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UK: A response to Changing Attitude's letter to the College of Bishops
Anglican Mainstream leader says despair and depression among LGBTI clergy is not grounds for changing church teaching
By Andrew Symes
http://anglicanmainstream.org/
Sept. 8, 2014
The Christian Church as a whole, a body of which the Church of England is one branch, has held a consistent position with regard to sexual ethics over the past two millennia, with a remarkable degree of unanimity. That is, marriage is defined as an exclusive, permanent union between one man and one woman, and that sexual activity outside this union cannot be considered holy. The Church has always sought to uphold this principle while at the same time applying appropriate pastoral practice at the local level, both where the principle has been breached "through weakness and through deliberate fault", and where men and women despite temptation aim to conform their lives to the historic understanding of Christ's teaching in this area. But the principle of Christian marriage, deriving from the clear teaching of Scripture, Church tradition, and fellowship with the worldwide body of Christ, cannot be overturned or redefined without a serious fracture in the church today, and a severance from what ties us to authentic Christian faith.
In view of this, Anglican Mainstream, representing the views of many faithful members of the Church of England, lay and ordained, views with dismay the recent statement by Changing Attitude, urging the House of Bishops to rescind the February Statement on marriage, and to allow couples in same sex relationships, especially clergy, to marry, and be blessed in church.
The Changing Attitude statement is unhelpful and should be politely rejected, for the following reasons:
a) the Shared Conversations of Sexuality, Scripture and Mission are about to begin, and the process will last more than two years. After the conversations are over, motions and resolutions can be put before Synod by those on different sides of the argument, and debated. The Bishops have no authority to make the kind of changes demanded by Changing Attitude before this time. In the meantime, Bishops have responsibility to promote and defend the teaching of the Church, and should not be bullied by lobby groups to do otherwise.
b) A major reason for advocating change is based on "despair and depression among LGBTI clergy". While Christians should always take seriously with compassion the feelings of others, the church cannot base the definition of its core principles on the levels of grievance felt by certain sectors of its membership. The recent debates around women Bishops have hurt the feelings of many conservatives who nevertheless argued their position from theology rather than from creating a victim identity. It is to be hoped that those proposing a change in sexual ethics will do the same.
c) Rev Colin Coward reveals the true source of the motivation for change when he explicitly links campaigns for full acceptance of homosexual relationships within the church with "secular movements for justice for LGBTI people". This reveals a position that is not Christian witness to the world: it is capitulation to the world and its ideologies and philosophies founded on rejection of God and his word.
Changing Attitude claim that "there are strong theological arguments for accepting and celebrating same-sex partnerships, including marriage". There is no evidence of these arguments in the statement, or in the letter that has been sent to Bishops, only appeals to secular ideas of "equality" and the feelings of hurt and anger outlined above. Anglican Mainstream looks forward to hearing any convincing theological arguments based on the Bible, or new scientific data during the Shared Conversations process.
One area of concern which we share with Changing Attitude, is the apparent lack of clarity and consistency shown by Bishops in the varied responses to clergy who have entered into same sex marriage. It is to be hoped that the clear statement by the Bishops of February 15th, strongly reiterating that clergy should not enter into sexually active same gender relationships, would be backed up by appropriate disciplinary measures where necessary, consistently applied across the Church of England.
Changing Attitude's Press Release http://changingattitude.org.uk/archives/8240
The Rev Andrew Symes is Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream
