I’m delighted that Mike Cain is joining us this Sunday as a guest preacher at our 10am and 4pm services. Mike is a minister at the Emmanuel family of churches in Bristol, and has recently been assigned as my ‘Alternative Spiritual Overseer’ by the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC). We’ll get to know Mike better on Sunday, but I thought it would be helpful to explain a little more about ‘alternative spiritual oversight’.
Many of us will be aware that the CofE is in the middle of a major internal debate about whether to allow for same-sex blessings or marriages in CofE churches. Trinity Church, along with many other CofE churches, continues to hold to the historic Biblical teaching that God’s purpose for marriage is between one man and one woman, for life, and that sex is a gift of God designed exclusively for that context. A few years ago we were privileged to have Andy Robinson, a same-sex attracted Christian minister from Living Out, join us to preach, and to run a teaching morning on this sensitive and deeply personal topic. If you’ve got questions, Living Out is a great starting place. You can listen to Andy’s helpful talk here, and the teaching morning he ran for us here.
If you are reading this as a gay person, or with gay friends/family, I can’t express strongly enough that you and your friends will always find an unequivocal welcome at Trinity Church, which is a safe place for you to keep exploring how the good news of Jesus relates to every area of life, including sexuality.
Our own Bishops (Oxford, and Dorchester) are publicly calling for a change in historic Christian teaching, to allow for same-sex blessings and marriages. This has left me personally in a very uncomfortable position. I love Bishop Gavin (Bishop of Dorchester), and have benefitted greatly from his support, encouragement and advice. He wants to see the ministry at Trinity flourish. At the same time, the Bible urges us not to work in partnership with those who depart from the faith that God has revealed to us (see, for example, Romans 16:17). As a result, last year our PCC wrote to bishop Gavin and the Bishop of Oxford (Stephen Croft) to say that we could no longer in good conscience receive their ministry, or work in spiritual partnership with them. As someone who is naturally conflict-averse, and who has enjoyed a positive relationship with Bishop Gavin, this is a situation I have found painful, and one which I long to be resolved. It continues to be a personal priority to maintain an open and respectful relationship with Bishop Gavin.
The CEEC is working to support CofE vicars around the country like myself who find themselves in such conflicted situations. ‘Alternative Spiritual Oversight’ (ASO) is one such avenue of support. It’s neither healthy nor wise for me to be in ‘spiritual oversight limbo’. Whilst the Bishop continues to provide official and structural accountability (e.g. as my employer, for safeguarding etc), I also need spiritual oversight from someone who continues to hold to God’s revealed truth. This is where Mike Cain comes in. As an experienced CofE minister, carefully selected by the CEEC for this role, he will provide that kind of informal spiritual oversight and support. One of our Church Wardens will have a link with Mike such that they can seek his advice/support, or raise any pastoral concerns about me with him. The PCC has fully supported this arrangement and look forward to benefiting from Mike’s wisdom and support going forward.
It’s important to say that I, and we as a church, continue to be legally and structurally accountable to the Bishop and the diocese in the usual way. If you have a serious concern or complaint about me, you should report that to the Bishop. ASO doesn’t replace our Bishop. It’s a stop-gap, temporary provision of spiritual/pastoral input that is lacking as a result of our broken spiritual partnership, which we long to be restored.
It will be a privilege to have Mike’s input in this capacity, and I can’t wait for you all to meet him on Sunday. He’s a faithful and godly man, and I’m so grateful for the role that he will be playing in my life, and in our ministry here at Trinity Church.
The CEEC has released a short film giving a bit more detail about Alternative Spiritual Oversight. If you have any questions, please just reach out. I’d love to chat more with you.
Much love,
Sam
