Anglican Mission in England

The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) is a mission society that seeks to establish Anglican churches in England outside the Church of England. It seeks to support Anglican churches and individuals both within and outside present Church of England structures.[1] Therefore, of those churches affiliated to AMiE, some are part of the Church of England while others self-identify as Anglican but lie outside Church of England structures. It was created with the support of the Global Anglican Future Conference, and is part of the Anglican realignment. It has been described as a "breakaway conservative Evangelical movement".[2]

Anglican Mission in England
AbbreviationAMiE
OrientationAnglican
ChairmanBishop Andy Lines
AssociationsGlobal Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)
Anglican Church in North America
RegionEngland
Origin2013
Separated fromChurch of England
Congregations15
Official websiteanglicanmissioninengland.org

Leadership

AMiE has one bishop, Andy Lines: he was consecrated on 30 June 2017 as the Missionary Bishop to Europe of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a province outside the Anglican Communion, but recognized by GAFCON and the Global South provinces.[3] Lines' role is to provide oversight to Anglican churches in Europe that exist outside of current Anglican structures, which includes AMiE.[4][3] Lines is also director of Crosslinks, an Anglican missionary agency which financially supports several independent Anglican churches in England.

In 2015 the Right Revd John Ellison, a retired missionary, was under investigation by the Diocese of Salisbury after it emerged he was acting as an overseer for Christ Church Salisbury, an AMiE congregation. Ellison is currently chair of the AMiE panel of bishops.[5]

History

AMiE was formed under the auspices of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in 2011.[6][7] GAFCON gave their full support at their second meeting in Nairobi, in October 2013. Initially its congregations were church plants that had been ejected from the Church of England for various reasons. More recently, evangelical Anglican churches have begun to plant churches under the AMiE banner.[8]

The movement has received the support of the Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh.[9][10]

In 2016 AMiE set out its vision to plant 25 churches by 2025 and 250 churches by 2050.[9]

Bishop Lines ordained the first nine men as deacons and priests on 7 December 2017, at East London Tabernacle, a Baptist church in east London.[11] Previously, clergymen associated with AMiE had come from the Church of England, or been ordained by Anglican bishops overseas. Eight men were ordained as deacons and one as a priest, all working for AMiE churches.[2] For example, Robert Tearle, 24, was to serve as deacon at Trinity Church Scarborough, a 2017 church plant.[12]

Theological position

AMiE takes a conservative stance on human sexuality, opposing same-sex marriage and women's ordination. Members of the executive of AMiE are required to hold complementarian views. AMiE leaders have made accusations that there is false teaching in Church of England leadership.[9] Lee McMunn, the mission director for AMiE, has stated that, while many "faithful Anglicans" remain within the Church of England, others find their route to ordination "blocked by liberal clergy who do not believe orthodox Anglican teachings".

AMiE's stated intent is not to threaten Anglicans within current structures, but to provide support for those already outside the structures.[2]

Churches

The society currently has 15 churches under its auspices and the oversight of Lines.[13] This is an increase from 6 churches in September 2016.[9] Their official website also lists more 33 "supporting churches".[14]

Name Location Web Clergy Founded Notes
The Anchor Anglican Church, Fowey Fowey, Cornwall
  • Presbyter: Philip de Grey-Warter (ordained CoE)
 2019 Formed by the vicar and some members of Fowey Parish Church in September 2019.[15]
Becontree Church Becontree, Greater London
  • Presbyter: Mike Reith (ordained CoE 1983)
 2014 Church plant from St Peter and St Paul, Dagenham
Christ Church Central Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Presbyter: Tim Davies (ordained CoE 1993)
  • Deacon: Chris Houghton (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2005 Church plant from Christ Church, Fulwood
Christ Church Salisbury Salisbury, Wiltshire
  • Presbyter: Mark Payne
 2014
Christ Church South Cambs Sawston, Cambridgeshire
  • Presbyter: Tim Chapman (ordained CoE 2002)
 2006 Church plant from All Saints, Little Shelford (originally under a Bishop's Mission Order, but licence withdrawn in 2013)
Christ Church Stockport Stockport, Greater Manchester
  • Deacon: Matt Thompson (ordained AMiE 2017)
  • Deacon: Jon Cawsey (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2018
Christ Church Walkley Walkley, Sheffield
  • Presbyter: Pete Jackson (ordained AMiE 2017)
  • Deacon: Kenny Larsen (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2012 Church plant from Christ Church, Fulwood and Christ Church Central
Christ Church Wyre Forest Kidderminster, Worcestershire
  • Presbyter: Leo Davison (ordained CESA)
 2002 Began when minister Charles Raven was ejected from St John's Church, Kidderminster by the Bishop of Worcester[16]
Cornerstone Church Crewe Crewe, Cheshire
  • Presbyter: Matt Guest (ordained CoE 2015)
 2019 Church plant from Christ Church, Wharton
Grace Church Bude Bude, Cornwall
  • Presbyter: Alistair Harper (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2019
Grace Church Sydenham Sydenham, Greater London
  • Presbyter: Tim Iles (ordained CoE 2011)
 2015 Church plant from Grace Church Dulwich, itself a plant from St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate. Joined AMiE 2018[17]
King’s Church Guildford Guildford, Surrey
  • Presbyter: Richard Leadbeater (ordained CoE 2010)
 2014
Trinity Church Bristol Bristol
  • Presbyter: Carl Bicknell (ordained CoE 2010)
 2018
Trinity Church Lancaster Lancaster, Lancashire
  • Deacon: Martin Soole (ordained AMiE 2017)
  • Deacon: Chris Young (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2015
Trinity Church Scarborough Scarborough, North Yorkshire
  • Presbyter: Lee McMunn (ordained CoE 2005)
  • Deacon: Rob Tearle (ordained AMiE 2017)
 2017 Church plant from St John's, Newland, Hull

A sixteenth church, Cornerstone Church Grays, is planning to start meeting in early 2020, under the leadership of Mike Walton, previously rector of St Mary's and Emmanuel, Chadwell St Mary.[18]

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gollark: Thanks! Unlike the other `def entry(x): return sorted(x)` people, I can eta-reduce!

See also
  • List of Conservative Evangelical Anglican churches in England

References
  1. "What is AMiE? - About - AMiE". anglicanmissioninengland.org. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  2. "'This is not a threat': breakaway Anglican Mission in England defends its first ordinations". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  3. Farley, Harry (30 June 2017). "Rebel 'missionary bishop' Andy Lines to be consecrated". Christian Today. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. "College of Bishops approves admission of four new bishops". Anglican Church in North America. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  5. "Executive Committee - About - AMiE". anglicanmissioninengland.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  6. "Alternative Anglican church looms large in the shadows". The Times. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  7. "About Our - History". Anglican Mission in England. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. "Bringing the gospel to England - The story of Trinity Church Scarborough | GAFCON". www.gafcon.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  9. Rogers, Jon (2016-09-24). "Shock SPLIT in Church of England will see 250 NEW hardline Anglican churches by 2050". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  10. Bingham, John (17 April 2015). "Bishops back Church of England breakaway congregations" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. "AMiE ordinations | Law & Religion UK". www.lawandreligionuk.com. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  12. "Statement about AMiE Ordinations - December 2017 - News - AMiE". anglicanmissioninengland.org. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  13. "AMiE Churches - About - AMiE". anglicanmissioninengland.org. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  14. AMiE Supporting Churches
  15. "AugustFoweyNews.pdf" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  16. "Anglican, but not Church of England | VirtueOnline – The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism". www.virtueonline.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  17. "Introducing Grace Church Sydenham - March 2018 - News - AMiE". www.anglicanmissioninengland.org. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  18. "About us – Cornerstone Church Grays". Retrieved 2019-10-10.
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