In a world of “woke,” not even the Lord’s Prayer is off limits.
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus instructed his followers on “how you should pray,” beginning with “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
That, according to the Anglican Church’s Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, is “problematic.”
Speaking to church members during the General Synod, an annual meeting of church leaders that “sets the direction and tone for denominational ministry,” Cottrell noted that not all “earthly fathers” are nice.
“I know the word ‘father’ is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us who have labored rather too much from an oppressively patriarchal grip on life,” he stated.
(Video: YouTube)
The remark sparked an immediate backlash from Canon Dr. Chris Sugden, who accused some of the church leaders of bowing before cultural whims.
“Is the archbishop of York saying Jesus was wrong, or that Jesus was not pastorally aware?” Sugden asked, according to Fox News Digital. “It seems to be emblematic of the approach of some church leaders to take their cues from culture rather than scripture.”
But the progressive agenda has clearly reached the Anglican pulpit.
According to Rev. Christina Rees, a female member of the General Synod, Archbishop Cottrell “put his finger on an issue that’s a really live issue for Christians and has been for many years.”
“The big question is, do we really believe that God believes that male human beings bear his image more fully and accurately than women?” she argued. “The answer is, absolutely not.”
This isn’t the first time Cottrell has signaled his virtue to the woke mob. He has previously suggested that the Church of England’s offering of prayers and blessings to those in same-sex relationships is simply a matter of the “development of doctrine.”
(Video: YouTube)
When asked in February if the House of Bishops would consider “publishing pastoral guidance for themselves, considering… how to walk with integrity, by maybe resigning if they cease to believe, teach, or uphold the doctrine of the Church of England on essential matters,” Cottrell replied that “doctrine doesn’t change, but it does develop.”
“It is the job of Bishops, as well as the church itself, to explore what is sometimes called the ‘development of doctrine,'” he stated.
“And on some of those issues,” he continued, “you may be aware… there are some issues at the moment facing the church which are precisely in that area, where at the moment, the Bishops have said, ‘no, no, doctrine doesn’t change,’ but there is a discussion about the development of doctrine.”
The Church of England even “opened a project on gendered language’ used in prayer and in Scripture,” reports Fox News Digital. “The announcement suggested that church authority consider whether to do away with gendered ‘He,’ ‘Him’ pronouns referring to God.”
In response to Cottrell’s latest comments, Fox News contributor, Free Church of England Deacon Fr. Calvin Robinson, called for the archbishop to step down.
“The Archbishop of York appears lost,” Robinson wrote. “We should pray for him. And in the meantime, he should step down. He is in no position to lead the Church; he is leading the flock astray. The Bible has grave warnings against such people.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Robinson called the Church of England “problematic.”
“God told us his preferred pronouns; he told us to call him our father,” he said. “He taught us how to pray to him in the prayer we call Our Father. If any man attempts to remove our father from the Our Father, we must ask ourselves, whose side is he on?”
“It seems the Church of England is intent on doubling-down in its latest heretical proclamations,” he added. “For shame. There is nothing problematic about calling God our father. It seems there is plenty problematic with the Church of England.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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