The Rejection of “Gay Blessings”
By Dave Doveton, Anglican Mainstream.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s recent Provincial Synod had on the agenda a motion to approve a set of prayers for the ‘blessing’ of same sex couples. The motion was defeated[i].
There have been repeated attempts by a fringe group of gay rights activists, encouraged and supported by several diocesan bishops – mainly from the dioceses which make up the greater urban region of Cape Town and environs – to broker in the approval of homosexual relationships by the church. This attempt has over the past several years been resisted both in the House of Bishops and the Province.
Dioceses such as the Diocese of Port Elizabeth, a firmly evangelical diocese have been firm in their rejection of any moves to sanction prayers of blessings or any change of doctrine which would allow gay marriage (legal in South Africa since 2006). Bishop Eddie Daniels initiated a process this year to get the mind of the diocese on the matter and the verdict was unanimous in support of classical biblical teaching on the matter. In contrast, some Bishops in the Cape Town region have actively campaigned to have gay blessings approved. Lesbian and gay couples have toured parishes speaking to congregations in an attempt to sway opinions. A short video was also circulated featuring a gay couple who extolled the virtues of their love and friendship. This indicates the well worn strategy of using emotion and sentiment as weapons of persuasion. These are the highly manipulative public persuasion tactics used in social marketing and outlined in Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen’s book, “After the Ball: How America will conquer its fear and hatred of gays in the 90’s”. These methods have been successful in changing whole denominations (such as The Episcopal Church (USA), the Anglican Church of Canada and more recently the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of England). It is also a reflection of the influence of western gender ideologies which subvert biblical doctrine on human identity and sexual morality. The arguments used are on the whole dismissive of received doctrine and external norms such as biblical law, prioritising internal subjective feeling and convictions. These override all else – this of course is the essence of the old heresy of Gnosticism. The world-renowned psychologist Jordan Petersen has recently warned that the western protestant churches have by embracing the ‘woke rainbow mob’ been captured. “When the Christians start worshiping hedonistic pride”, he said, “something has gone dreadfully wrong.”[ii]
The Anglican Provinces of Africa have been unanimous in their rejection of this heresy – only Southern Africa seems to have suffered an infection. Infections if not resisted are sadly often fatal to human bodies, but also the body of the Church. In 2 Timothy 4:3 Paul states, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” The Greek translated as ‘sound teaching’ can also be translated ‘healthy teaching’, emphasising the vital importance of right doctrine for the spiritual health of the Church. We continue to pray for health and healing.
[i] See Press Release: https://anglicanchurchsa.org/provincial-synod-rejects-prayers-for-same-sex-couples/
[ii]https://www.christiantoday.com/article/jordan.peterson.says.woke.rainbow.mob.is.infiltrating.protestant.
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