Bishops

An Open Letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England

An Open Letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England

Changing Attitude England is one of the seven groups who have written an open letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England expressing our concern about the draft Lambeth Call on Human Dignity, to be discussed and possibly issued by the forthcoming Lambeth Conference. This Call has been drafted with reference to Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. It says: “It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same gender marriage is not permissible. Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. It is the mind of the Communion to uphold “faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union.” Were it to be accepted, it would fatally sabotage the Living in Love and Faith process and rule out any possibility of progress towards the Archbishops’ vision of a radical new Christian inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people.

The abusive toxic culture produced by the evangelical doctrine of penal substitution

The abusive toxic culture produced by the evangelical doctrine of penal substitution

The Iwerne Trust produced many of the most prominent Evangelical Christian leaders, people associated with Reformed theology in the Church of England over the past 40 years. At the heart of the Iwerne philosophy was a brand of wholehearted, sacrificial, masculine Christianity maintained by a detailed programme of supervision. Its origins lie in the toxic culture created by the founder of the Iwerne network, Eric Nash. John Smyth’s regime of abuse continues to affect the culture of today’s Church of England. The powerful theology and culture of the movement is being leveraged in contemporary debates on gender and sexuality. It is abusive.

Forty LGBTIQ+ people and allies write a second letter to thirty five bishops

Forty LGBTIQ+ people and allies write a second letter to thirty five bishops

In November 2020 a pro-LGBTIQ+ group wrote to thirty two bishops known to be supportive of LGBTIQ+ people. Eleven replied. We have written a second letter, this time to thirty five bishops, reminding them of the questions we asked in the first letter. We believe the LLF is primarily yet another attempt to resolve the conundrum the Church of England has been trying to find a way out of for two decades or more. We have asked the bishops a second time - are you prepared to ensure that when the LLF process returns to Synod in 2022 you will take responsibility for tabling proposals that enact the Archbishops’ commitment to radical inclusion?

LLF and Systemic Homophobia in the Church of England

LLF and Systemic Homophobia in the Church of England

Homophobia is woven through Christianity’s culture, teaching and practice, unnoticed. When the Living in Love and Faith process was announced I warned that it was simply a further delaying tactic but people wanted to believe in the process and the commitment made by the Archbishops to radical inclusion. Now I warn that when it is brought to Synod in 2022 nothing radical will be proposed. Instead there will be a further period in which the implications of the current process will be re-processed and digested. The purpose of the campaign that the re-created Changing Attitude England group is conducting is to engage creatively with the bishops in the hope that by the time they bring proposals to Synod in 2022 they will understand that if they do not address equal marriage in church and equality for clergy and lay ministers, we will be really angry, and they will know why.

How pro-LGBTIQ+ bishops responded to letter about LLF process

How pro-LGBTIQ+ bishops responded to letter about LLF process

At the end of November 2020 we wrote to thirty two bishops known to be supportive of LGBTIQ+ people in the Church of England following the publication of videos by The Church of England Evangelical Council and Christian Concern. Ten bishops responded, twenty two didn’t reply. A summary of the responses is included here. We are about to send a second letter to the thirty four bishops.

Inclusive pro-LGBTIQ+ group writes to thirty four pro-gay bishops

Inclusive pro-LGBTIQ+ group writes to thirty four pro-gay bishops

An inclusive pro-LGBTIQ+ group including gay and straight members has written to thirty four bishops known to be supporters of LGBTIQ+ people. Our initiative was motivated by the videos posted, one by the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) and another by Christian Concern supported by Anglican Mainstream. We need to know whether a core of bishops is able to express public support for the full equality of LGBTIQ+ people in ministry and relationship in the Church of England including permitting those going forward to selection for ministry and for licensed Readers and clergy to marry same-sex partners, conduct same-sex marriages in church and bless marriages and civil partnerships, with the same parameters as apply to opposite sex marriages.

Love, honesty, openness, courage and integrity please, bishops

Love, honesty, openness, courage and integrity please, bishops

The latest issue of Private Eye carries an article about bishops in the Church of England. It opens with comments about the recently published guidelines on heterosexual civil partnerships and moves on to comments about the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart. Private Eye says there are those in Birmingham diocese who question his own unusual domestic relationships. The guilty party in all of this is the bishops themselves, collectively, with one or two honourable exceptions. Some of them argue forcefully for what they claim are Biblical teachings that result in rank dishonesty and prejudice about LGBTI people in the Church of England. They are responsible for enforcing a closeted life on otherwise honourable, loving, deeply pastoral, and gifted people.

Clergy Blue Files and the illegal behaviour of bishops and their chaplains

Clergy Blue Files and the illegal behaviour of bishops and their chaplains

Emails between four bishops’ chaplains asking questions about whether priests can be shown their Clergy Current Status Letter (CCSL) have been sent to me. Some bishops and bishops’ chaplains are acting illegally and in ways designed to withhold information (to which they are legally entitled) from clerics, and from receiving bishops. I was shocked by the chaplains’ emails. Am I naive? overly optimistic? Clearly I am. After 25 and more years of involvement with Anglican attitudes to LGBTI people I know what the culture and practice is like. It’s abusive, manipulative, dishonest, unchristian, self-serving, often designed to protect the reputation of the church and individual bishops above the protection of victims.

A revolutionary or evolutionary moment?

A revolutionary or evolutionary moment?

People are identifying recent events as signifying the moment when the Church of England’s version of Christianity is being forced to face up to the expectation from within and outside the church that it must become a genuinely inclusive organisation modelling radical equality in gender and relationships in the context of ministry, practice and teaching. Some predict that a tipping point has been reached. What are the significant events that suggest this might be so?