Sir: As an Anglo-Catholic I was much amused by A.
N. Wilson's description of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Oxford Movement (23 July). I agree with many of his observations regarding the Present state of the Church of England but naturally not with his final conclusion that the Church has died.
In some respects the Anglican Church is In as moribund a condition as that of the Church to which Keble addressed himself in 1833, indeed it faces a threat of 'National Apostasy' far more insidious than that of 150 years ago. For the Church has allowed the liberal Establishment to cast it into, the role of a pious adjunct to the welfare state ---- a provider of luncheon clubs, mother and toddler groups and so forth. All this Welfare activity is of course far easier than challenging individuals to renew their lives the light of the Gospel or attempting to bring a godless nation back to God. It is symptomatic of a Church which is in riminent danger of losing its prophetic
vision, its sense of mission and above all its nerve. The nonsense of 'inter-faith ecumenism', apparently advocated by Bishop Huddleston, is a sad reflection of this loss of nerve. One could hardly imagine St Paul writing to the Church at Rome recommending a 'meaningful inter-faith dialogue' with the worshippers of the deified Roman Emperor or of the Goddess Diana.
However if the Oxford Movement has taught us anything it is that the Church of England is an integral part of one holy catholic and apostolic church founded on the Day of Pentecost and ever living in its founder's assurance that 'the gates of hell will never prevail against it'. The gates of apathy and indifference have come close to prevailing against the Church of England but they haven't . .. and where there's life, there's hope.
Richard Owen
17 Abbots Court, Sale, Cheshire
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