Protestant Reformation Society Holds 2022 Conference
The 2022 Conference of the Protestant Reformation Society was held in Wycliffe Hall, Oxford from 30 August – 1 September. The conference theme was, “The Importance of Doctrine.”
The main lecture room at Wycliffe Hall was full for the three days as attendees were treated to presentations by specialists on the Reformation confessions. Most attendees sat cheek by jowl for the presentations.
The Revd Edward Keene spoke on the Anglican Thirty-nine Articles of Religion and was particularly careful to point out all the various versions of them before settling into their current form in 1571.
Equally informative was the presentation made by the Revd Edmond Coulter of Lambeg Parish in the Church of Ireland. His lecture was about the history and decrees of the Roman Catholic response to the Reformation in the Decrees of the Council of Trent.
The Revd Peter Naylor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Cardiff spoke on the Westminster Confession and Florian Weicken, Minister at the Zurich Presbyterian Church in Switzerland spoke on the Second Helvetic Confession.
Mr Benedict Bird, who has just completed his doctoral dissertation on The Canons of the Synod of Dort, provided a very detailed account of that Synod and its response to the Arminian heresy.
Perhaps the highlight of the second day was the Conference Sermon which was delivered by The Rt Revd Glenn N. Davies from Australia. Davies was the Archbishop of the Diocese of Sydney from 2013 – 2021 and was just recently made the Bishop of the GAFCON sponsored, Diocese of the Southern Cross.
The Diocese of the Southern Cross was formed in response to the recent decision of some dioceses within the Anglican Church of Australia to perform same-sex blessings. Davies will serve as Bishop of the GAFCON sponsored diocese until enough congregations have joined to allow for a new synod to be called and bishop elected.
The Revd Dr Tim Patrick, Principal of the Bible College of South Australia in Adelaide, provided a very clear harmonisation of the Protestant Confessions. Patrick is also a presbyter in the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide.
Clergy familiar with the work of Banner of Truth were delighted to see The Revd Dr Ian Hamilton speak on “The Relevance of the Reformed Confessions Today.” Dr Hamilton is a very well-known author and conference speaker. He is also the Principal of the Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary located in Newcastle upon-Tyne.
There were very few young evangelical Anglican clergy present at the conference due to the fact that the 2022 Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference was being held on the same dates and a number of miles apart.
The presentations will be available for viewing in the near future as the Protestant Reformation Society is in the process of finally establishing a website for its materials.
