The handing over of the petition marks the first milestone in the life
of a grassroots organization that began in August 2003 in response to
the overturning of the appointment of Jeffrey John, a celibate gay
priest, as Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford. "We are an
organization set up to campaign for an open, honest and generous
spirited Anglicanism that has always been the very heart and soul of the
Church of England," explained the Rev. Giles Fraser, chair.

Fraser said Inclusivechurch began as a group of friends from Southwark,
London and Oxford who, prompted by the Jeffrey John debacle, were
increasingly worried about the future direction of the Church of
England. They organized an open meeting in the church of St. Mary's
Putney in London, site of the 1647 Putney Debates, taken by many
historians as the birthplace of modern democracy. Others similarly
concerned asked if they could join, including individuals from the
evangelical wing of the Church of England. It snowballed very quickly to
the 8,500 who have now registered their support on the website,
www.inclusivechurch.net.

Fraser said the group's main concern is that the Elizabethan
Settlement-the classical Anglican compromise based upon tolerance for
diverse points of view-is being called into question and that broad
church Anglicans are being forced out of the Church of England. As the
Rev. Nick Holtam, Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields in Central London,
put it, "I am fighting against being made illegitimate in the church."

"It is excellent that so many people have supported the petition in such
a short time, and with such little promotion," Fraser continued.
"Liberals are bad campaigners. We're also a bit gutless. But what those
of us who are very angry need most of all is a call for action. It is
clear that the people of our country will not tolerate a homophobic
church at the centre of our spiritual life, nor will they be edified by
a theology born of ecclesiastical expediency rather than theological
principle."

The vast majority of Inclusivechurch's signatories belong to the Church
of England. In addition to individual Anglicans who have signed the
petition, more than 100 parishes have signed up too, each having passed
motions of support through their Parochial Church Councils, the English
equivalent of the vestry in ECUSA. Signatories also come from parishes
belonging to conservative organizations like Reform, and Inclusivechurch
reports receiving emails from individuals keen to protest against their
own churches, notably from places like Pittsburgh in the US, because
they fear gay people are not made welcome there.

"People want an inclusive church," says Ann Kiem, a laywoman from All
Saints Church, Fulham in London, and a signatory of the petition. "I do
not want to belong to an organization that excludes people on any
grounds. This is what, I believe, the vast majority of people in the
Church of England think too."

The interesting thing about this "diverse middle" of the church, as
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of ECUSA has put it, is not that they
are pro-gay, and for that reason horrified at the treatment of Jeffrey
John, said Fraser. It is their sense of common decency that is affronted.

"Grassroots members of the Church of England are now speaking loud and
clear to Anglican leaders," says April Alexander, the lay chair of
Southwark Diocesan Synod, another signatory. "We believe that it is
appalling that some parts of our Church are threatening schism over
issues like homosexuality. When secondary issues come to dominate over
the church's core beliefs about the loving-kindness of God, something
very serious has gone wrong."

After handing in the petition, Inclusivechurch held a Eucharist at St.
Matthew's Church, Westminster. The preacher was the newly appointed
American priest, the Rev. Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor of
Divinity at Oxford University and Canon of Oxford Cathedral. "We who
regard gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Christians, not as the
latest problems on the sexuality syllabus, but as spiritual treasures
for the whole community, cannot afford to equivocate or temporise,"
Adams said. "We must support them in their life in Christ, and bear wide
and public witness to how we have experienced their partnerships as
sacraments of God's love in a broken and divided world. The Body of
Christ is pregnant with holy opportunity. We shouldn't want to abort it."

Mark Vernon is a freelance writer based in the UK.