Why are so many of the clergy gay? - Anglin Mastream

Contents:

• CHURCH OF ENGLAND 'MT ACCEPT ACTIVELY GAY CLERGY'
• GAY CLERGY URGE GREATER CLN CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• WHY ARE SO MANY OF THE CLERGY GAY?
• SURVEY SET TO REVEAL NUMBER OF GAY CLERGY CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• BISHOP ALAN WILSON ENURAG GAY CLERGY IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO COME OUT
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND 'MT ACCEPT ACTIVELY GAY CLERGY'

Church of England prits will be permted to bls the civil marriag of same-sex upl a profound shift the church’s stance on homosexualy after a historic vote by s erng first blsgs for gay upl uld happen this summer. ”Nigel Pietroni, the chair of the Campaign for Equal Marriage the C of E, said the cisn “falls short of what we ultimately believe is the only oute for radil cln – equal marriage for all people”, but was “a small step forward” gay rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell said: “The offer of blsgs to same-sex partners is an sult. A leadg historian has lled for the Church of England to accept gay partnerships among s clergy, stead of enuragg them to hi their sexualy or rema celibate.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, profsor of the history of the church at the Universy of Oxford and prenter of BBC4's A History of Christiany, wr the Guardian that while there has been a revolutn attus towards gay people the UK, "the church has jt stuck s fgers s ears and chanted la-la-la". "His ments e nearly a week after was revealed that Jefey John, the most senr openly gay cleric the church, was nsirg sug his employers for discrimatn.

GAY CLERGY URGE GREATER CLN CHURCH OF ENGLAND

MacCulloch argu that "the Anglin munn has … imposed pulsory celibacy on a large sectn of s clergy: those who regnise they are predomantly gay sexual orientatn". He also cricis the selectn procs for new prits, which he says is obssed wh the sexualy of ndidat and "vot an ordate amount of time to quizzg them about " the moment the church's posn is that there is no bar to gay people assumg cleril office, even if they are civil partnerships, wh the ccial proviso that they mt not be sexually active.

WHY ARE SO MANY OF THE CLERGY GAY?

"Reverend Rod Thomas, chair of the nservative group Reform, said the appotment of a gay bishop England would lead to divisn the church as had done the US. "Explag the church's abily to e to terms wh the issue of gay clergy, MacCulloch poted to a crisis of masculy. "It's tertg that female homosexualy don't tert the clergy so much.

It's male homosexualy and that's bee 's still a very male-domated stutn. Fourteen Church of England clergy same-sex marriag have lled on bishops to do more to clu gay people the life of the a letter to the Sunday Tim, they said they wanted to eventually see gay upl allowed to marry Church. Some of the clergy signg the letter were revealg they were gay and married for the first time letter after Bishop Nicholas Chamberla said on Friday he was gay and a relatnship.

SURVEY SET TO REVEAL NUMBER OF GAY CLERGY CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Publitn the n-up to a College of Bishops meetg om 12 to 15 September which will discs issu of epispal mistry and clergy said bishops should be bold, and allow gay people to "celebrate whout fear and openns", though they said that now is not yet the time to change the church's official unrstandg of letter reads: "But many our parish have already ma that move and is time to rpect that a diversy of theology wh the Church now exists and that there is more than one unrstandg of what a fahful Christian may believe on the issu. "Image source, Dce of LlnImage ptn, The Bishop of Grantham beme a sufagan the Lln dce November last yearBishop Chamberla revealed he was gay an terview wh the Guardian, which he said he unrstood and lived by the Church guil, which say gay clergy mt rema celibate.

Followg the news, the nservative Anglin group Gafn said appotg a gay man as the bishop of Grantham had been a "major error" Chamberla was nsecrated last year by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Jt Welby - who has said he knew about the bishop's sex relatnships and the ChurchThe Hoe of Bishops has issued guidance about gay relatnships which say "same sex relatnships often embody genue mutualy and fily" the guidance adds: "Gettg married to someone of the same sex would, however, clearly be at variance wh the teachg of the Church of England. "However, the sentiments have not been followed throughout the Anglin source, PAImage ptn, Gene Robson is nsired the first openly gay bishop the Anglin worldIn the US, Gene Robson's electn as Bishop of the Epispal Dce of New Hampshire 2003 provoked a furore om nservative Anglins around the world, and ntributed to the rise of the nservative Gafn the UK, the Dean of St Albans, the Very Reverend Jefey John entered to a civil partnership was twice tipped to bee a bishop - at Readg 2003, then at Southwark 2010 - but was not appoted. A natnal survey of the number of homosexual clergy the Church of England will take place this year, acrdg to gay rights mpaigners.

Inclive Church, a work of dividuals and anisatns workg for better regnn of mori, says the survey will be the first of s kd and will prove that lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenred (LGBT) clergy play a ccial role the everyday life of the onle survey will ask participants whether they are sgle, a relatnship, and have had a blsg or thanksgivg service to celebrate their partnership. "The survey would start late November and take about six months to plete; would be nducted by a firm specialisg populatn month the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, reerated his opposn to ordag gay clergy and thorisg same-sex blsgs, sayg they were "at the very least analogo" to Christian marriage and people livg such unns uld not "whout ser ngy" have a reprentative functn a church whose public teachg was "at odds wh their liftyle".

BISHOP ALAN WILSON ENURAG GAY CLERGY IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO COME OUT

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) A leadg member of the Church of England has lled on gay bishops to “e out” as England celebrated s first same-sex weddgs secular Wilson, bishop of Buckgham, said the time has e for gay bishops to make themselv known. He cricized the church’s stance of not regnizg same-sex marriage as “sheer celty” and “morally outrageo, ” addg: ”Most gay people would be happier out, cludg bishops. ”Wilson, 59, said he was not to “outg” gay people.

“I don’t have a medil file on all my lleagu but has been claimed that there are 13 gay bishops the Church of England, ” he ments add prsure on the Church of England’s stance on gay marriage. Col Coward, director of the gay and lbian fom Changg Attu. Coward wrote: “I would nfintly name 13 bishops ( the Church of England) as beg gay, meang 10 percent of bishops England are gay.

Changg Attu was found 1995 and Coward is a regular ntributor to the “Archbishop Cranmer” webse, which often reveals stori — and sndals — not wily known secular or relig said he has “sympathy” for gay Church of England bishops.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE

”“Allowg gay people to marry is good for everybody and I’m lighted, ” he wrote the current issue of the gay weekly newspaper PkNew. “It’s time to stop talkg about ‘gay marriage’ — the legal, personal and social realy is simply ‘marriage.