THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has rebuked one of his senior bishops for his “seriously flawed” actions in revoking the licence of a conservative evangelical clergyman.

In a blow to liberal hopes for action against the conservative Right of the Church of England, Dr Williams has ordered that the Rev Richard Coekin be given his licence back.

The Bishop of Southwark, the Right Rev Tom Butler, revoked Mr Coekin’s licence in November after the Wimbledon minister invited a bishop from a church in South Africa to ordain three curates.

Bishop Butler said that the ordination by the South African bishop was illegal because his church was not in communion with the Church of England. Mr Coekin also did not receive his permission.

Mr Coekin has had a longstanding disagreement with Bishop Butler over homosexuality, with Mr Coekin taking a more conservative line.

The case is emblematic of the tensions dividing the Church over homosexuality and how clergy carry out their mission in a secular age. The conservative stance of the evangelical wing on homosexuality is seen as “non-PC” by western liberals, but the evangelical churches are growing fastest. The restoration of Mr Coekin’s licence signals the Archbishop of Canterbury’s clear backing for Mr Coekin’s methods of inspiring church growth.

As well as liberals, some evangelicals had hoped that Mr Coekin would not be allowed to function. He has been accused of “sheep stealing”, or building up his thriving new churches by tempting worshippers from more established parishes. But these charges have never been substantiated and most evangelicals will now take heart from a judgment in Mr Coekin’s favour that is focused on mission.

Dr Williams’s personal views on homosexuality are liberal but his backing for Mr Coekin is further proof of his determination to make Church unity and mission his priorities. The judgment comes only weeks before the General Synod, meeting in York, debates proposals to relax the Church of England’s rigid parochial and diocesan structure. This will free up church “planting” and evangelical outreach to the extent that churches such as Mr Coekin’s, now regarded as on the evangelical fringe, could become the norm for those pursuing mission and growth.

After Mr Coekin’s licence was revoked he appealed to Dr Williams and the case was heard by the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, at St Dunstan-in-the-West in London last month. Bishop Scott-Joynt says in his report that the summary revocation of Mr Coekin’s licence was “inappropriate” and was a “disproportionate outcome in the circumstances of the case”.

A spokesman for Dr Williams said that “the summary procedure followed by the Bishop was technically flawed”.Dr Williams said: “My hope and expectation for the Diocese of Southwark and for the ministry of Dundonald Church and its minister, the Rev Richard Coekin, is that they will now all be able to draw a line under the episode.”

Mr Coekin said: “We thank God that my licence has been reinstated. This has been a long and gruelling process.

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