In this send ntributn to the current bate on gay marriage and the C of E's Hoe of Bishops Report, the Rev'd Jonathan Clatworthy nclus: Reflectg on that whole history of church teachg about sexual ethics, one nnot help noticg that the chang sce the early 1960s have been remarkably fast. I spect this means three thgs. Firstly, the chang have been much need. Sendly, younger people fd hard to unrstand why their parents and grandparents behaved as they did. Thirdly, we are left wh much unfished bs. A century ago, there was a clearly unrstood ethil tradn about sex: was only for childbearg wh marriage. That tradn was sanctned by a wily accepted moral thory, the Christian church. Now, there is no clearly unrstood ethil system. If any prciple is emergg as a crern of acceptable sex, is simply nsent between the parti. In the procs, the moral thory of the church has llapsed. So far, nothg has replaced . As long as the eccliastil learship ntu to tear self apart over gay marriage, the general public nnot fet why the church are no longer seen as a moral thory. ...
Contents:
- CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
- THE HOE OF BISHOPS ON GAY MARRIAGE – PART TWO OF A TWO-PART STUDY
CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
A gay marriage rolutn the Epispal Church has been passed by the Hoe of Bishops, but B012 received yet another amendment the procs for approval and mt be revised aga. Bishop Greg Brewer, one of 11 people om the Dce of Central Florida who are on hand for… * house of bishops gay marriage *
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. After a back-and-forth negotiatn between the Hoe of Deputi and Hoe of Bishops, both ho approved an amend B012 that stck a promise on the issue of grantg Epispalians across the untry accs to the lurgi, regardls of their bishops’ stance on gay marriage.
The Communn Partners, cludg seven of the eight bishops who had blocked gay marriage their dc, affirmed their sire to “mata the munn of our dc wh the Epispal Church, ” spe differenc over Christian teachgs.
THE HOE OF BISHOPS ON GAY MARRIAGE – PART TWO OF A TWO-PART STUDY
One of the re promis of B012 was to allow bishops who object to gay marriage to requt that another bishop provi pastoral re and oversight for same-sex upl who wish to be married by prits their home church. The bishops’ level of acceptance of the promise has varied, wh Albany Bishop William Love and Florida Bishop Samuel Howard opposg at General Conventn and even raisg ncerns uld lead to further schism the church over homosexualy, acrdg to Relign News Service. A gay marriage rolutn the Epispal Church has been passed by the Hoe of Bishops, but B012 received yet another amendment the procs for approval and mt be revised aga.
But Rolutn B012 do provi some relief for bishops who oppose gay marriage. The technil amendment, though, do not repudiate gay marriage the Epispal Church, but rather ref s spe of functnaly om dce to dce.
“What says, sence, is that gay marriage is to be allowed the entire Epispal Church, ” Bishop Brewer said. “It also says if there are ngregatns that want to perform gay marriag their Dce and their bishop is theologilly opposed to , what has to happen is that they need to appeal to the bishop, and then the bishop at that pot grants them the pacy to be unr the thory of another bishop of his choosg or her choosg, the bishop’s choosg.