Skal fornyelsen av kirken komme utenfra? På synoden – kirkemøtet i den anglikanske kirke, er det medlemmer med ikke-europeisk bakgrunn som sterkest hevder at kirken går på akkord med sin tro og tilpasser seg for mye. De vil ha en kirke som tør å vedkjenne seg kristen tro og prinsipper, også der hvor det kolliderer med andres. Evangelisering er blitt et tabu-ord og dette er å la seg marginalisere, mente flere.

Biskop Michael Nazir-Ali er blant dem som mener kirken tar for mye hensyn til hva som er politisk korrekt. Ifjor advarte han mot at Storbritannia har fått no-go areas for kristne. Kritikken fortsatte på synodemøtet.

A minister from a black majority church in London told members of the Church of England’s governing body, the General Synod, that many Christians appear to see community cohesion as more important that evangelisation.

She warned that Christians must not «walk on eggshells» at a time when followers of other religions are «unrelentingly» spreading their message to the public, and said that everyone should be seen as a potential convert.

The Rev Nezlin Sterling, general secretary of the New Testament Assembly who is an ecumenical representative of the Synod, made her passionate comments during a debate on «the uniqueness of Christ in multi-faith Britain».

She said: «We cannot allow ourselves to be marginalised. This process of marginalisation of Christianity seems to be moving at a rapid rate in our country.

«I am of the belief that we in the church are so anxious to be politically correct that we on occasions forget to reflect on whether our actions are Christ-correct.

«We have positioned ourselves like the disciples did after Christ died, behind closed doors, paralysed with fear of the world recognising that we are Christians and bearers of the good news of salvation.

«It would appear that the church is making a choice between community cohesion and evangelisation, and the former seems to be given priority.

«Why do we complain about the decline or our membership? What meaningful measures are we taking to correct this negative process?

«Why should we as Christians have to walk on eggshells to preserve community cohesion and accommodate everyone else when the world around us is becoming more aggressive to Christians, and the mere mention of the words Jesus Christ is an offence to so many of those whom we are seeking to working relationship with?

«Other faiths are unrelentingly spreading their message and gaining ground that we unwittingly have vacated.

Kirken må bli mer selvhevdende, het det i forslaget fra legmannen Paul Eddy: Forslaget ble vedtatt med overveldende flertall,

«What we are witnessing on a monthly, if not weekly basis here in the UK is a strategic, highly-politicised marginalisation of Christianity in the public arena. We have examples of Christian students, magistrates, foster parents, registrars and nurses falling foul of such marginalisation.»

His motion, which called on bishops to report on their understanding of Christ’s uniqueness and report on good examples of sharing the Gospel, was passed overwhelmingly with 283 for, 8 against and 10 abstaining.

Christianity in decline because of political correctness
Christianity is in decline in England because politically correct churches are more interested in accommodating other people’s views than putting forward their own, it is claimed.