Evangelical leaders comment on 'Clergy Consultation' service

Every occasion for listening pastorally to people is to be welcomed. However, the Holy Communion is a fundamental symbol of fellowship and an expression of our unity in Christ. To offer this to those in gay partnered relationships, contrary to biblical teaching and contrary to the Bishops' teaching in Issues in Human Sexuality offers false hope rather than enabling transformation . The Bishop as upholder of the Apostolic Faith is held by all Anglicans to provide a focus of unity. Since the Archbishop has apparently proceeded with this service , this makes it more likely that he will become a focus of division. We endorse the importance of a proper listening process. We trust that the Archbishop will also listen to those who have moved through this stage to frame and fashion their own selves and their families according to the doctrine of Christ .

Rev Dr Richard Turnbull, chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream, Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream.
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Archbishop of Canterbury meets with Anglican LGBT clergy

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has attended a meeting of the Clergy Consultation - a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and intersex clergy and their partners.

Dr Williams yesterday (29 November 2007) presided and preached at a service of Holy Communion and later addressed the members present, responding to questions.

The Rev Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude, has been a member of the Consultation since 1979 and was Convenor from 1994 to 1997, and was present at the meeting. The Consultation meets under Chatham House rules, which specify that comments made must remain non-attributable.

Coward commented: “The Archbishop of Canterbury met with over 80 members of the Consultation yesterday. He preached on the lectionary readings for the day, A Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving for the Missionary Work of the Church. He then spoke to the members present about the constraints which are affecting the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. He responded to questions and listened to our response."

The Changing Attitude director continued: “The Archbishop addressed us in his sermon and his remarks which followed as mature, adult Christians. As Director of Changing Attitude, I felt that the tensions we experience in our work was acknowledged by Dr Williams. We experience ourselves as being at the centre of an intense dispute about the presence of LGBT Christians in our Communion." Read more
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Canadian Church splits

[...] The Anglican Church of Canada stole the limelight this week with the announcement that two bishops said they are leaving the church for the Province of the Southern Cone coming under the ecclesiastical authority of the Most Rev. Gregory Venables.

Orthodox Canadians were finally pushed over the line by three Canadian dioceses' which have accepted the blessing of same-sex unions. They departed amidst much hand-wringing, threats and more from Anglican Church leaders who feel aggrieved that two of their own and as many as 20 or more parishes will, in due course, slip out of the grasp of the liberal led denomination.

Schism has finally come to the north. This is bigger news than most would credit because Canadians, by and large, are not people who like to get into ecclesiastical fights. It takes a lot to push them over the edge. (This writer still retains his Canadian passport, having lived in BC for nine years). Canadian Anglicans have no exact history like that of the St. Louis 1977 breakaway of American Episcopalians and the steady departures over the years, though many Canadians have walked away from their church.

So for several hundred orthodox Anglicans to say they are done with the liberal denomination is big news indeed. A group of parishes broke away from the Diocese of New Westminster some years ago and suffered mightily for their decision to leave, but now there are bishops and clergy leaving across the country. For their departure they will be met head on by the national church whose leaders are deeply upset at their flight. Read more
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DNA checks at abortion clinic accused of flushing foetuses down the drain

Police investigating four abortion clinics in Barcelona used frequently by British women have been horrified to find purpose-built machines attached to the drains that were used to crush foetuses.

The clinics allegedly performed illegal abortions on women into their eighth month of pregnancy. Police have arrested Carlos MorÍn, the Peruvian head of the clinics, his wife and four other colleagues after a lawsuit by a Christian organisation, e-Cristians. Mr MorÍn reportedly has refused to answer police questions.

Because they were so loud, the machines – which fed into public drains – were switched on only during the early hours of the day to avoid drawing attention to the illegal arrangement, police sources said. Officers gathering evidence at the clinics this week have been testing the machines and drains for traces of DNA, which may be matched with that of past clients, according to reports. Read more
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Morrissey complains that immigration has led to the loss of Britain's identity

Morrissey, the former Smiths singer, has sparked controversy by claiming British identity has disappeared because the country has been “flooded” by immigrants.

The pop star, originally from Manchester, suggested that immigration was one of the reasons he would not move from his American home back to Britain.

Morrissey, 48, who has spent most of the last decade living in LA and Rome, told music magazine NME that countries like Germany still had their own identity and complained of not hearing “British accents” on the streets of Britain.

Asked whether he would move back to the UK, Morrissey, the son of Irish immigrants, said: “Britain’s a terribly negative place. And it hammers people down and it pulls you back and it prevents you.

“Also, with the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.

“So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it’s still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are.” Read more
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Vatican talks of 'eugenics culture’ after abortion of wrong twin

Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into a botched selective abortion that the Vatican has described as the result of a “culture of perfection” resembling Nazi eugenics.

The deeply Catholic country was embroiled in a bitter ethical dispute yesterday after it emerged that a surgeon had accidentally terminated a healthy foetus instead of its twin with Down’s syndrome. The operation – on a 38-year-old woman 18 weeks into her pregnancy – was performed at the San Paolo hospital in Milan in June but has only now come to light. The foetus with Down’s syndrome was also aborted subsequently.

The revelation has reignited the debate in Italy over abortion, which was legalised only in 1978. The law allows terminations of healthy foetuses up to the 90th day of pregnancy, though abortions can be performed at a later stage if there is a risk to the life of the mother or the foetus is malformed.

Anna Maria Marconi, the gynaecologist who carried out the Milan abortion, said that the woman – who has not been named – requested the operation after an amniocentesis test.

Professor Marconi said that her conscience was clear. The foetuses, which had been identical, had changed positions in the womb between the last scan and the operation, an “act of fate that could not have been foreseen”, she said. The professor was backed by the hospital authorities. Read more
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Rowan Williams celebrates ’secret’ gay communion service

Rowan celebrates ’secret’ gay communion service - responses from conservatives

November 29th, 2007 Posted in Uncategorized | Edit |

Ruth Gledhill reports

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today presided at a ’secret’ eucharist for the Clergy Consultation, as we reported that he would back in September. He gave a talk on ‘present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the church.’ The venue, originally at St Peter’s Eaton Square, was switched to another location in London to avoid media attention after new of the meeting emerged first on the Church Society website.

The Clergy Consultation, which has between 250 and 450 members at any one time, was set up in 1976 by three Anglican priests, Malcolm Johnson, Peter Ellers and Douglas Rhymes. Changing Attitude has an interesting paper setting out a theology of sexual ethics around which members of the consultation work today. Many consultation members are married, one with six children, and are faithful to their partners. The organisation helps them cope with staying faithful to what they regard as a Christian lifestyle while dealing with a sexuality that sometimes does not emerge until later in life. Some members but by no means all are ‘out’ as openly gay but it is not difficult to understand why, in today’s Church, most prefer to remain ‘in’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, views his taking part in the meeting and celebrating the eucharist as part of the ‘listening process’ outlined in Lambeth 1.10. A spokeswoman said: ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury is committed to the listening process which was agreed at the Lambeth Conference as part of the discussions on human sexuality. That means listening to and engaging with gay and lesbian clergy in a pastorally sensitive setting. That is what he is doing.’

David Phillips, General Secretary of the Church Society, disagreed. He said: ‘This is not something that should be happening. There is obviously serious doubt in our mind about some of the people present and their standing because of being in homosexual relationships. But we do not really have much regard for Rowan Williams anyway. We came to the conclusion a long time ago that he was not really fit to be Archbishop so today does not change anything.’

He wrote to Lambeth Palace after news of the meeting emerged. Chief of Staff Chris Smith replied: ‘The Archbishop has asked me to say that unless he has clear evidence to the contrary, he would assume that members of the consultation, whether clergy, ordinands or religious, are in good standing with their diocesan bishops.’ Mr Smith continued: ‘The group, as described by its co-convenors in response to the Church Society website article and The Times newspaper, is in no sense a campaigning organisation, hence the confidentiality of its meetings. The purpose of the meeting was to listen to the concerns of individuals and to give the Archbishop the opportunity to engage with them from the position of the received mind of the Church.’

The letter went on: ‘This engagement with different groups and individuals is constant and helps inform his deliberations on the course of action that he and his fellow primates will need to formulate for the resolution of the Anglican Communion’s current divisions.’

The conservatives are also upset that the meeting went ahead. A statement signed jointly by Dr Richard Turnbull, chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream and Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, reads: ‘Every occasion for listening pastorally to people is to be welcomed. However, the Holy Communion is a fundamental symbol of fellowship and an expression of our unity in Christ. To offer this to those in gay partnered relationships, contrary to biblical teaching and contrary to the Bishops’ teaching in Issues in Human Sexuality offers false hope rather than enabling transformation. The Bishop as upholder of the Apostolic Faith is held by all Anglicans to provide a focus of unity. Since the Archbishop has apparently proceeded with this service , this makes it more likely that he will become a focus of division. We endorse the importance of a proper listening process. We trust that the Archbishop will also listen to those who have moved through this stage to frame and fashion their own selves and their families according to the doctrine of Christ.’

As soon as I can get a comment from someone from the consultation, I’ll post it here. I did manage to speak to Martin Reynolds, an openly gay clergyman who has successfully adopted a boy with his partner and was a former neighbour of Dr Williams when the Archbishop was in his previous job in Wales. Dr Reynolds was not at the meeting but said: ‘The Clergy Consultation has been of great assistance to many many people over the years. Most gay clergy are married and have children. Most do not have partners. The consultation has given them great support and love in lives devoted to their families. It has performed a wide range of functions for a lot of people. It is hugely beneficial. The only clergyman I know who is in it is extremely grateful for the friendships he has built up through it, and so is his wife.’

Read Ruth Gledhill's blog here http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/11/rowan-celebrate.html#more

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Tutu: Morally right, theologically wrong

[...] although Tutu is a great preacher - his whoops and bellows must have shattered many a Radio 4 listener's peaceful evening - he is not much of a theologian. Buerk here proved himself a terrific, dispassionate and analytical reporter. Not content with the scoop of his interview, he found contributors willing to tear the Nobel Peace Prize laureate to shreds.

Ann Widdecombe took all of ten seconds to demolish the argument that God Made Me This Way, Therefore I Am Perfect. He made disabled people, too, and God, through his son, went about healing them. Christ was big on warning us against judging - cast not the first stone - but made it clear that God judged: he told the woman to go forth and sin no more. George Carey, the former Arch of Cant (as I like to call them), pointed out that you could deduce what Jesus thought not from what he did not say, but only from what he did, and Jesus made it clear that marriage was sacred to him.

Robert Duncan, the conservative Episcopalian bishop of Pittsburgh, summed up the case against: "While I would not challenge his right to be recognised as a Nobel laureate, to claim and be known as an archbishop and say that the Bible is not to be seen as the standard and 'I am not much concerned about it' and 'People pay too much attention to it' is a shocking thing for a bishop to say." It was hard not to conclude that Tutu was morally right, yet theologically wrong. Read more
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Anglican group proposes no more ordinations for opponents of women priests

Ed: The Group for Rescinding the Act of Synod has put forward a proposal whereby women would be consecrated bishops and clergy 'Conscientious Objectors' would be provided with work-around arrangements. However, this would spell the end to any further ordination of people opposed to women's ordination, ie the Church as we know it.

[...] Some points of clarification:-
Existing clergy opponents of women’s ordination might be equivalent to those who were conscripted, since ‘their’ church has changed its position around them. And by the same token, one would not expect that new ordinands opposed to women bishops would willingly offer themselves for ministry in a church which has women bishops, or that this would be acceptable.

For the church, the question therefore becomes, not a negotiation with COs as to what will ‘keep them in the church’, but a determination as to ‘what pastoral provision we wish to make as allowance for individual CO situations’. The decision as to what is acceptable as conscientious objection, and the guidelines for acceptable CO behaviour, is made by the church itself in the light of its need for a unified ministry and mission, not the COs themselves.

Disclosure to colleagues and seniors is an essential principle of Conscientious Objection, as in the medical world, allowing adult-to-adult relationships to be developed, where individual consciences are protected but not at the expense of patient care. That might mean clergy conscientious objectors would have an obligation to disclose their position to bishops and parishes, and alternative cover would be provided in instances where they might be compromised (eg CO bishops providing non-CO bishops for ordinations, as at present; or CO area deans having non-CO colleagues as proxies to attend occasions where they judge themselves unable to take full part).

Conscientious Objection could not be held out as representing the mind of the CofE, nor be allowed to weaken or undermine the ministry of women priests or the recognition of women’s ministry. To do so would prejudice the CofE’s mission and service to the nation as a whole. Given adequate disclosure, and negotiation about foreseen conscience problems, it might still be possible to appoint individual COs to senior posts, but provided adequate cover was built into the arrangements. Read more
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John Gladwin: Bishops rule, OK?

[...] In Hooker's day Bishops were weak and too dependent on the Crown and too little assertive of their fundamental authority in the provision, care and ordering of ministry. The Bishop, within the bounds of what is properly lawful, sets the conditions for ordination and for the pastoral oversight of clergy and all who hold his licence. No one, under their oath of obligation, can turn round and say that they are not willing to accept the rule the Bishop makes and expect, nevertheless, to proceed to ordination. Furthermore, I hold that Ministry Review and Episcopal Review fall within the boundaries of what reasonably a Bishop should expect from people in licensed ministry and under oath.

The Church of England has held firm to the Episcopal shape of its life in good times and in difficult times. Hooker had learned well from Bishop John Jewel. These foundations, laid through his thinking, were built upon through the theological and spiritual inheritance of the Carolingian divines and in the restoration of the order of the Church of England after 1660.

There is a dangerous drift within Anglicanism today to look for Bishops after our own image. If we do not like the one we have we must look for another and more congenial one. All parties in the church have a habit of speaking and thinking in this way. I have increasingly come to the conclusion that it matters less and less what back ground Bishops come from provided they have a grip on what their office is for in the good ordering of the life of the church. What is it that God has called me to be and to do that belongs to my role as Bishop? Seeking vocations, watching over the formation of people for ordained and lay ministry, ordaining and licensing people for ministry and ensuring both the effective deployment and oversight of that ministry is at its heart. That is one of the crucial ministries which I believe I can offer to enable our mission today. Through that ministry we seek to ensure that the Gospel is proclaimed and the faith of Jesus Christ taught across the diocese. We do this in that open and quintessentially Anglican way of reasoned and careful Biblical theology engaging with the contemporary life of our people today. Read more
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Bishop of Chelmsford seeks solution to Middle East conflict

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, undertook a six-day visit to Israel and Palestine this month in his role as chairman of Christian Aid. With Israel and Palestine locked into a dangerous, divisive and potentially explosive political context, the Bishop said: “We are approaching the midnight hour for the two-state solution. There has to be agreement to achieve it however long and difficult the road will be to get there.”

He added that the leaders of the religious faith communities need to be alongside the political process.

The Bishop held discussions with the UN, the World Bank, the British Consulate, the Palestinian Authority, key figures in the Orthodox Jewish community, Muslim leaders and Christian colleagues during his visit. Read more
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Both a disorder and an orientation?

Ed: When was this said, and what was the topic?

[...] "I think it can be both a disorder and an orientation," said Dr. Frederick Berlin, founder of the Sexual Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

[...] "Many of these people need help in not acting on these very intense desires in the same way that a drug addict or alcoholic may need help," he said. "We don't for the most part blame someone these days for their alcoholism. We do believe that these people have a disease or a disorder, but we also recognize that in having it that it impairs their function, that it causes them suffering that they need to turn for help." Read more

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Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Association to relaunch in 2008

The Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Association, which has not met for over two years, is to be re-launched at a meeting on Saturday February 9th, 2008, at St Michael’s church, Braintree.

The guest speaker at the meeting will be the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, who will speak on the theme ‘United We Stand’.

Anyone who thinks of themselves as an Anglican Evangelical, whether lay or clergy, is welcome to come along from 10.00 am. Bishop Pete will address the meeting at 10.30am.

Later in the morning, it is proposed to appoint a ‘holding’ committee, which will draw up a new list of members and decide a programme for the remainder of the year. This will allow the CDEA to become re-established before more formal elections take place for a longer-term committee.

In the past, the CDEA provided a regular opportunity for Evangelicals to come together from across the Diocese to encourage one another in ministry and evangelism. With so many challenges facing us today, it is a great time to be uniting again with the aim of bringing the gospel through our churches to our world.

St Michael’s is near the centre of Braintree, just off the High Street, in St Michael’s Lane. There is a regular train service from London and from the east of the county. It is expected that the meeting will finish at 12.30 with the opportunity to stay on over lunch. For further details, please contact Revd John P Richardson on 01279 813703 or by e-mail, j.p.richardson@virgin.net.

Ed: If you are an interested reader of this blog, please give this meeting as much publicity as possible.

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Peter Tatchell: denying freedom of speech may have prevented rise of Hitler

Ed: The question which this begs is whether a government in 1920s Germany which prevented freedom of speech in the way Tatchell suggests would itself have eventually given way to a better regime than Hitler's or Stalin's. As always, when 'fascism' is invoked as the enemy, one should also re-read George Orwell's classic essay, What is Fascism?, where he comments, "It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print."

[...] Free speech is the ideal. But it is not absolute. There may be a small number circumstances where free speech can be legitimately limited to protect individuals and communities. We already accept the notion that free speech does not include the right to falsely libel a person as a paedophile, terrorist or a fraudster. Nor does the law allow people to incite violence or murder. Restricting free speech may be wrong and undesirable, but it is sometimes the lesser of two evils.

Let’s go back in history. It is possible that if there had been no free speech for Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany during the early 1920s – if their meetings and marches had been stopped – they may not have grown in strength and influence. Denying them an opportunity to propagandise, gain respectability and enter the political mainstream might have thwarted their rise to power. This may have prevented the Nazis from assuming the government of Germany. Without Hitler in power, the Holocaust and World War Two may not have happened. Tens of millions of lives may have been saved if the free speech of Nazis had been suppressed early on.

This is, of course, historical speculation. We don’t know for sure. But it is plausible that “no platform” for Nazis in the 1920s could have prevented the horrors the Nazis later perpetrated. On these grounds, I would argue that it would have been justified to deny the Nazi Party freedom of speech.

Read more
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Archbishop thrown into row over US Middle East policy

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, found himself plunged into political controversy yesterday after remarks made during the course of a wide-ranging interview for a Muslim magazine were translated into an all-out attack on American policy in the Middle East.

The archbishop told Emel magazine in what it described as "a series of profound views expressed in serene tranquillity" that the US had lost the moral high ground since the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, and that Washington's attempts to accumulate influence and control in the region were not working.

He was quoted as saying: "It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that's what the British empire did - in India, for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put things back together - Iraq, for example."

The Sunday Times interpreted the remarks as implying that the US was the "worst" imperialist nation and that the crisis was caused by its actions and its misguided sense of its own mission. Read more
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Gang life in 'Great' Britain

[...] The other day they stripped someone naked and made them walk through Peckham High Street. If you don't want that kind of thing, then you need to earn the respect. How did I get the respect of the north London boys? You have to be the cruellest, the most violent, the most intimidating. You don't even need to use brute force. Sometimes it's mind games, spreading stuff about them within their gang, intimidating them over the phone. Text messages do get used. But people are getting more aware that there's a record of your text, it makes more sense to use a pay phone or something that's harder to trace. I had to get a few people who weren't showing me enough respect. A boy I was friends with borrowed a CD and one of my shirts and didn't bother to give them me back. So I broke into his house and stabbed him while he was asleep.

I got out of it because I was given a chance. I was raised all my life to think I was worthless. But then when I was living in a shared house there was a family from Mauritius in the next bedroom. They knew I wasn't really all right. They took me to a South American church and that's how I learned a lot more about morals and remorse. The pastors helped me a lot.

If it wasn't for this family I probably would have ended up falling back into it. A lot of middle-class people think that gangs are untouchable and youths are unreachable, but that's not the case - these 13- and 14-year-old boys are scared, they are looking for guidance and they're going to anyone who can provide it, whether that's a 30-year-old gang leader or a 20-year-old church member. That's why I love the family. They couldn't even speak English, but they still managed to help me. They took a chance and said, "I'm not going to judge you." I think that was one of the most inspirational things. Read more
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