What signal was given by the Ely Pride flag?
by Ian Paul, Psephizo:
Last weekend, Ely Cathedral flew a rainbow Pride flag in order to signal support for the Ely Pride festival taking place (for the first time) over the weekend. The decision was made on the recommendation of the Dean, Mark Bonney, and the cathedral chapter voted to accept his recommendation—though this was not a decision by the diocese or the diocesan bishop, Stephen Conway, since (like local churches) cathedrals have no formal need to consult. Bonney told the local paper:
I am pleased to lend my backing to this community event because it celebrates the breadth and diversity of the community in which we all live.
I am also very conscious that Christians have not always been perceived as being very supportive and inclusive as some of us would wish, and so I am pleased to fly this flag as a sign of the kind of inclusion that I wish to promote at the cathedral.
The Pride event was comparatively low key, and the flying of the flag by the Cathedral didn’t appear to attract much coverage. But there was the usual robust response from former Church of England minister Gavin Ashenden:
The Dean of Ely has adopted the secular values of a culture that has set its face against Christianity, and is waging a war against Judaeo-Christian culture. Sexual ethics have always been at the heart of the Christian’s struggle with sin, the world and the devil. But it seems the Dean of Ely is not over concerned with either sin, or the distinction between the Church and the world, or the struggle with evil.
Lee Gatiss, who is Director of Church Society and lives in the diocese, wrote a brief comment on the Church Society website:
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