by Christopher Landau, Premier Christianity
The General Synod of the Church of England has voted to ditch an infamous 1991 document which expressed traditional views on human sexuality. What are the implications of the church’s decision? Rev Dr Christopher Landau gives his view
To appreciate the significance that the document ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ has had in the recent life of the church, it’s worth noting that for decades, anyone exploring a calling to ordained ministry within the Church of England has had to assent to it.
Official documents state that they must have “read, understood and agreed to live within the guidelines”.
For many ordinands, and particularly those from sexual minorities, it has been a document that, however well-intentioned originally, has caused pain – both through its clunkily outdated language (using ‘homophile’ to describe gay people), and assumptions (its suggestion that bisexuality, of itself, is synonymous with sexual sin has attracted particular criticism).
The Synod’s decision to remove any reference to this ‘Issues’ document within the official vocations process does not, however, herald a theological free-for-all. There is a new document to which clergy must assent: the ’Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy’. And these guidelines are, in fact, crystal clear about the church’s teaching on marriage being male-female, and on sex: “The clergy should set an example of integrity in relationships, and faithfulness in marriage. Marital infidelity is regarded as “unbecoming or inappropriate conduct”… Sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively.”
If you have been following the twists and turns of the Church of England’s debates on sexuality, you might be forgiven for having thought that the decision to allow blessings of gay couples (within existing church services) represented a wholesale abandonment of traditional teaching.
Indeed it was two years ago that I wrote a piece with the headline ‘CofE leaders have forgotten Church teaching on sex’. It was a time of real theological tumult, when – it seemed – pretty much everything about theology, sex and marriage was up for discussion.