen to worship in a central and stable Anglican tradition. All state occasions with a religious component follow the same middle-of-the-road path. In this way, the fringe excesses of Anglo-catholicism and intense neo-Pentecostal evangelicalism can be held at bay. Obviously people are free to follow these traditions if they wish but establishment of the church prevents them from gaining centre stage.
In addition, establishment secures for the Anglican Church a legitimate place in the life of our society. The state gives benign support to every parish in the country where the parish priest, the churchwardens and council have range of legal rights and duties. This in turn gives entitlements to parishioners concerning baptisms, marriages and burials. In this way the community has safeguards against unco-operative clergy.
It seems to me that establishment today is the church’s greatest protection against itself. Readers of even the quality press may be forgiven for thinking that the Anglican Church today is a mish-mash of confused and contradictory
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