The last six days: the story so far and the implications

On Wednesday, the Archbishop of Canterbury used his Presidential address at General Synod to portray a vision of the Church of England as a place of gracious conversation and “good disagreement”, overcoming fear with love, as a witness to the Gospel of reconciliation. He expressed hope that through facilitated conversations, those who believe that homosexual practice is sinful, and those who believe it to be a natural part of a loving relationship between gay people that is perfectly compatible with Christian discipleship, should be able to co-exist in a church which has a united mission in Christ’s name.

 

Early on Saturday morning a Statement of Pastoral Guidance on Same Sex Marriage was issued by the House of Bishops. The Guidance document itself rules out endorsement of same sex marriage or formal blessing of gay relationships, while at the same time rejecting any exclusion of partnered gay people from church fellowship and sacraments.

 

There is no need to doubt the hard work of the Bishops and their sincerity in trying to bring clarity and harmony as we prepare for the advent of same sex ‘marriage’. But a brief survey of the blogs, statements and comments immediately following (see for example here) shows what kind of task faces those preparing to set up the facilitated conversations. On one hand, though confessing Anglicans have given some key aspects of the Bishops’ statement a cautious welcome, there remains much unease about the future, and we will come back to that.

 

 

On the other hand, the response of many liberal Anglicans has been predictably furious. Simply by keeping the policy of the Church the same as it has always been, the Bishops are accused of pandering to GAFCON, not recognizing human rights, making the church “unfriendly… toxic… legalistic” (Colin Coward), unwelcoming, backward-looking, etc. Already a petition demanding the rescinding of the Statement apparently has more than two thousand signatures. Threats are being openly made that clergy will defy the Guidance, ‘marry’ their same sex partners and offer services of blessing to gay couples, and then challenge their Bishops to impose a clergy discipline measure. Others are keeping quiet, satisfied in the belief that the pressure of government, media and legal challenge will force the Church to capitulate, particularly after the conclusion of the ‘conversation’ process.

 

So initial response to the statement does not seem to indicate the right context for rapprochement and reconciliation as the Archbishop would wish.

 

Then, the conservative response. Speaking as an Anglican evangelical, as a group we have never expected the C of E to be uniformly orthodox in its policies and leadership personnel  – in fact perhaps the opposite. But we have operated under the protection of the official if nominal adherence to founding documents – Scripture, 39 Articles, BCP – and the relative autonomy of the Parish system. Over the years, heterodox innovations at the top have not been seen necessarily as a threat to the vitality of the local church on the ground, based on Bible teaching, prayer, mutual support and mission into the community in the power of the Spirit, all of which can be backed up by reference to what the Church officially stands for. We have got on with Gospel work, grateful for the solid framework of the Church of England but not paying too much heed to the latest eccentric pronouncement.

 

 

 

 

 

1.      It may be that the population as a whole is not as uniformly in favour of the new agenda as is sometimes made out. Ian Paul points out that a church following an increasingly politically correct agenda, instead of becoming more relevant to society, will only distance itself more from many people especially the vast number of unreached, ordinary working class blokes, who are nowhere near its pews. Most understand very well the difference between real ‘homophobia’ and traditional family values. Who knows – government and media might be distancing themselves from the same audience?

2.      Local churches are standing firm on the ground. People are finding Christ and his easy yoke. Ways are being found to help lay people think biblically and act with love and self control. Networks of churches whose leaders get what is happening are strengthening, and the links between these networks and the worldwide GAFCON movement are developing.

3.      God is in control. Last week when I was worrying about this whole thing, my wife and I read this in Isaiah 8:11-18