The first openly gay bishop is a huge step forward – but ’s not enough | Vicky Beechg | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE FIRST OPENLY GAY BISHOP IS A HUGE STEP FORWARD – BUT ’S NOT ENOUGH
• SO HOW MANY GAY BISHOPS ARE THERE ENGLAND?
• UNED METHODIST CHURCH BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP VLATN OF S L: 'INMAT NNG THE ASYLUM'
• UNED METHODISTS ELECT ANOTHER GAY BISHOP, SET LIBERAL NEW DIRECTN
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP REVEALS HE IS A GAY RELATNSHIP
• GAY CLERGY URGE GREATER CLN CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• ENGLAND’S TOP CATHOLIC BISHOP ENDORS GAY CIVIL UNNS
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONMNS GAY CLERICS FOR OUTG PRITS AS BISHOPS PREP FOR LGBT DEBATE
• LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE
• JT WELBY ACCED OF BOWG TO HOMOPHOBIA AFTER BANNG GAY BISHOP'S HBAND OM CHURCH SUMM
• THE SIX OPENLY PARTNERED/MARRIED GAY/LBIAN BISHOPS ATTENDG LAMBETH 2022

THE FIRST OPENLY GAY BISHOP IS A HUGE STEP FORWARD – BUT ’S NOT ENOUGH

Although ’s a huge step forward to see a gay bishop e out, the ongog problem is that only some gay upl are acceptable to the Church of England. For me, as an openly gay Christian who disagre wh enforced celibacy and believ prits should be able to marry, I fear I’d simply be openg myself up to further damage, discrimatn, and heartache.

I worry that we are losg young people not jt om future clergy rol, but om even om stg the pews, due to our slow progrs on matters of g out, Chamberla said: “People know I’m gay, but ’s not the first thg I’d say to anyone.

If the church wants to keep s current prits, and attract a new wave of recs, we need urgent progrs so that gay people feel safe wh s walls. Although Jt Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, recently affirmed the validy of a 1998 claratn that gay sex was a s, there are signs that the C of E may be movg towards allowg clergy to follow their nscience on the issue. Anglin church the US, Stland and Canada have already moved to start nductg same-sex weddgs, while the church Wal has started offerg blsgs to married gay upl.

SO HOW MANY GAY BISHOPS ARE THERE ENGLAND?

A le a piece published the Daily Beast on gay clergy weddgs for the Church of England illtrat the mers of moratn. The tone, foc and edorial voice of the recent story “Meet the Gay Prit Gettg Married” lds the subject of the profile, a Church of England prit who has vowed to marry his gay partner spe beg told such an act vlated church l. But the plea for sympathy and support for the prit his battle wh a harsh and opprsive burecracy, was overshadowed by the article’s ccial claim that almost a third of the Church of England’s bishops are gay.

UNED METHODIST CHURCH BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP VLATN OF S L: 'INMAT NNG THE ASYLUM'

The tabloids as well as the gay specialty prs picked up this statement and the issue jour beme hypocrisy on high — not the ltle guy fightg the good fight.

A clergyman, who did not wish to be named, claimed that at least 13 of the church’s 42 bishops were also gay, although they have not publicly acknowledged .

UNED METHODISTS ELECT ANOTHER GAY BISHOP, SET LIBERAL NEW DIRECTN

Before I start on the gay bishop claim, let me say a word or two about the nard that England got a new church bee Henry wanted a new wife. Once aga, the isson this article created, however, has not been over same-sex marriage and the clergy or even Henry VIII, is the claim that a third of the Church of England’s bishops are gay.

Changg Attu, a gay advocy group wh the Church of England, has raised this issue over the years. Outed 10 Church of England bishops whom claimed were gay, and monstrators dispted the nsecratn service of one of the 10, the Bishop of Durham, after he refed to e out of the closet.

Do they believe homosexual acts are not sful and feel ee to act upon them so long as they keep quiet about and not publicly ntradict church teachg? A regnal body of the Uned Methodist Church (UMC) voted to elect the nomatn's first openly gay Black bishop last week vlatn of s l prohibg the ordatn of "self-avowed practicg homosexuals. Her ordatn was emed valid by the Uned Methodist Judicial Council 2017, but she remas her CHURCH OF ENGLAND OFFICIALS ENDORSE GAY MARRIAGE: ‘RANK HERESY’The UMC, which is the third-largt Prottant nomatn the U.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP REVEALS HE IS A GAY RELATNSHIP

Bishop Karen Oliveto, the UMC's first openly gay bishop, speaks at Iliff School of Theology, on April 26, 2017, Denver, Colorado. "Several nservative members of the Methodist clergy told Fox News Digal June that far om settlg the issue, however, the 2019 vote was disregard by many liberal lears wh the UMC who cid to rema the nomatn while missng openly gay clergy and officiatg same-sex weddgs Lomperis of the Instute on Relign & Democracy, who has served as a UMC General Conference legate, told The Christian Post that Bridgeforth's promotn exhibs "further direct fiance of the UMC’s official l, which is creasgly beg normalized.

”Showg the new normal, a send openly partnered, gay activist bishop, Cedric Bridgeforth, was elected the Wtern Jurisdictn, and a third me historilly close to beg elected the Northeast, openly breakg longstandg l banng “self-avowed, practicg homosexual” clergy.

But the gay activist bishops’ lavish, six-figure salari are subsidized annually by apportnments taken om Uned Methodist offerg plat across the untry.

GAY CLERGY URGE GREATER CLN CHURCH OF ENGLAND

More bishops have e out support of gay marriage after the Bishop of Oxford beme the most senr Church of England cleric to ll for a break wh Rt Rev Steven Croft said that he wanted to acknowledge the “acute pa and distrs of LGBTQ+ people the life of the Church”, and said that he was sorry his views on same-sex marriage were “slow to change” and had “ed genue hurt, disagreement and pa” his landmark claratn on Thursday night, which broke ranks wh the Church’s current view on this issue, he said that as well as beg able to nduct marriag for their ngregatn, clergy should also be allowed to marry a same-sex partner. The Bishop of Oxford lled for a change non law to allow same-sex marriag and said that gay Christians, cludg clergy, should have the “eedom to marry same-sex partners [and] eedom to be sexually active” wh those beme the first servg senr bishop the Church of England – out of the two Archbishops and 35 servg dcan bishops – to explicly ll for the Church to nduct same-sex ments me as Church of England bishops are currently nsirg whether to remend any chang to the centuri-old doctre that only oppose-sex upl should Febary, the bishops will prent their long-awaed fdgs to the General Synod and their remendatns uld pave the way for an historic vote followg s of divisn.

ENGLAND’S TOP CATHOLIC BISHOP ENDORS GAY CIVIL UNNS

Followg six years of nsultatn and liberatn, bishops have rejected lls for gay marriag church, and have stead proposed, for the first time, that same sex upl n receive blsgs after beg married a civil ceremony.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONMNS GAY CLERICS FOR OUTG PRITS AS BISHOPS PREP FOR LGBT DEBATE

'Signifint steps forward'There had been speculatn that the majory of bishops uld endorse plans for same sex marriage after the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Steven Croft, beme the most senr Church of England cleric to back the proposals, breakg ranks wh the Church’s official he spoke out November, a number of other servg bishops me out support of gay marriage.

LONDON'S LANDMARK BUILDG DOTTED WH STRIP CLUBS, GAY VENU TO TURN TO MOSQUE

Acrdg to current non law, no Church of England mister n bls or marry gay upl and the Church said will not change s existg doctre, that Holy Matrimony “is between one man and one woman for life”.

The bishop of Grantham has bee the first Church of England bishop to publicly clare that he is gay and a a move that will be embraced by mpaigners for equaly but is likely to alarm nservativ who fear the church is movg away om tradnal teachgs, Nicholas Chamberla said there had been no secret about his long-term - albe celibate - relatnship wh his a threat by a Sunday newspaper to reveal Chamberla’s sexualy had phed him to speak publicly.

Chamberla said he adhered to church guil, unr which gay clergy mt be celibate and are not permted to marry.

JT WELBY ACCED OF BOWG TO HOMOPHOBIA AFTER BANNG GAY BISHOP'S HBAND OM CHURCH SUMM

For me, and for those who assisted his appotment, the fact that Bishop Nicholas is gay is not, and has never been, a termg factor. Its tradnal belief that marriage is a unn of a man and a woman has e unr prsure om societal change and growg mands wh the church that gay people should be accepted and allowed to marry creasg number of prits have married or plan to marry same-sex partners fiance of the ban on gay clergy week, a group of C of E nservative evangelil parish held a meetg to discs their rponse to what they claimed to be the waterg-down of the thory of the Bible on the issue of sexualy, what was billed as potentially the first step towards a breakaway om the Anglin church.

It followed Welby’s recent ments at a Christian ftival, when he said he was “nstantly nsumed wh horror” at the church’s treatment of lbians and gay men.

THE SIX OPENLY PARTNERED/MARRIED GAY/LBIAN BISHOPS ATTENDG LAMBETH 2022

Strsg that he did not want to bee known as “the gay bishop”, he said he hoped that the impact of his openns would be “that we n say the bishop of Grantham is gay and is gettg on wh his life and mistry”.

”Rumours about gay bishops have circulated for s, but no servg bishop has ever before gone public about their sexualy.