I was baptised by a nurse when I was born, anointed by a priest for healing shortly afterwards, prepared for confirmation by a priest and confirmed by the Bishop of Doncaster in St Hilda's, trained for ordained ministry at the place where the traditions meet: Queen's Foundation, and served my title in Matson, Gloucester, was Team Vicar, Team Rector and a Vicar all within the context of the Church of England. I love it. It nurtured me and has given me life, and hope one day to have opportunity to serve it again.
The recent publication of the English House of Bishops arising out of the shared conversations that took place within General Synod represented something of an opportunity missed. The resultant myriad of reactions that have taken place around the report have for me clouded the fact that the opportunity for the church to be both missional and inclusive in the fullest gospel sense of the word may have been lost for some time, although God can redeem the most surprisingly hopeless situations. Inclusivity obviously means welcoming all, but not necessarily an acceptance of everything. Conservatives often construct a straw personage here. Liberals, Catholics, Progressives, Open, Charismatics have their particular effigies too. It is easy for protagonists on both sides of the debate (although sides is a misnomer given that the voices who have been heard are on a spectrum rather than split into two oppositional factions) to forget that their opponents are other human beings fashioned in the image of God.
Why was it an opportunity missed?
I think it does not fully recognise that in affirming a particular definition of marriage, it is in danger of reading back a singular view into the Scriptures. This is not particularly good exegesis. This is not to say that marriage is unimportant in the Scriptures, but that it is at times quite messy. The patriarchs and matriarchs had interesting relationships which are mirrored in 21st Century society. It would be easier sometimes for me if that were not the case, but it is. Thus, if you want to welcome the commitment to a biblical definition of marriage, you do need to answer the obvious question, which definition are we talking about.
There is also the clear teaching that sex is only or rightly for marriage. This has been the traditional teaching of the Church, but is not seemingly now the practice even amongst Christians. I very rarely have couples approach me for marriage in church who are not living together and already have a stable family life or have children from previous relationships. This is not to say that the Church should not teach that sex rightly belongs within a loving relationship, exemplified by marriage, but we do nothing to make our message accessible by seeming to suggest that sex outside of the marital relationship should not occur or is in some sense always sinful.
The Bishop's report fails to capture the fact that many Christians are in loving, deeply committed, sacrificial same sex relationships. It is as if in writing the report, gay Christians have become invisible. I am not sure that the Bishops collectively intended this, but it seems to me that is what the report does. The report has attempted to close the closet door once more, however all that it has done is leave friends and allies of gay Christians confused and bewildered as to why their sisters and brothers have not been affirmed and welcomed. Welcome, hospitality and affirmation are part of what Christians have always thought to have been essential to their faith, not least because such are drawn from biblical teaching about God.
Conservative commentators often caution about affirmation and welcome for two specific reasons. First that we, as Anglicans, are part of a world wide communion and second that Scripture is clearly against same sex relationships, both of which need dealing with.
I am a proud Anglican. I love the fact that I am part of something bigger. I delight in the fact that Christians in persecuted countries can draw comfort from this too, and if that makes a real practical difference in their lives - and I believe it does - I would want to do nothing that would undermine it. I have never met a single British Christian regardless of gender, class, orientation et al who would. Maybe I live a sheltered life now on the edge of Wales. Most Anglican Christians I know are deeply committed to the bonds of affection which bind us together in Christ and to one another. That surely does not mean that there cannot be difference, indeed many differences pass unnoticed, they are simply cultural, and indeed we have much to learn from each others cultures. But if the Communion is to mean anything, we must be able to speak robustly to each other. It is what families do. Some Provinces treat Gay Christians amongst them terribly, just as the Provinces within the United Kingdom do not treat everyone as they should. Such actions need challenging, just as much as the real persecution suffered by our brothers and sisters in the global south.
I am also a proud evangelical. Much of my spiritual growth has come from within that tradition, even before I knew it had a particular label. I love wrestling with the Scriptures. They feed me and give me life. For within the Scriptures are words that lead to salvation, primarily because they reveal who Jesus is. Sometimes due to my fallibility I fail to grasp this.
I have devoted a fair bit of my life to the ministry of the evangelist, and still see it as perhaps the most important part of my role as an ordained minister, even if I do not make the most of all the opportunities that are presented.
The Bishop of Maidstone writes.
We must also continue to pray for –
and draw alongside – those who feel great pain that the relationships
they value cannot be reconciled with God’s Word.
The assumption that loving relationships cannot be reconciled to God's word is based on a small number of proof texts, as well as I would suggest notions of what is the proper created order. The general gamut of Scripture is one of welcome, hospitality and affirmation., for such are reflective of God.
I realise that the report issued by the Bishops will be debated by the Synod and there will be opportunity for members to put forward different arguments. In doing so, there must be a desire to continue to meet and listen together, to embrace rather than exclude, and also to pray.
We must pray for our Bishops and theologians that God will continue to guide
We must pray for each other on all sides of this discussion
Paul Bayes, the Bishop of Liverpool, said that we need to learn the names of those we criticise: https://viamedia.news/2017/01/29/elders-of-the-tribe/
We need to pray for opportunities to learn the names of those we might in some way consider to be other.
Those of us who are not LBTI++ must also remember that is not ourselves that we are talking about, and it is often our Christian brothers and sisters who are hurt when we exclude, and that some of our action and talking, even when acted out of good intention, seems to prevent a growing number of people we believe are imago dei from hearing the good news of the gospel.
That would go against all that this evangelical believes.
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