Let us become who we say we are!

We do not need to apologise for being Anglicans, we need to return to our origins. Lawrence Hoyle

LAWRENCE HOYLE served in several parishes as a traditional incumbent. Disillusioned by his apparent failure to make much impression, in 1970 he became Rector of Thwing, an isolated village on the Yorkshire Wolds. Following a deep experience of the Holy Spirit, the course of his life and ministry became dramatically changed. The story of how, with Margaret his wife, he was led to transform the huge, redundant Rectory into Lamplugh House, a centre for spiritual renewal, and where, ten years later, he was instrumental in the founding of Anglican Renewal Ministries is told in his book ‘Over the Circumstances’.
Copies may be obtained from the author at the reduced price of £6.99

Email: lawrencehoyle@onetel.com

As Anglicans we are all concerned, bewildered and shaken by many things we see happening in our corner of the world-wide church of Jesus Christ. There is a concerted assault on traditional biblical faith, principles and morality, clearly seen to be coming as much from within the church as from outside. It is not new and in my understanding it is the result of many years of subtle satanic endeavour through unbelief, liberalism and the gradual undermining of Christian principles embedded in the institutions of our society; marriage, family life, education, sexual ethics, etc. The apparent success of this development is due to the general failure of the church to be true to major principles which, according to scripture, is a foremost purpose for its being. As Anglicans we need first to go back and examine our origins if we are successfully to carry out our mission.

We have received a Gospel that is intended to transform the world, but when the world is allowed to transform the Gospel, we are in grave danger. Must we remain helpless in this situation? I think not, and we need to recognise that we are engaged, not against flesh and blood, but a powerful spiritual enemy against whom we are offered spiritual weapons with which we can be victorious in this conflict. Thereby equipped we are enabled to contend for the extension of the Kingdom of God, a primary reason for our existence, and why we need the continuous replenishing of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Since my retirement from leading Anglican Renewal Ministries 15 years ago, there has been a change of scene. Charismatic Renewal, if not generally respectable, is now recognised as a legitimate expression of spirituality within the comprehensive-ness of Anglicanism; many bishops and a former Archbishop of Canterbury are seen to acknowledge that label. The problem with that situation however, is that renewal is generally seen as an optional extra, not a supreme essential to the life of the church. It makes me cringe when I hear people say that we have now ‘moved on’ from the early glory days of renewal: we have not, we have moved backwards, back to the days when for most people the Holy Spirit is but a ‘ghost’ in their experience.

Whilst I can see in certain areas evidence of spirit-led life and witness, it is by no means general, and renewal teaching and encouragement appears at a low key, apart from some notable town and city parishes. A famous pioneer in renewal, the late David du Plessis used to say ‘God has no grandchildren’, and this is true; He has ‘children’ by adoption, which means that every generation must be converted in every way. Not everyone goes to New Wine, Spring Harvest, Flames of Fire or similar events, so that many people remain ignorant and unaffected and we see many churches with ageing, declining congregations indicative of a complacent celebration of the status quo. The church still needs renewal and to go on being constantly renewed by the Holy Spirit.

In the New Testament, the question most asked of believers, was not “Are you saved?”, “Are you converted?”, “Are you catholic?”, or “Are you evangelical?” – it was “Did you receive the Holy Spirit……?’” Ask that question of many Anglicans today and you will get a vacant, querulous look. It remains scripturally true that the ‘fullness’, ‘baptism’, ‘empowering of the Holy Spirit’ is not an optional extra for those with particular religious bumps on their heads, but it is for all Christians if they are to be the people of God, serving God’s agenda.

The word of God promises that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail’ against the rock of true faith, and it is true Spirit-filled and Spirit-guided faith that needs to be revived and renewed today. I believe it is time for more ‘movers and shakers’ on the renewal scene; people who will seek to inspire with enthusiasm and expectancy those who remain untouched, as it was in the days when it was all new and fresh, but now with the wisdom of the years, able to avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls of the early days. I would like to see more local and area attempts to get the message through to clergy and their people together - this was an important aspect of the vision I was given for the role of Anglican Renewal Ministries in the first place. An account of how this vision was given appears in my book and it was several years in its development. I believe that God gave us a direction and a programme, and that agenda and programme need to be recovered. The call remains the same, and the need remains the same; unlike us God is not fickle and subject to the trendiness of worldly ways and philosophies, and I believe that God always calls us back again to where it all begins – the fundamental and unchanging basis of biblical faith – a call recently re-iterated by Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

It is my firm belief that God has not written off our church and it can become again His lamp-stand to give light to the nation. In spite of today’s problems it remains such, and God requires us to turn to Him in penitence and obedience; to forsake human plans and good ideas; and instead to seek His agenda, and trust Him for the new life, authority and spirit that we need for God’s purpose to be fulfilled.

What do I mean when I plead for us to return to our origins? Let me put it this way: we are a church firmly grounded on scripture; Anglican formularies, the 39 Articles and the Book of Common Prayer and its updates, describe a very good blueprint for an effective church. On paper it seems we have everything needful – a wonderful balance of tradition and authority, freedom and dignity, order and spontaneity, word and sacrament. Thus described it looks an admirable formula for our worship and witness, but unfortunately we seem for the most part to be lacking the power of the Holy Spirit so that it may operate as intended. It is all there, it is all inherent in what we say we believe. Terry Fulham, the renowned American preacher and teacher, who led his parish at Darien, Connecticut, into remarkable renewal, said of our origins, ‘The Anglican vine needs no graftings, it is quite capable of bringing forth God’s fruit’ – when it is truly open to the Holy Spirit.

Sunday by Sunday in our worship, we affirm our belief in ‘the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life’ – but I wonder how much do we recognise that the Spirit also brings death to that which is not of God and does not conform to His will? The fact is, we could be cultivating and defending all sorts of things that are not of God and because they are not, no amount of prayerful tending will bring life into them. ‘All flesh is as grass; the flower fades and the grass withers when the Spirit of the Lord blows across it’. As well as life, there is much evidence of death in our church today: ought we not to set about identifying it so that it can be buried, because no amount of artificial respiration will revive it. Then we can concentrate on those things that are true and honest and of the Lord. – because that is where God is strengthening and refreshing those aspects of church life and tradition that are indeed in harmony with His will and purpose.

We also constantly affirm that we ‘believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’ – the word Apostolic is determinative of the meaning of the other three definitions. It is in the apostolic area that we seem largely deficient, for it is not about Apostolic Succession (a favoured Anglican theme), but about apostolic success – a commodity not all that much in evidence. It is apostolic experience that is missing and this is why the church needs renewal; the continuous infilling, guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

Clearly the question “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” is the one which needs to be addressed again to the people in the pews, unfortunately there are also many clergy to whom it needs to be put. The challenge of the Holy Spirit seems to have been diminished, so that the tide of renewal seen in past years has evidently receded.

When speaking of renewal there seems to be an easy assumption that it is understood and widely in place, against all the evidence. The Alpha course is a God-given tool for the church and it is widely in use. Periodically we get supplements in the church press witnessing to its success for thousands of people world-wide, and praise to God for that. But in the United Kingdom, at least, I believe many clergy are by-passing the essential element of Alpha, and that is the teaching and receiving of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. A.R.M.’s original ‘Saints Alive!’ course, similar in many respects to the Alpha course, was hugely successful, but only when Chapter Six was not watered down and thus made ineffective. Clergy and pastors can still remain ‘The cork in the bottle’ where the prerequisites of renewal are concerned. Indeed let us get back to basics!