Who are “Church Society”?
A couple of years ago Glyn wrote a letter explaining who the “Surrey Gospel Partnership” are, and what our part in it is. But SGP aren’t the only group that St John’s & Emmanuel are associated with. Another is ‘Church Society’.

In its own words, Church Society is “a fellowship contending to reform and renew the Church of England in biblical faith”. That alone is good reason to want to be involved, and the fact that it’s existed to do this for 190 years is a helpful reminder that the Church of England is continually in need of change to glorify God better – it always has been and always will be!

But the description isn’t exactly unique – so what’s distinctive about Church Society, and what do they do? Like all good sermons, it’s captured in 3 P’s…

Partnerships: Church Society facilitate partnerships between Churches and ministers by running various conferences, including ‘Fellowship of Word and Spirit’ which Glyn has found a real help to his ministry over the years, and took the Church Wardens of his previous parishes along to. The CS Regional Directors (including Tony Cannon – St John’s last vicar, who covers the South East!) offer help and advice to parish ministers. And through the ‘Priscilla Programme’ and ‘Co-workers network’ women serving in church ministry (not necessarily employed) are supported. We’d recommend the Priscilla course to any women who’d like some training in how to teach the bible e.g. if you lead bible studies, children’s/youth work, or on the pastoral team.

Publishing: Church Society publish a journal, podcast, blog, and most importantly some brilliant books (do you remember the one on the 39 articles which we recommended during our evening series a few years ago?) We have also used some of their resources for Confirmation preparation. And you can pick up a free copy of their quarterly magazine ‘Crossway’ from the welcome desk – it always repays the time spent reading.

Patronage: The Church of England has a process for appointing Vicars to parishes, in which the church writes a ‘parish profile’, explaining what they are looking for in a vicar. The church appoints two ‘reps’ from the PCC to find a person matching that description. But they aren’t the only ones responsible – every parish also has ‘Patrons’. Sometimes these are private individuals (historically it might be the local ‘lord of the manor’!) or another local vicar or the Diocesan Bishop, and in other cases a charity like Church Society, which holds the patronage of around 130 parishes spread across the length and breadth of England. Our parish recently transferred patronage to Church Society, which means they’ll have a significant role in finding our next vicar when Glyn retires (don’t worry – that isn’t yet!). They therefore have an interest in ensuring that faithful ministers are presented to fill vacancies, and in this way they hope to see the Church of England transformed one parish at a time into an effective body which pleases the Lord.

Of the making of societies, networks, fellowships and other organisations there is no end … but we really believe that being a Church Society Partner Church helps us to play our part in making the Church of England more fit for purpose, for the evangelisation of England, and the good of the nation. Please pray for the work of Church Society and make use of their resources to play your part in reforming the church.

Yours in Christ, Peter