Broad church?

It's the issue that plagues evangelical ordinands at selection committees, puts men off seeking ordination in the C of E and often embarrasses us before our Free Church brethren – how do we respond to and cope with the breadth of the C of E?

Well, help is at hand in this terrific article by Peter Toon as he distils the wisdom of that grand old master J.C. Ryle in a way that will clarify our minds and encourage our hearts.

Toon helpfully sets out Ryle’s presuppositions as to why a certain comprehensiveness is to be expected – we are after all aiming to be a National and Protestant church, and we are all still fallen in our theological understanding. Following this Toon then explains out what Ryle understood to be the purpose of a National Church – to include as many true Christians as possible; and the limits of that comprehensiveness in regards to the Church’s ministers. Read more

Also see Peter Toon's Churchman article "J.C. Ryle and Comprehensiveness."