Fulcrum is an

evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

representing the evangelical centre of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Formed in 2002, ''Fulcrum'' aims to renew the moderate centre of the evangelical tradition in the Church of England. Fulcrum is normally viewed as representative of the

open evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions. Uses Open ...

tradition within the Church of England.

History

Fulcrum was co-founded by

Francis Bridger Francis William Bridger (born 1951) is the current dean of Brechin in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford and ordained in 1979. After a curacy in Islington he was a lecturer at St John's College, Nottingham ...

Graham Kings Graham Kings (born 10 October 1953) is an English Church of England bishop, theologian and poet. In retirement in Cambridge, having served as Bishop of Sherborne and then Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion, he is an Honorary Assistant ...

and others in response to strong and extreme responses from some evangelical quarters of the Church of England to the appointment of

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. In 2003 the first official meeting of Fulcrum took place and the appointments of Chair, vice-chairs, administrator and theological advisor were made. The equivalent organization in the

Episcopal Church of the USA The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

is ''Covenant'', an organization which aims to renew the centre of the Christian tradition in North America and particularly within Anglicanism.

Purpose

A fulcrum is the point of balance in a pivot. Fulcrum chose this name because it seeks to renew the evangelical tradition at the centre of the

. According to its website, "Fulcrum embraces an historic orthodoxy that is generous in spirit, confident in the contribution evangelicals can make to Anglicanism". In the current climate of uncertainty in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, Fulcrum seeks to promote an unpolarised evangelicalism. It has been described as a "moderate evangelical grouping ..which was formed, really, in order to uphold the prohibition on gay sex but to welcome women priests".

Publications

Fulcrum publishes articles regularly through its website on a wide range of issues that affect the Church of England, issues as diverse as: Anglicanism Ethics Film History of Christianity Mission Other faiths Pastoral issues Poetry Politics and faith Roman Catholicism Science Sexuality Spirituality Theology Women bishops Fulcrum does not publish a journal outside of its website, but the journal ''Anvil'' is representative of the constituency associated with Fulcrum.

References

{{Reflist Anglican organizations