by Tim Wyatt, Premier Christianity
Why a CofE fringe event has sparked a safeguarding row
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said a controversial meeting sharing the stories of ex-gay Christians can go ahead at next week’s General Synod – but a exhibition stand promoting it cannot. Tim Wyatt explains why some members think it is a safeguarding issue – and why ongoing debates about sexuality are still causing issues. […]
What does this mean for the Church?
There remains a spectrum of thinking on both sexuality and conversion therapy within the CofE. While the 2017 motion seems unambiguous, in fact – as the government itself discovered while trying to draft a bill – how to define what is and what is not considered conversion therapy is very challenging.
While everyone is opposed to abusive and non-consensual attempts to forcibly change someone’s orientation in the name of Christian discipleship, many evangelical and conservative-leaning churches would still be open to praying in a pastoral way for a Christian who wished to no longer be sexually attracted to their own gender.
In some ways, this row over a fringe meeting likely to be attended by only a few dozen people is a spillover from the hyper-contentious Living in Love and Faith project.
The liberal wing of synod remains deeply frustrated that, despite their narrow majority, they have been unable to introduce gay marriage in church or change the ban on vicars marrying their same-sex partners in civil ceremonies.
During the endless arguments over gay blessings, the liberal faction became both more organised and more dissatisfied with the status quo. This week’s synod meeting is the final one before fresh elections are held in the autumn. A central campaigning point for progressives will be to try and gain more seats to tip them over the line of a two-thirds supermajority, which would make it possible to actually rewrite Church teaching on sexuality and marriage for good.
However, the conservative minority remains equally entrenched and determined to resist what they see as dangerous revisionism. Many have long been worried that a legal ban on conversion therapy will be used by to censor and even criminalise traditional teaching on sexuality. This micro-row over a fringe meeting will only reinforce these concerns.