British bishop rebukes Sydney Anglican leader’s call for gay marriage supporters to leave church

Oct 24, 2019 by Andrew Symes

by Harriet Sherwood, Guardian:

A senior Church of England bishop has expressed regret at comments by the Archbishop of Sydney that supporters of marriage equality should leave the Anglican church.

Reflecting sharp divisions within the global Anglican communion over LGBT+ issues, the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, said: “I regret that the archbishop [of Sydney] seems to want to exclude people rather than to engage with them within the wider Anglican family.”

Archbishop Glenn Davies said last week that those who supported same-sex marriage should abandon the church.

“If people wish to change the doctrine of our church, they should start a new church or join a church more aligned to their views – but do not ruin the Anglican church by abandoning the plain teaching of scripture,” he said. “Please leave us.”

Davies’ remarks drew rebukes from other representatives of the church around Australia last week, with many interpreting his comments as being directed at everyone in the church – though he later said they were aimed at bishops rather than parishioners. Now other representatives from the UK have joined in.

A spokesperson for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who is the leader of the global Anglican communion, declined to comment on Davies’ remarks.

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