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Sex and the single Church: gays, GAFCON, and the Lambeth Conference
From the Revd Michael Camp and others c/o The Vicarage 9 St Paul’s Square Bromley BR2 0XH From the Revd Rosemary Aldis and five other clerics Sir, — We are deeply concerned about Archbishop Barry Morgan’s widely reported recent statements concerning the future choice of candidates for the office of bishop. The Bench of Bishops issued a pre-Lambeth press release on 9 July which opened by saying: “The bishops of the Church in Wales are calling for Anglicans to focus on environmental issues, rather than sexuality, at the Lambeth Conference, which begins next week.” The Archbishop’s comments three days later seem at odds with this statement of principle, focusing as they do precisely on the issue that the press release said should not be the focus at this time. The Archbishop has very properly referred in his comments in the press and on the radio to the processes of the Church in Wales which must be observed in appointing a bishop. But he has made his own aims clear. He has also described those who take a different view as “exclusive” and narrow-minded. The exclusive and narrow-minded are, however, the great majority of Anglicans in the world today, and their exclusivity and narrow-mindedness consists of maintaining the teaching of scripture and Christian tradition on marriage and family life. The Archbishop has rightly reminded us that Jesus welcomed all; but Jesus required of those who follow him a faithfulness, transformation, and standard of holiness in life. The innovation of the American and Canadian Anglicans in the area of teaching on sexuality has already caused enormous damage to their Churches. If the Church in Wales were to follow the line indicated by the Archbishop, the same disastrous results could be expected here. This is not, as the Archbishop states, merely a matter of getting “hooked up on four or five texts against male sexual acts”. It is a question of whether the Church will or will not remain faithful to the whole teaching of scripture and Christian tradition. The ordination of persons in same-sex relations is, therefore, an issue of Church-breaking significance. Rosemary Aldis, Robert Capper, Tudor Griffiths, Peter R. Jones, Andrew J. Knight, William Strange c/o St Peter’s Vicarage Church Street Carmarthen SA31 1GW From Mr John Ewington Sir, — It seems quite illogical that Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori can be invited to the Lambeth Conference, when we in this province do not have, and therefore do not yet recognise, women bishops (let alone archbishops), but the Rt Revd Gene Robinson, who was elected and consecrated a bishop quite legally in the Episcopal Church in the United States, is not invited to attend. It would be a great act of Christian charity, even at this late stage, for Bishop Robinson to be welcomed to the Conference as a legitimate bishop in the Anglican Communion. JOHN EWINGTON Hillbrow, Godstone Road Bletchingley, Surrey RH1 4PJ Sir, — As I write, it is Sunday morning, and I would ordinarily be in church; but I feel too depressed and upset to attend, having been told from the pulpit last week that all GAFCON seeks is “biblical orthodoxy”. I have been a worshipping Christian my entire life, but where I once found solace and friendship at church, it is true to say that I now feel like the enemy — a second-class citizen. I don’t need to go to church to be made to feel like this: I spent many years coming to terms with my sexuality, and had a nervous breakdown in doing so. I ultimately realised that God made me who I am: God made me, and my sexuality is an intrinsic part of me. Therefore how can it be wrong to be homosexual? I had no choice in the matter; for who in their right mind would choose to be part of a group of people who are the target of such overt hatred? (I don’t use that word lightly.) It is this ignorance that is so devastating. Sexuality is not a lifestyle choice: it is a visceral facet of each individual. Shouldn’t the Christian gospel accept everyone as they are? The conservative Evangelical witch-hunt being led by Archbishop Akinola is tearing the Anglican Church apart, and tearing me apart, too. I fail to see how any compassionate and empathetic Christian can support an organisation that operates on ignorance, with a complete disregard for the hurt it causes. If the ultimate objective of biblical orthodoxy is to break down the Anglican Church, hound out gay priests or drive them underground, and remove gay Christians from the pews, irrespective of the lives this would tarnish, then I hope people will question whether this is the sort of Church they want to be part of. The conservative Evangelicals may yet have their way. This is a woeful time to be a gay Christian in the Anglican Communion. But I continue to hope and pray that wisdom and compassion may prevail at Lambeth. Name & Address Supplied From the Revd Peter Macleod-Miller Sir, — “Gay Bishop” Gene Robinson initially made me nervous that the gay agenda had leapt from the closet and stormed from the bedroom only to dominate the whole house. The bitter and biblically landmined correspondence I have received, however, with its offers of translation to sewers and the provision of concrete boots for merely commenting on the topic, reveals the real threats yet to be “outed” in the whole debate. I stand with the majority who do not want the Church of England to become a pendant of the gay-pride movement. Yet, when the Bible and the Christian tradition is used to closet attitudes that would vindicate the imprisonment, brutalisation, and even murder of gay people, it makes me wish that those who secretly have those violent ambitions might be as “up front” as the gay Bishop, even though it may cause increased disquiet in revealing the reality of not just the Church, but of our “civilised and inclusive society”. PETER MACLEOD-MILLER The Rectory, Barrow Suffolk IP29 5BA From the Revd Gregory Carpenter Sir, — In the Jerusalem Declaration, the statements about the Bible, Ecumenical Councils, and holy orders are completely consonant with the theology of the Caroline divines. Those about the Articles and Prayer Book were mainstream for all late-17th-century Anglicans. Moreover, the 1604 canons embedded this theology in practical rules. John Dryden’s 1682 poem Religio Laici, written before he became a Roman Catholic, expresses this classical Anglican via media, in which he expounds a High Tory and Church theology midway between Puritan and papal positions. While the GAFCON theology is thus mainstream, there remains the question whether present-day Evangelical or Catholic Anglicans truly accept liturgical worship based on this classical theological position. GREGORY CARPENTER 5 Garden Crescent Plymouth PL1 3DA From Felicity Crow Sir, — Call it GAFCON or FOCA, it is not just another movement within Anglicanism. It is the power of Christ himself calling out the sheep from the goats. Christ came to remove not one jot or tittle of the Law. The Law says a man shall not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is an abomination. This is not a question of opinion. Those who teach or preach otherwise offend Christ’s little ones who believe in him. They also bear false witness. They should be stark staring terrified. To those who go against him and pollute his teaching Christ is totally terrifying — just as to those who love him enough to keep his commandments he is awesomely protective. Those who drift away from him will wither on the vine as dead branches to be cut out. FELICITY CROW Spring Cottage, Middle Spring Ruscombe, Stroud Gloucestershire GL6 6DE |
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