Here I am, posting another blog dealing with the Church of England in crisis when I really want to be writing about the far more critical existential crisis going on moment, of which this week’s events are but one element. There needs to be a far, far more radical transformation of the life and culture of the Church of England, a movement developing in the root, seeing and feeling the essence of unconditional love.
Many in the Church of England are involved with movements and campaigns for justice and equality: for women, LGBTQIA+ people, black and ethnic minority people, those living in poverty, the abused, those denigrated and despised as unwelcome and unwanted immigrants. All these campaigns and movements are transforming our moral universe despite the resistance of many in the Church. Progress towards creating a healthy Church, working towards the full equality of all creation, rooted in the Jesus essence of life in all its fullness is the vision of the progressive, spiritual, prophetic, evolutionary movements working constructively together.
The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, speaking at General Synod about LLF on Saturday, said: “It strikes me that all our children and grandchildren are having sex – they’re having sex. More than half the people who come to us for marriage are living together and they’re having sex, so what is it about homosexual sex that we’re reacting in such a visceral way? Can we make sure at the end of the day God’s love is on the table and that we do not allow people to feel less than human but instead made in the image of God?”
Has this Lambeth Conference successfully achieved a breakthrough leading to a successful outcome for the Living in Love and Faith project and a transformation of the status of LGBTQIA+ people leading to our radical new Christian inclusion? The failure of all but two Church of England bishops to sign the letter supporting LGBTQIA+ people is deeply distressing for us and our allies. Many are understandably very angry and feel betrayed.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the Ozanne Foundation shows that a majority of members of the Church of England now support equal marriage for lesbian and gay couples despite the Church of England’s refusal to allow equal marriage or blessings in church. Changing Attitude England has been campaigning for the full equality of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church of England since 1995. The findings of the YouGov poll brings greater urgency to the need for equal marriage and ministry in the Church of England after more than four decades of exploration and study.
Canon Mark Oakley has coined a new word, saying “we need a brave Tutufication of the Church, allowing bishops more creativity, freedom of speech and honesty about what they believe, with a commitment to never let religion compromise justice.” I believe the entirety of the Church of England needs a far more radical ‘Tutufication’. For a start, the Church needs bishops who with the courage and independence of mind to individually Tutuficate themselves. Today’s House of Bishops is composed of men and women with none of the Christian conviction, courage, radicalism, independence of mind, freedom of heart and soul, playfulness and energy that fuelled Desmond Tutu and transformed people open enough to respond to his proclamation of God’s unconditional love, energy, truth and justice.
The Church of England’s General Synod Motion of 2017 was unequivocal in its call for a ban on so-called conversion therapy. The UK Government has not only delayed taking action but has recently begun to add the qualifying word ‘coercive’. Is a distinction being drawn between so-called conversion therapy that is coercive and other practices, such as prayer ministry, that are thought to be acceptable? Clarity about the meaning of coercive and non-coercive in this context is urgently needed. The Government seems to be consulting with those determined to protect harmful faith-based practices.
For seven decades the bishops have taken to themselves the right to decide who we are and what we are allowed to be and how we are allowed to function in the Church, lay or ordained. And still we play along with this, suppressing what we know about ourselves, playing the Church game according to Church rules. I have been edging my way towards saying “we refuse to conform to your rules any longer.” That is what re-launching Changing Attitude England is doing – refusing to play by House of Bishops’ rules.
