From here:
Holy Trinity Brompton (known as HTB), the largest church in the Church of England, is to have a new Vicar lead its 4,000-strong congregation.
The former curate who pioneered its first ‘plant’ outside of London – the Revd Canon Archie Coates, 51, currently Vicar of St Peter’s Brighton, has been chosen as HTB’s Vicar Designate. It is expected that Canon Coates will become Vicar in September 2022, taking over from the Revd Nicky Gumbel, 66, who has announced his intention to resign his post from July 2022. Mr Gumbel has been Vicar of HTB since 2005 and has overseen considerable growth in that time. His books, which include Why Jesus? and Questions of Life, have been international best-sellers.
In 2016, while at St. Peter’s in Brighton, the Revd Canon Archie Coates lent his support to the UK’s largest gay pride parade, saying many in his congregation would take part.
Is this the beginning of the end for Holy Trinity Brompton and Alpha? I hope not but fear it might be.
From the 2016 Christianity Today article:
Churches are preparing for the UK’s largest gay pride march this weekend in Brighton.
Tens of thousands are expected to turn out on the seafront in Brighton and Hove for the annual “pride parade” through the town to the festival on Saturday morning.
A number of churches are dotted along the march’s route. While the issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage is highly controversial in many of Britain’s churches – including the Church of England – the local Anglican Diocese of Chichester has said its churches have “created a range of inclusive events to celebrate” the festival. Some churches are putting theological questions to one side in an effort to be open and welcoming.
A key landmark on the route is the evangelical Anglican church St Peter’s, known as the “cathedral of Brighton”. Vicar Archie Coates told Christian Today he was “very supportive” of the parade and a lot of people in his congregation would be taking part.
“It’s great because it celebrates diversity as much as it celebrates LGBT people,” he said. “In our congregation we have a lot of diversity and a lot of LGBT people and we are very supportive.”
The church was planted by the charismatic London church Holy Trinity Brompton in 2009 and around 1,000 people attend every Sunday.
It -built up- under conservative theology is now going liberal. Well, time will tell.
The polite term might well be “going liberal” but the fact is that the Anglican Communion seems to be going to apostasy with the obvious approval of many of the so-called senior bishops. Said so called bishops should be defrocked unless they repent and return to the truth. The only true Christians within the Communion are those associated with the Anglican Church in North America who stand for the GOSPEL and the authority of Scripture.
True
BAD BAD bishops. If this cleric’s ‘success’ has gone to his head, or he is wanting to sit loose to his marriage vows, or both, his Father-in-God ought to be seeing to him pronto.
Very sad to see but not entirely surprising. In the times to come, the church of God isn’t going to be led by the great and good, but by the poor, marginalised and despised.
Peter, I’m honestly not sure if you mean that the leadership transition away from the great and good – is good? I mean, wasn’t Jesus poor, marginalised and despised? Sure he had a large popular following, but the way he ended his life was closer to the despised than to the great and good. So are you saying that in future more leaders will be from people who are poor, marginalised and despised?
That’s right. I believe many of the current ‘pillars’ of the Church will fail. That is good in a sense that it will give us the opportunity to dig deeper into the Rock, rather than trusting in anything else. And the leadership will revert to those for whom the world has no use…..just as it was in Jesus’ time.
Hopefully all leaders especially of such a prominent congregation will be TRUE BELIEVERS not Satanic Apostates
If ever there were in the Revealed (The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chs 1-22) history of The Christian Church an exercise more reflective of the transexual neo-Babylonian paganism that the Apostle Paul – Saul of Tarsus – witnessed, if is the Latter Days Pride Parades:
a complete spiritual reversal of The LORD Jesus Christ’s Triumph over our sins, “having nailed it to His Cross…
And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, having triumphed over them in it.” + Colossians ch. 2. Amen.
Does any true Christian then ever take part in a Pride Parade?
The Reverend Dr. Alexander Fletcher, 19c Finsbury Chapel, London, observes:
“The existence of true grace conspicuously appears in keeping the heart with all diligence, and maintaining a constant watchfulness against vain thoughts…panting for holiness of soul…The unregenerate are in a state of constant danger; they are under the dominion of their own hearts’ lusts, and they are exposed to the wrath of offended justice. They who love GOD, and rely on The Atonement of Jesus as the only ground of their hopes of pardon and acceptance, shall find the perfections of GOD to be the shield of their defence, and the hiding-place of their safety. Believers cannot endure the society of the wicked in time, and they shall be delivered from their company for ever in Eternity.
If we have no relish for the company of the Redeemed on earth, we have no evidence that we shall be admitted to enjoy their fellowship in Heaven.
Awful state -to be confined in Hell through Eternity with the spirits of ungodly men!
Blessed state – to enjoy for ever the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect! but, above all, The Fellowship of The Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
Everything old is new again. Philo Judaeus witnessed gay pride parades in Alexandria!
The dual fulfilment of the Rule of Biblical Prophecy, fully manifested in the First and Second Advents of The LORD Jesus Christ, therefore applies to His Body, His Church;
while there can be and is a regular resurgence of all human sin/s in the course of human history, the resurgence of those particular sins of the days of “Noah” and “Lot” are the ones of which our LORD Himself Prophesies in His only recorded Teaching: + Mathew 24 (v.15 His unique reference to the Prophet Daniel) + Mark 13 + Luke chapters 17 and 21
+ The Revelation of Jesus Christ chapters 1-22, expressly in His Seven Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
The Apostles Paul and Peter offer the same Prophetic Teachings, for they did learn of Him.
These Prophesied sins mark significant signs of His Imminent Return.
This is the Bible-Inspired Preaching and Teaching of Montreal Pastor Stephen Chauvette on his weekly program ‘A WORD For Today’; also the Bible-Inspired Preaching and Teaching of The Reverend Dr. Michael Youssef, Atlanta, ‘Leading The Way’; and the Bible-Inspired Preaching and Teaching of The Reverend Dr. David Jeremiah, ‘Turning Point’, all broadcast on Sundays on VISION TV.
And that is supposed to make it right
I suggest you reread Leviticus and Romans and beg forgiveness of your sins !
Matthew, that is not what I have said. Please read with more care (I repeat myself):–
Same-sex fornication is still fornication. Please see my book with J.I. Packer here: https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/dr-priscilla-turner/ .
And no, we are not in any doubt about the Lord’s convictions and teaching about the goodness & beauty of homosex: Nicene Creed IX: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nicene-creed-ix-christian-hope-part-two-pdm-turner-turner/
Mt. 5:27-32: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mt-527-32-dr-priscilla-turner/.
Ahem…I think the central point is rather obscured here. Does anyone remember what a high profile alumni of HTB said upon the discovery that his biological father was not the man who acted as his father? Archbishop Justin Welby said that his identity was first and foremost in Christ, not in biology. His identity was centred on his relationship to God, not genetics. I rather think that should give us pause to consider what matters most before defending this or that position, policy or theology. And speaking of theology, if we’re to criticize a too creation-centric liberal stance (‘this is how God made me and that’s what matters’), let’s also get our eschatology clearer if St Paul is to be quoted. New creation is central for Paul in 2 Corinthians 5. Read that as a renunciation of gay identity if you must, but also read Richard Coles’s (a UK priest who is openly gay) autobiography ‘Unfathomable Riches’. Peace….
Time for some serious reading, Andrew.
Same-sex fornication is still fornication. Please see my book with J.I. Packer here: https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/dr-priscilla-turner/ .
And no, we are not in any doubt about the Lord’s convictions and teaching about the goodness & beauty of homosex: Nicene Creed IX: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nicene-creed-ix-christian-hope-part-two-pdm-turner-turner/
Mt. 5:27-32: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mt-527-32-dr-priscilla-turner/.
THIS IS BEYOND HORRIBLE HOW CAN THIS PERSON POSSIBLY BE A CHRISTIAN SUPPORT OF SATANIC HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICES IS TOTALLY AGAINST THE SCRIPTURE I AM TOTALLY HORRIFIED, IS HTB NOW THE CHURCH OF SATAN
I’d advise you to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 again.
It’s the God given definition of love, and it’s represented both with heterosexual couples, and homosexual couples.
Why would love ever be a sin? It doesn’t obstruct you from loving and worshiping your creator, and if anything it deepens your ability to love more people, like Jesus.
I understand the Bible remains ambiguous with its views on homosexuality, but the translation that spoke against homosexuality was newly translated in 1946, so I’d advise reading over different translations to better your understanding of the Lord’s word.
I would never say I am correct, as I don’t believe in “having the final word” but from my understanding, people in the LGBTQ community are nothing but people who love in a way different to others. Surely that should be celebrated, not shunned?
Why should paedophilia, incest, adultery, polygamy, polyamory ever be sinful?
There are no canonical texts which express even qualified approval of homosexual conduct or expression, and Romans 1-3 represents it together with homosexual desire as a manifestation of fallen mankind’s general wrongness. It is an aspect of the disordered life of a society from which one must be rescued [Gen. 18:16-19:29]; it is offensive to the God of Israel [Lev. 11-20 (or to the end of the book)]; it belongs to a category of genital sin which breaks marriage [Matt. 5:31-32, 19:3-12] and defiles me inwardly [Matt. 15:1-20]; it is one sign of my having turned away from the worship of my Creator [Rom. 1-3]; with other habitual gross sins, if chosen and persisted in it breaks community for time and eternity [I Cor. 5-6]; it defies that Law which is still binding upon the people of the New Covenant [I Tim. 1]; and last but not least, it directly contradicts all the implications of the Lord’s own life and teaching about sex and marriage [Cf. Mk. 10:1-12]. There is no Scriptural, Apostolic or Dominical warrant for the Christian Church to baptize it. My body with all its powers belongs, not to me, but to the Creator who made it and to the Redeemer who bought it back from slavery to sin. “You were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body” [I Cor. 6:20].