Anglican Communion News Service

With an overwhelming majority the Church of England’s General Synod yesterday voted to endorse a discussion document issued by the House of Bishops as a guide to the debate started by its 1991 report ‘Some Issues in Human Sexuality.’

Presented by the Rt Revd Dr Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford - the chairman of the Bishops’ Working Group on Issues of Human Sexuality - the guide led to two hours of debate that was, according to some Synod members, surprisingly lower in key than previous synod debates on the subject, though discussions were dominated by speakers in favour of a more moderate, liberal attitude towards homosexuals in all areas of the church.

Bishop Richard said that the guide did not seek to change the position of the House of Bishops on homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgenderism, but sought to set out and analyse each viewpoint in the light of traditional and current theology and today’s cultural attitudes. He hoped that the guide would encourage a greater understanding of the debate and would provide a stronger framework for the debate to move forwards. “Our hope is that ‘interpretative charity’…will be an increasing feature of the debate on this issue,” he said, referring to the emotional nature of previous debates. “In this way we will be led more deeply into the arguments and therefore more deeply into the mind of Christ himself.” In addition, he urged the synod to commend ‘Some Issues in Human Sexuality’ to the Church for study and reflection, a move also adopted at the vote. It is widely believed that the report’s endorsement by synod signals a coming change in Church of England’s official policy. Under current guidelines from the House of Bishops, gay clergy are called to celibacy. The report, however, openly discusses the possibility of blessing gay marriages.

Many speakers following Bishop Richard’s opening statement, whilst welcoming the guide for fairly portraying and examining the viewpoints of all sides in the debate, inevitably moved onto where the report may lead the Church of England in the near future. Mr Brian McHenry, vice-chairman of the House of Laity and of Southwark diocese, stated that many people outside of the Church viewed its formal public stance on homosexuality with “profound distaste” and that it was not in keeping with current values, though he added that the synod should avoid “going with the flow” merely to create the appearance of a more inclusive church.

Another speaker, Sister Rosemary of the Community of the Holy Name, used her maiden speech to the synod to plea for a more liberal and loving attitude to gay and lesbian church members. Speaking of the ‘profound loneliness’ that current church attitudes created for gays and lesbians - who inevitably felt a conflict between their own form of love and the teaching of the church, she said it was time to learn from gay and lesbian experiences of Christianity. “It is time to find out what God is doing with our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters,” she said, adding that “the current Anglican position, that of forced celibacy, is a cruelty equal to that of forced marriage.”

The debate however, was dominated by the testimony of the Revd Paul Collier of Southwark Diocese, who openly stated that he was gay and that he had been in ministry for ten years. He criticised the working group’s guide for not adequately representing the views of gay and lesbian Christians as they had not been sufficiently consulted as it was being drawn up. He said that future publications should show that the Church had “talked with us, not about us,” adding that it had failed to take account of gays and lesbians as Christians.

Mr Collier also urged the synod to adopt amendments to the Bishop of Oxford’s proposals. The amendments would have endorsed the “study and reflection” of the guide’s findings in “all parish, deanery, and diocesan councils and synods,” clearing the way for openly gay and lesbian Christians to talk about their experience of God at the local Church level. The amendments were defeated, leaving Bishop Richard’s more general proposal for the Church to study and reflect on its findings intact. One synod member said that the defeat might indicate a return to fiercer opposition in the future if the Church of England’s current policy is altered.

More cautious opinions were also heard, with Mr Jonathan Redden of the Sheffield Diocese stating that whilst the report was to be welcomed, before taking the debate further, “advocates for the gay lifestyle must show that homosexuality does not have an unhealthy aspect for those who practise it.”

Additionally, the Revd David Banting of Chelmsford said that gay and lesbian church members sought to change the Church’s position. The debate should be viewed through the “Anglican basis of Scripture and not disregard the Biblical meanings,” he said, adding that the assertiveness of gays and lesbians had “led to widespread disturbance and schism in the Anglican Church around the world.” He added that people who practised a homosexual lifestyle and worshipped as Christians were ignoring Biblical rules out of convenience.

The debate was followed by broader discussions on the subject of cohabitation, and whether a Church recognition of a contractual relationship - other than marriage - was socially desirable.

On Tuesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, received a 8,500 signature petition at Church House in London from a new organisation, InclusiveChurch, which was set up shortly after the withdrawal of Canon Jeffrey John from the candidacy for the Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford of last year. Handing over the petition, the group’s chairman the Revd Giles Fraser, said that the people of the United Kingdom would not tolerate “a homophobic church.”

Article by Michael Craske. Managing editor of the Anglican Communion News Service