Psalm 102:23-27 — I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

There’s a song called “Unchanging God”. One verse goes:

Oceans will rise,
Kingdoms will fall
But the word of the Lord stands forever
The sun will start to fade,
The world will pass away
But the word of the Lord stands forever
And the death will try to come
The perfect love is won
Cause the word of the Lord stands forever
The word of the Lord stands forever
Forever

I wish the Church of England — or at least those who run it — knew and understood the great truths of unchanging God. The Psalmist knew it, and the modern song writer knows it, but it seems these modern church fathers don’t. On July 15th of this year, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to approve the consecration of women bishops. Though I cannot agree with the decision, it is the background that truly saddens me.
The synod rejected the idea of women Bishops in 2012. Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, said at that time “I’m very clear the time is right for women bishops; it was right many years ago,” he told Parliament on Wednesday. “They need to get on with it, as it were, and get with the program. But you do have to respect the individual institutions and the way they work while giving them a sharp prod.” The Archbishop of Canterbury (effectively the leader of the denomination) said ” … it seems as if we are willfully blind to some of the trends and priorities of that wider society”.
Now the civil and ecclesiastical leaders have their way. The word of God has not changed but it has been set aside because of an unwillingness to stand against pressures of worldly opinion.
I should not be too hard on the Anglicans, perhaps. After all, the largest Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations here in America have both given their blessing to the ordination of homosexual clergy.
What distresses me is the open embrace of worldly principles as the moving force for doctrinal change. Over the last two thousand years the church has changed positions on difficult issues — but decisions that have not been based on Biblical truth and inspired by prayer have often proven to be disastrous. I fear it will be the same with this latest decision. A church that bases it’s decisions on current opinion instead of timeless truth will soon have no principles left on which to stand.