Church of England schools must safeguard different views on gender and sexuality, says bishop

Jul 6, 2019 by Jill

from Christian Today:

Staff and students are “not to be undermined” at Church of England schools for their views on gender and sexuality, a senior Church official said on Friday.

Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Ely and chair of the National Society – the Church of England’s educational body – said that schools had certain duties in light of faith being a protected characteristic under British law.

“All schools are bound to make sure that students, staff, governors are all safeguarded and not to be undermined if they take a particular view from a Christian perspective,” he told the Church of England General Synod on Friday,

“There’s no way in which the National Society can monitor this too closely but all schools are bound to provide this protection for every member of the community.”

Questions have arisen over the Church’s stance following the controversy surrounding the resignation of John Parker as a C of E school governor over its handling of a child’s transition.

He said that the Bishop of Chelmsford had told him that his “biblical views on sexuality were not welcome in the Church of England” and that he could “leave” – accusations that the bishop has repeatedly denied.

Explaining the reasons for his resignation, Mr Parker expressed concern at the school’s decision to bring in controversial transgender lobby group Mermaids to do a staff training session.

On Friday, Synod member and conservative evangelical blogger Ian Paul asked why the Church of England had included Mermaids in the ‘helpful resources’ section of ‘Valuing All God’s Children’, its policy document on eradicating homophobic and transphobic bullying in its schools.

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