Is The Church of England Doing A Woke Rebrand?

ESV Bible Study Bible - I have used this for years, it is excellent.

[johnwg]

Jesus said "I will build my church " who are we to argue?

[karmarable]

Diluting the idea of Church only happens when the actual church has traded power in the Holy Spirit for cultural acceptance 🙄🙏🏻✝️

[johndennison]

The Apostle Paul did not go around Athens asking people what they wanted in a Church and then proceed to put together great programs with contemporary music and uplifting messages. We simply do not see him trying to build a Church by inviting unbelievers to Church. The Apostle Paul went to the unbelievers. He did not wait for them to come to him.

[christiancelticwarrior]

May God Bless you and your family Rev Dan and anyone reading this 🙏

[zldfctf]

...soon it might become ONLY another "coffee" place/community where coffee and cake are the remenant. Truly sad!!

[johnbirch]

We need a new A of C. The word "CHURCH" (from the greek for circle) We keep CHURCH

[onceamusician]

the survivor of a shipwreck, floundering in the waters after his ship ha gone down, does NOT WANT a lifeboat that is indistinguishable from the waters ( ie the world) in which he is drowning

[antonralph]

If the Church of England wants to be relevant, it should try preaching the Gospel.

[owensclock]

So the word "church" is now such a turn off in this new woke world we live in that it must be changed? The Worshiping Community of England. Who or what are you worshiping?

[trinahaifa]

Luciferians/Satanist could have a worshipping community. Anyone can have a worshipping community and worship false gods. But when you call it a church, you are specifically saying that you are worshipping The true and living God, the Holy One of Israel, the Trinity, our Eternal Father, Son eternal and Devine Spirit

[JesusLovesYou-ndrz]

I thought they were only replacing the word 'church' to describe church plants, not the whole organisation.

[PaterIgnotus]

This is actually a very old issue. "Church" is the traditional translation of the Hebrew "qahal" and the Greek "ekklesia, " which in the Greek Bible referred to the community or assembly of God's holy people, summoned by the Word of God for worship. In secular usage, it could refer to other kinds of civic assemblies. Tyndale thought the word "church" had acquired a priestly-sacred sense sound, so he translated Ekklesia as "congregation", to emphasize the priesthood of all believers. English-speaking Protestants leaned in that direction. Catholics like Thomas More condemned Tyndale's use of "congregation" as biased against traditional language and as implying sharp discontinuity with Christian tradition.
In the end, King James agreed with More on this point. In the guidelines given to the translators of the KJV, this instruction was given: "“The old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. the Word Church not to be translated Congregation &c.” Many Puritans disagreed but eventually accepted the King James Bible anyway.
It's clear that the trend in our time is away from using words that sound too "sacred" or clerical-priestly or institutional is an effort to reach out to a secularized society that dismisses anything that distinguishes the sacred from the secular. Even the word "religion" has become almost pejorative. Evangelists don't want to seem churchy or clerical or to seem to cling to outdated forms. I would see this as a kind of secular-Puritan trend that disfavors traditional approaches and forms.
The larger question is whether the category of the distinctly sacred is a valid one for Christians. The Catholic-minded side of the C of E would say yes. There are many "communities, " but only the visible structured community of the baptized can be a "church." The evangelical side would tend to say No, or at least to limit the idea of "sacredness" to the holiness of the Word of God and the response of faith, which can happen anywhere. The Catholic would affirm the importance of the word "Church" as referring to specifically sacred sacramental community; the Protestant would tend in the opposite direction, saying that the term used for a local Christian worshiping community is just a matter of what is useful in mission and evangelism.

[roberthilsdon]

This from an established church website in Cambridge.

"I look forward to welcoming you to St xxxx - a busy community centre and worshipping community at the heart of Cambridge. We are a community that travels with questions: there are no easy answers in life and we live in complex and challenging times. Faith is not an easy win either, but it has the potential, if engaged with seriously, to be liberating. Faith in God offers a pathway that provides signposts, wells and springs, not fixed answers and certainty, but waymarkers and sustenance for the journey.

Most of all, being part of a faith community, means just that, belonging to a community. Having a place where you can be yourself, a place to call 'home' is a true blessing. We pray that you'll find a home here."

No surprise, it is a very liberal Church opps community.

[voiceofreason]

The Church IN England is largely NOT the Church OF England. If they're happy to drop the word "Church" they're happy to drop Jesus. Hence, no salvation. Hence why the Church in England is not the Church of England. We have higher standards.

[WINGTV]

I left the Episcopal Church, not officially breaking though, about 8 years ago. I have not looked back, but I was invited to a memorial service for a deceased friend. The changes were shocking to me. The people were as nice as ever, but an evil has entered the church, it was unmistakable... I would like to return to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. I have a reprint copy, and it is world's away and much, much better than the most recent editions I have seen.

[cal]

Churches and denominations are man made, only the Gospel will give you the real connection to Jesus. If the Church no longer wishes to serve the Bible then Christians will leave. Time will tell, I have my predictions to what will happen, but all I hope is more people like myself see sense and come to Christ, the Church is how you connect to the community, but the relationship with Jesus Christ is what's important and comes second to no other worldly thing.

[willhemmings]

I have been invited to visit one of these new Anglican initiatives in the middle of a Cotswold market town. It is a hub and offers workspaces for small businesses, among other things. When I was told about the vast sums of money that had been spent on the project and the fancy features on show I decided this was something I did not wish to see. What is the message - Capitalism is the route for all kinds of salvation? Not for me, no

[jkk]

Watch the Yes Prime Minister clip 'Sir Humphrey explains about the Church of England'. If anything is prophetic, its got to be that.

[alanhowe]

Well, if they've dropped the essentials of the faith (which they have), why not drop the description 'church'?

[xuwosfb]

"The Church of Simon Magus, " and the "Chorus of Simony...😢."