9 hours ago
Church of England ‘is preparing for UK at war'
The Church of England is preparing for the possibility of the UK going to war, according to the Bishop to the Armed Forces.
The Rt Rev Hugh Nelson said the church was looking at the Second World War for inspiration on 'what it might mean for us to be a Church in a time of conflict'.
And the Church is considering changing its rules to make it easier to appoint new Army chaplains, so they can be deployed more quickly in the event of war.
Earlier this week, the Government's national security strategy said Britain must 'actively prepare' for a 'wartime scenario' in its homeland, for the first time in many years.
At the Nato summit on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer announced that British fighter jets would carry nuclear warheads for the first time since the Cold War.
Bishop Nelson said he had heard 'rising concern about the threat of very, very serious conflict, including conflict that involves the UK' from military personnel over the past two years.
He said: 'As a Church, we want to take seriously those challenges, both to do everything that we can to pray for and work for and advocate for peace, because the kingdom of God is a kingdom of justice and peace, and to face the reality [of] how the Church might need to respond, and to be if there were to be a serious conflict.'
The bishop said the Church needed to learn lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, for which it was not prepared, and should recall the leadership it gave during the Second World War.
He added: 'We're encouraging the Church to pray for peace and to prepare for, or to begin to do some thinking and some work around, what it might mean for us to be a Church in a time of conflict.
'We have looked back at some of the ways in which senior Church leadership – archbishops and bishops – led, the things that they said, particularly in the Second World War.'
During the war, the Church, led by William Temple as archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 until his death in 1944, was key in seeking support for asylum seekers fleeing the Continent.
Bishop Nelson was speaking ahead of the General Synod, the Church of England's legislative meeting in York next month.
New proposals to be debated there would allow the appointment of Armed Forces chaplains to be streamlined, and increase their number.
Chaplains would be able to minister under an Archbishop's licence, without also having to hold a Permission to Officiate (PTO), which is issued by a diocese.
Papers submitted to the Synod for debate warned that the current rules were 'a serious administrative burden' and made it 'more difficult for Chaplains to deploy within the UK at the pace required by their roles'.
There are almost 200 Church of England chaplains, serving as both regulars and reservists across the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
Brig Jaish Mahan, a Christian who served in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, will address Synod members on the current global climate and the challenges for the UK, as well as speaking of his own experience in the military.
He is thought to be the first serving member of the Armed Forces to brief the Synod.
The Church has said it is developing resources for churches on peace, war and conflict.
Proposals for working with schools on these issues as well as practical suggestions for making churches hospitable and welcoming to Armed Forces personnel and their families, are to be published in the coming months.
The Bishop also warned that the Church of England needs to engage with the ethics surrounding AI robotics and drone warfare, adding that they 'pose a very serious challenge both to the practice of war and also the ethics of peace and conflict'.
