Anglican 'Church' For Conservative Christians Launches Mission In England

Lee McMunn of the Anglican Mission in England is among those planning to evangelise England.AMiW

An Anglican mission to rival the Church of England has set out plans to evangelise the UK.

The mission is already reaching out to evangelical Christians in dioceses that are "closed to conservative evangelicals".

The plan is to plant hundreds of new evangelical Anglican churches.

The influential Archbishop and Primate of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh, is backing the plan.

It involves new Anglican churches being independent from the country's "official" established church.

The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) sets out its goal of to planting 25 new churches by 2025 and 250 by 2050 in a new video.

The Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh is backing a plan to plant hundreds of new evangelical Anglican churches.Gafcon

Archbishop Okoh, who leads the conservative Anglican fellowship Gafcon, says: "We are so thrilled that the Anglican Mission in England exists and we are delighted that it is keen to start many new churches in the years to come. AMiE has the full support of the GAFCON movement."

AMiE is seeking "pioneers" to plant the new churches. The mission is also seeking assistant ministers and "partners" where local Anglican churches can link with AMiE churches and support them financially.

Christians will even be encouraged to move house and relocate to new area to plant a new mission church. 

AMiE was established in 2010 and was given full validation by the GAFCON Primates as authentically Anglican in 2013.

Pastor Pete Jackson, of Christ Church Walkley, says in the video that many will attempt to evangelise England from within the structures of the Church of England.

He adds: "But this isn't always possible. Sometimes there's no enthusiasm for starting anything new. Sometimes the timescale is an unreasonble constraint on mission.

"Sometimes a whole diocese is closed to conservative evangelicals. And sometimes there is false teaching at the very heart of the leadership, and we can't be sure the work of the Gospel will be safe in present structures. In these situations, the Anglican Mission in England can help."

Lee McMunn, chairman of the AMiE pioneering task force, says: "By 1555, John Calvin and his supporters in Geneva had pioneered five new churches in France. Four years later, they had planted 100. And by 1562, a total of 2,000 new, Gospel churches had been started in France.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to see the same thing happen in England today?"

Richard CoekinAMiE

Richard Coekin, director of co-mission, quoting Mark's gospel, says: "When Jesus looked at the crowds, he was filled with compassion. They were harrassed and helpless, crushed and tortured, like sheep without a shepherd, desperately in need of Jesus.

"And ever since Jesus and the Apostle Paul, the best way of reaching them has always been church planting. In fact it's part of the Anglican DNA, to start new Gospel churches across our land to reach the lost. And we need to get involved, in our time."

Richard Leadbeater, pastor of King's Church Guildford, which started meeting publicly in 2014, says that although it was "terrifying" to start the church it was also "thrilling". This was because, while they had almost nothing, they "did have God." The church has grown through "prayerful dependance on God and his word." They don't own a building and did not even have a musician at first. Yet they have grown both spiritually and numerically.