Abbreviation AM Convenor Philip Giddings | Formation 2004 | |
Motto An information resource for orthodox Anglicans Type Anglican realignment
Social conservatism Headquarters Eynsham, Oxfordshire, England | ||
Anglican Mainstream is a conservative Anglican organization from the Church of England. It describes itself as "a community within the Anglican Communion committed to promote, teach and maintain the Scriptural truths on which the Anglican Church was founded". It is best known through its website, which posts items of interest or concern to its constituency. The convenor of the organization's UK steering committee is Philip Giddings.
Contents
Britain and Ireland
It brings together Anglicans in the British Isles who are concerned to maintain a traditional position on controversial issues. Participating organisations include evangelical groups in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, such as Reform, Church Society, the Church of England Evangelical Council, the New Wine network, the Scottish Anglican Network and mission agencies. It has close links with similar groups in North America and South Africa.
Anglican realignment
Anglican Mainstream is also involved in partnering with growing churches in the developing world through Anglican International Development (AID). It has strong links with the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, and supports the Anglican realignment and the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
Social conservatism
Anglican Mainstream is concerned about a number of social issues including abortion and end of life issues, the status of marriage and family, evangelism, the cultural challenge of secular society and general Anglican church life in Britain and overseas. Of all the issues with which it is concerned, its stance on issues of sexuality has drawn controversy, particularly its support for sexual abstinence for homosexual people and the ex-gay movement, which it considers to be a minority group often ignored or silenced. Liberal pro-homosexuality groups such as Changing Attitude have been particularly opposed to Anglican Mainstream, especially over their view that homosexual orientation is an unalterable fact of human nature.
In 2012, Anglican Mainstream was part of a coalition of Christian groups intending to run a two-week campaign in which some London buses would carry an advertisement reading “Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!” in the same style as adverts produced by Stonewall, the gay rights group. The intention was to draw attention to the existence of ex-gays and the possibility of change, a claim which is contradicted by some mainstream psychologists). After receiving appropriate permissions the campaign was then prohibited by London's mayor, Boris Johnson, because of the offence he believed it would cause.