Church of England backs special services marking new identities for transgender people

Jul 9, 2017 by

by Mark Woods, Christian Today:

Church of England bishops are to consider preparing service materials for transgender people following a vote by its General Synod this afternoon.

A motion from the Blackburn diocese proposed by the Rev Chris Newlands called on the House of Bishops to ‘consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person’s gender transition’.

He referred in a briefing paper to a man he calls ‘George’, who had transitioned from being female and felt the need to ‘reintroduce himself to God, with his new name and gender identity’. Speaking to the Synod he said this case was ‘the spark which turned my desire to speak out for trans people into a flame’. He also spoke of another case in which parents with a transgender child in an evangelical Church of England parish had received support from ‘many if not all’ church families. They hoped the Church would ‘soon learn to offer them not just grudging acceptance but full acceptance and support’.

‘Our welcome has to be Christlike, our arms outsretched in love,’ Newlands said. ‘The welcome we offer is the mark of our ministry in Jesus name.’

While he acknowledge worship material was available, he said: ‘For a service of welcome and affirmation for transgender people, we can do better than adapting something already there. They deserve better than that.’

Read here

 

Related Posts

Tags

Share This