Ecumenical Evangelical 3: #JAEC2013

In context, a rather amusing plaque at Northampton station started the end of my journey to JAEC...

As I continue this sporadic series on my adventures as an 'Ecumenical Evangelical' (following my reflections on time at Momentum and UCCF's Forum), my keyboard turns to a rather wonderful time I had at a conference centre in Northampton, at the '2013 Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference', or 'JAEC'. This was a conference organised by, among others, Church Society and John Richardson (Of the 'Ugley Vicar' blog), and was ostensibly for those considering Anglican ordination, current ordinands, curates, or those in early years of incumbency. 

It is worth tossing in a brief biographical note - I'm not technically an Anglican (though I might be one deep down). I'm from a fairly conservative (though intelligent) evangelical Baptist background, and currently find my ecclesiological home in the UK Vineyard Movement. However, I've married someone from an Anglican background (which has given me two uncles-in-law who are both great Anglican vicars), and am studying my MA at an Anglican college. This, plus the fact I've always loved talking about Jesus, the Bible, and that sort of thing, led me to end up at JAEC, squeezing very tentatively into the category of 'considering ordination'...

Some JAEC delegates... 

(if you are in this photo and would like it to be removed, please leave a comment to that effect)

I felt very warmly welcomed by the folk at JAEC, and really appreciated the breadth represented by fellow delegates, who were at all the stages described above, and more! JAEC was deliberately Anglican, which was refreshing, because I think that classical Anglicanism has a lot to commend it. One of the ways this was embodied was in the morning prayer times, which we shared together under the Book of Common Prayer. Across the evangelical spectrum, with higher and lower churchmanships represented, it was wonderful to gather with these shared and powerful words. This understanding of unity in a tradition spilled out into fellowship - there was lots of great time together, sharing and chatting, and hearing what God is doing in different parts of the Church of England. For someone semi on the outside, but fascinated, it was really helpful and valuable. The venue - Kings Park Conference Centre - was a good one, marred only by it being a 'dry' centre, which made the pub quiz something of an anomaly! The food, however, was excellent.

The content of the conference echoed its title, 'Confident and Equipped', and was really engaging, with good breadth. I particularly enjoyed the bible readings from Lee Gatiss, who also provided us with an engaging look at Edmund Grindal in the 2013 St Antholin Lecture. We also had a fantastic session on sexuality from Sam Allberry, author of the excellent recent book 'Is God Anti-Gay?'. The session - and accompanying Q&A - were excellent. There were several other talks, and for me one of the most interesting was Simon Austen's session 'Why Stay in the Church of England?'. At the time of listening, I heard it more as a call to arms (to enter the C of E) than anything else, but is something I will be reflecting on and praying about over the coming years. 

As I noted above, I am not an Anglican, though I have great affection for many components of our National Church. I love the 39 Articles and the BCP, for the most part, and appreciate many things which Anglicanism has as distinctives. As my wife and I explore God's will for us, and think, pray and dream about the future, the JAEC has helped in terms of clarifying what kind of Anglicanism I might find most resonant. I took away a range of resources from Church Society and the Latimer Trust, which I have been reading and thinking about. I've also joined the JAEC Facebook Group, and am now an associate member of Church Society. Watch this space...

In terms of my wider 'ecumencial evangelical' thinking, JAEC was fascinating. It was encouraging to meet many people committed to Gospel ministry in the C of E, valuing both Word and Sacrament. I hope that, wherever I end up, some of the connections made their with other students and ordinands will last. I was also challenged throughout that evangelicalism needs roots in Scripture, History and Tradition if it is to survive, in and outside the Church. The comparison to Momentum/Forum could not be more stark - size, style, focus, content - but it was an immensely helpful and thought provoking time.

The NIV Proclamation Bible - cheeky hands on at JAEC, link to my first thoughts below...

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Do check out the Church Society Website, and that of Kings Park. You may also like my first impressions of the NIV Proclamation Bible, which we got a look at at JAEC.