Obstacles to progress in the Church (last updated: 12th January 2023)
The stumbling blocks
We are very conscious of the fact that many of our readers will be largely, if not fully, in tune with the arguments we have put forward. These are based on scientific discoveries made in the last few decades, to support the view that life came about through an act of Creation. The notion that the human race started out with two individuals way back in recorded history is emminently believable and gratifying to us all, and what is wrong with the names Adam and Eve anyway? No other explanation can ever come close to being as pleasing to humanity as the Genesis account and now we have the evidence to back it up thanks to recent discoveries in molecular biology and related disciplines.
We also understand there may be marked reluctance to openly express such views for fear of upsetting members of the churches congregation who may be ardent believers in evolution. An added difficulty facing leaders is not knowing where many of their worshippers stand on this contentious issue. Entering into arguments on the subject that might become somewhat heated will not be at all appealing, and could have a detrimental effect on relationships within the Church. Clearly it is not the remit of parish priests to engineer disputes between people, on the contrary part of their role is to bring solace to troubled souls within their community. Re-affirming God as our creator must surely however bring a large measure of peace and comfort, and even joy, to people whether or not they are troubled in body, mind, or spirit.
C of E Parishes and their Priests given ever dwindling congregations and difficulty meeting the Parish Share are threatened as never before with closure. A campaign was launched on 3rd August 2021 for General Synod, with people committing to stand under the banner 'Save the Parish', pledging to resist plans to redirect money away from parochial ministry, and to resist any further centralisation of power and authority away from parishes and towards dioceses and the central church.
Problem for Parish Churches as explained in comments by 'Save the Parish': "So we have parishes pleading, scraping and begging to meet their common fund and the national church can find money like this (slavery reparations) from down the side of the sofa. It is simply wrong and an insult to everyone putting money into the collection plates. By contrast those of you out at the nerve endings 'the parishes' will know that it is very difficult, and sometimes so serious that there are clergy lay-offs and/or vacancies that are left deliberately unfilled, to make ends meet. Those funds from Head Office are badly needed to stop this bad trend, and so to revitalise the parish."
Further information from 'Save the Parish':
You might want to note that having too many bishops, and taking parish vicars away, does not make sense spiritually or financially?
According to the 1990 CofE Year Book, in 1990 the Diocese of Truro had:
151 stipendiary clergy
226 parishes
147 benefices.
Now, it has 64 stipendiary clergy going down to 54 under a programme called 'On the Way'.
With so few clergy, no wonder that attendance has declined. By contrast the number of Bishops, now over 100 has grown exponentially in recent years.
Given the pressures facing Parish Priests we should not be surprised that our campaign is getting less attention than we would like.
This is your church. This is not the Archbishop of Canterbury's, nor the House of Bishops's, nor the clergy's, not even the General Synod's. It belongs, in a broad sense, to the people of England (regardless of your faith or lack of it, which is why parliament is still its ultimate decision-making body) and very specifically to the laity of the Church of England. You have a say.
You may not suffer any fears about raising the issue of origins with friends, or colleagues, or if you are a member of the clergy, with those in your congregation, therefore at this point you may be wondering what all the fuss is about, but if you do have concerns please read on:
So what methodology could be adopted to raise the issue of origins and still maintain the peace?
A possible approach might be to mention the existence of our resource without entering into a debate about its content, or revealing ones personal standing on the issues it raises.
We are aware that there are acutely divided opinions on the subject of origins in society, and the true meaning behind the Genesis account, but sometimes, I am sure you will agree, difficult issues have to be faced for the good of us all in the long run.
Evolutionists are likely to be very much in the minority in most Churches, with the majority of people unsure of what to believe, and it is especially for the latter group that we suggest efforts should be made to at least open up a healthy and honest debate on the subject.
Your church may be one where there are no evolutionists present so it is important to discover what the situation truly is because if this is the case an alternative way to using our website would be for parishioners or the Church as a whole to make a bold statement of their belief in Creationism. This would of course help our campaign of enlightenment enormously.
Another way forward might be to set up a small group of trusted parishioners to prayerfully consider alternatives. Why would the one true God not respond positively to an earnest call for help to re-establish Him in the hearts and minds of people as the Creator of all life? Such an approach would surely help deliver a solution to the problem and guide us on our way. Using modern parlance, it would be a no-brainer! It would also help us enormously if we could receive feedback of any kind from our visitors, anonymously if preferred, as we have been very much left in the dark as to why our emails are hardly ever answered or acted on.
All the evidence suggests that church leaders are ignoring our reasonable request to point out the existence of our website regardless of whether they have reservations about Creationism themselves.
This protectionist attitude would be understandable if there was something undesirable about our aims and ambitions, but hopefully Church Leaders will realise this is not the case, therefore there is little justification in withholding the relevant information from their parishioners. One suspects that the prevailing attitude is one of, 'I will let the Vicar down the road deal with this one'. If that applies to you be assured that your neighbour down the road is adopting an identical position, resulting in zero action! This of course denies parishioners the opportunity to judge the facts for themselves.
Comment from a member of the public: Thank you Lord God Almighty for your teaching through Dr.
Ken Ham and 'Answers in Genesis' (AiG). Ken Ham is the president of AiG USA and is a well-known speaker and author on the subject of Young-Earth Creationism
We focus particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the book of Genesis, as it is a foundational book of Christianity and the most-attacked book of the Bible.
