evangelical preacher in c of e school

[FatThighs]

my son goes to c of e aided primary school. I was okay with all the religion from the c of e vicar who I know and thought it would be much the same as I had at school (prayers, bible stories, hymns etc.) I am an athetist but felt that learning about church of england and some of it's values would be fine.

Have recently fouind out that once a week a man from a home church goes in and does adn assembly and when I checked out his website I found that he is an evangelical christian - I am concerned that impressionable minds are being told things that the parents are not aware of. My husband wants to make very strong waves but I would like to be diplomatic, keep my son in the school and find out exaclty what is going on. HOw do I do this without it becoming a them and us thing???

itis not that I think he is there for 'ominous reasons' but I am questionning how appropiate these assemblies are in the school. As a parent of a child attending I understood the school was C of E and I am happy for C of E ministers to go in and preach. I am objecting to someone from a different church (however much the same) going in and taking assemblies and not being informed about it. I know that Anglicans believe in god, but I have concerns about how this is put across to my child.

House churches can be great wonderful places, but they also can be more extreme and less liberal than the C of E. By just saying that they are all the same anyway could be a dangerous assumption.

Whatever some evangelical churches and dioceses in the C of E would like to believe/promote, fatthighs, the simple fact is the Church would collapse without the tireless efforts of many gay clergy and churchgoers - eg round where I live and in many other places too.
The Church of England specialises in sitting on the fence on this (and many other) issues.
We had a brilliant brief sermon on this on Sunday, by our Hon Curate (divorced; globe-trotting ecologist with no time at all for Creationism) on how taking the middle path is NOT a cop-out but can be a dynamic way of resolving differing viewpoints.
I expect inviting in the member of the house church is all part of this welcoming inclusiveness fatthighs. I would guess that although I understand your concern, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

I can see your point Marina about diversity and how seeing all different sides and stories can add to the rich tapestry of life, but I still feel that having one particular person coming in from a particualr church and giving an assembly to five years olds who may not grasp that it is a point of view rather than a fact worrying.

It may sound like I am overworrying and maybe I am but need to find out!

I'm not sure what you are classing "home churches"...we belong to one that's not part of the big ones (CofE, Baptist). We're not extreme. We used to go to CofE, we just didn't like the liturgy.

Before kids, I was employed as a youth and schools worker. My job was to go into schools as a Christian visitor. All we did was present Christianity in an accessible way. We didn't preach, we didn't even make people pray. We didn't push any particular denomination or faith. In primary schools we just did a lot of Bible stories and talked about respecting each other. A lot of our stuff was basic values and PSE stuff. If the visitor is extreme, the school wouldn't let him come back. All religions and denominations can ask a school to go in as a Faith Visitor...most schools actively encourage it.
Please experience it for yourself before complaining.

but I am not complaining I am trying to experience it for myself.

I don't know why it has come across as complaining, but I do think it is an interesting issue. If it is as you describe I am more than happy (as I said) for it to go ahead.

I just feel it would be wrong to pressume it must all be okay without doing anymore.

I didn't think FatThights was complaining - I thought she was concerned following some things she had read on this particular preachers website.

Fatthighs, don't worry you don't come across as complaining at all, just concerned. Entirely reasonably and sensibly.
it is perfectly reasonable to have an interest in what your child is being taught. and you clearly want to be calm and diplomatic about it

sorry, I didn't mean that you were complaining here...I meant before you put a complaint into the school...I could see from your first post that you were handling it well and just wanted info

It's a c of e school. You makes your choices.

catesmum- sorry misread what you meant. thanks for clarifying and being understanding.

pointyfangledWeredog - I made my choices for CofE, just want to be sure that is what I am gettting!

FatThighs, as has already been said there is CofE and there is CofE. So you will find evangelicals, liberals, pro-gay, anti-gay, traditionalists, modernists, anti-women, and pro-women priests, churches, schools and lay people. I've quit the CofE because of the hypocrisy over the gay and women bishops issues, among other things - I don't want my kids growing up in a church that treats anyone as inferior.

Some evangelicals are very open - as a family we attend an evangelical Baptist church even though theologically I believe in 'radical' Christianity (which makes me sound like an arse but is the only way people seem to have found to describe it) because they are so open and friendly. Other evangelicals are very scarey.

Can you do a link to this guy's site so we can have a look?