The Apostasy of the Church of England

There are a number of things about the Church of England (CoE) that are very disturbing, which I would like to mention here. In other countries, it is known as the Anglican Church or the Episcopal Church. Here are my concerns:

CoE disregards the authority of Scripture

The House of Bishops has embraced "revisionist" theology and abandoned strict biblical authority, increasingly allowing liberal interpretation of the Bible to override sound biblical doctrines. The authority of Scripture is not of central importance in the CoE, but rather the traditions and teachings of men and the Church of England's practices are seemingly upheld as the rule of faith. The teachings of men and the practices of the Church of England must never be placed above Scripture, thus making the traditions of men to nullify the Word of God, the very thing Jesus condemned the Pharisees and religion rulers of his day for doing. However, we know that Scripture is our sole rule of faith (sola Scriptura), which was a main tenet of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. The matter of the final authority of Scripture seems to be a very serious, general issue in the Church of England. See my article, Scripture Alone.

Women in Authority in the Church of England

Women are ordained to positions of authority in the Church of England (CoE), in leadership over men, and even at the highest levels, comprising 32% of all clergy in the CoE, contrary to the teaching of the apostle Paul, who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, forbade women to teach men or have authority over men. There are women priests and even women bishops, all against Scripture and apostolic prohibitions against doing so. He stated:

" I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[b] she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." (1 Timothy 2:12-14).

The Lord is not against women in ministry, but He is clear that they are not to teach or be in authority over men, as is happening in the CoE. See my article, Women Teaching Men. 

Unbiblical Use of Titles

The Church of England uses titles like Bishop, Reverend, etc., all of which are in direct disobedience to the command of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 23:8-12 not to do so.  Again they don't respect the authority of Scripture and do whatever they want, which is their religious traditions of men. Based on how Jesus addressed that issue in the gospels, we know he is not pleased with it.  Our Lord said:

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Mt 23:8-12).

His point was that there should be no titles used in the Body of Christ. We have roles, such as apostle, prophet. evangelist, pastor and teacher, but these are never to be used as titles to call one another, such as is common in the church today. We see people calling someone Pastor So-and-So or Reverend So-and-So or Bishop So-and-So, which are all unbiblical, since Jesus forbid us to do so. You will not find one single instance in Scripture where a title was ever used before anyone's name in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. Paul the apostle was never called Apostle Paul. The apostle Peter was never called Pope Peter or Father Peter. Elijah the prophet was never called Prophet Elijah. Paul's spiritual son Timothy who functioned as a pastor was never called Pastor Timothy. In fact, you will never find an instance where a title was used before anyone's name except the Lord Jesus, although even He -- the King of Kings and Son of God -- was usually called Jesus in Scripture. See my article Unbiblical Clergy-Laity Distinction and Our Senior Pastor.

Stance on Homosexuality (LBGTQ+ Affirmation)

Moreover, the CoE even baptizes LBGTQ+ people in the church and .The Church of England allows clergy to offer prayers of blessing, thanksgiving, or dedication for same-sex couples after a civil marriage. All of this is against Scripture, which says that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that homosexuality is an abomination in the sight of God. Not only does the COE condone this abomination, but they bless it and even ordain openly LBGTQ+ to positions of high authority in the church.

The Church of England (CoE) has LGBTQ clergy, including openly gay and lesbian priests and bishops, as well as transgender clergy. Some clergy even enter into civil partnerships or so-called same-sex marriages. This is a complete abomination in the sight of God, and we are not to enter into communion with such people claiming to be believers, which is against the apostolic command not to associate with them in 1 Cor 5.

"But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked person from among you.'" (1Co 5:11-13).

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God." (1Co 6:9-10).

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." (Rom 1:21-32).

Huge, unbiblical hierarchy, rotten from the head

The CoE has an unbiblical hierarchy, and quite a large one at that. It is a larger chain of command with about 8 layers of leadership above the local congregant, which is similar to the organizational  structure of a very large corporation. There is no basis for such an organizational structure, which simply stifles the life of the church. 

Moreover, the church is rotten from the head, and it is full of rottenness all the way down the chain of command. Many of them are homosexuals, lesbians, and even transgender people, or they are LBGTQ-affirming, promoting gender equality, LGBTQ inclusion, and supporting same-sex marriage blessings. The Lord Jesus said, you will know them by their fruit. 

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Mt 7:15-20)

The King himself, who is at the top of the hierarchy as the Supreme Governor of the Church, does not bear the fruit of one who is saved, since he embraces a broad, inclusive "spirituality" over sound doctrine based on Sacred Scripture. He values the beliefs of non-Christian religions more than the Holy Scriptures, looking learn spiritually from Islam and Judaism. He holds to pluralism, which is a belief that there are multiple ways to God. But Jesus said, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father, except through Me." (Jn 14:6). 

See my articles called the Unbiblical Hierarchy of the Church of England, The Faith of King Charles, and The Pros and Cons of Structure.

Closing Words

All of what I have just stated proves quite clearly that the CoE is an apostate church that has fallen away from pure and sincere devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to His Holy Word. 

Attribution notice: Except where otherwise noted, most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.  

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this article, you may also like reading my articles called Unbiblical Hierarchy of the Church of England, The Faith of King Charles, Unbiblical Clergy-Laity Distinction, Our Senior Pastor, Women Teaching Men, Scripture Alone, and The Pros and Cons of Structure.

You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.