Establishment

A letter I wrote 17 years ago.

Dr. J Benton
Evangelicals Now
14 Silverleigh Road
Thornton Heath
CR7 6DU
20 November 1993

Dear John,

I have been disappointed by the articles and responses on disestablishment. The treatment of the issue was anglo-centric. There is more than one such church even in this United Kingdom and others that would like to be established at least north of the Border!

Secondly and of primary importance is the practical effect of disestablishment of any church. The result would not be the "biblical" position advocated by Herbert Carson et al. The clear result would be the establishment of secularism and futher privatisation of all religions. We have at present a de facto establishment of secularism due to the impotence of the churches of all persuasions not merely the two established ones. A de jure disestablishment would therefore put us on a par with the U.S.A. if not worse.

I should like to ask those who would so privatise the the faith, how they would be propose that rulers are called to practically profess and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ in their God-given calling. All people are to bow before Christ in their callings and politics must be seen do be done under His authority. Pietism must not rule as it is the friend of secularism. In my view rulers have a duty to establish Christianity, not a particular church. That I would say was the aim of some of the American Founding Fathers but they sadly missed the mark

The church does not need establishment but rulers do. They should acknowledge the truth, not merely as private individuals but as public persons. This is done when Parliament meets and in many Councils. For some of us this is not empty civic religion but a true bowing before God and a seeking of His will in a political calling.

Yours for the rule of Christ,

Councillor Graham Weeks
London Borough of Ealing