Church of England allows gay men to bee bishops | Catholic News Agency

Contents:

• THE FIRST OPENLY GAY BISHOP IS A HUGE STEP FORWARD – BUT ’S NOT ENOUGH
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY BISHOPS THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONMNS GAY CLERICS FOR OUTG PRITS AS BISHOPS PREP FOR LGBT DEBATE
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND ALLOWS GAY MEN TO BEE BISHOPS
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP REVEALS HE IS A GAY RELATNSHIP
• SO HOW MANY GAY BISHOPS ARE THERE ENGLAND?
• CHURCH OF ENGLAND L GAY MEN CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS N BEE BISHOPS
• ARCHBISHOP OF YORK SAYS GAY SEX IS OK IF ‘MTED, STABLE, FAHFUL RELATNSHIPS'

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. This requirement utterly means gay relatnships. I me out as gay 2014 and still rry the srs.

One major reason is the current climate around gay clergy.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE

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. 'Prayers for God's blsg'The bishops' cisn puts the Church of England at odds wh s Anglin equivalent Stland, The Sttish Epispal Church, and the Prbyterian Church of Stland, which both allow same-sex Anglin Church Wal has provid an thorised service of blsg for gay upl but do not allow same-sex weddgs church.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS REFE TO BACK GAY MARRIAGE

English bishops will remend that some "prayers for God's blsg" for gay upl civil marriag be adopted, the BBC expects. They have been wag to marry until the church allows gay said they felt a "ep disappotment" that the bishops weren't proposg a vote on same-sex marriag. "We're still sayg to gay upl that their relatnships are ls than relatnships between people of oppose sex.

GAY BISHOPS THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

"However, he said they would ntue to mpaign for the Church to change s teachg on marryg gay said: "This isn't over. "The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev'd Stephen Cottrell, told BBC Rad 4's Today programme a iend who was gay had died before he was able to have his civil partnership acknowledged any way by the Church.

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

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. 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.

When the Church Bows to the StateAs if the Church of England do not have enough troubl, word is leakg out of Lambeth Palace that the church is about to allow the appotment of openly gay bishops, so long as those bishops rema news has emerged the form of a leaked ternal memorandum prepared for the Archbishop of Canterbury by the church’s hight legal adviser. The Equaly Act has already been ed to force some Brish church to hire youth misters and other workers who are openly May, Andrew Brown of The Guardian [London] scribed the church’s prediment this way:“The learship of the tablished church remas tied knots over how far n ply wh the Equaly Act s treatment of gay people.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND ALLOWS GAY MEN TO BEE BISHOPS

Church lawyers have told the bishops that while they nnot take to acunt that someone is homosexual nsirg them for preferment, they also nnot put forward clergy active same-sex relatnships and, even if they are celibate, mt nsir whether they n ‘act as a foc for uny’ to their flocks if appoted to a dce. ”Now, light of that challenge, the church’s legal thory has suggted guil that would ll for the appotment of openly gay bishops, but would require them to be celibate. The logic of the legal guil draws a distctn that would allow the church to claim pliance wh the Equaly Act and also act acrd wh the eply held beliefs of many of s ccial part of the guil stat the matter like this:“It is not open to a crown nomatns mtee or a bishop makg a sufagan appotment to propose someone who is a sexually active same-sex relatnship; is not open to them to take to acunt the mere fact that someone is gay by sexual orientatn.

”So the “mere fact that someone is gay by sexual orientatn” nnot be taken to acunt. Our church are filled wh highly gifted persons who are stgglg wh their own sexual orientatn, and many of the believers are livg liv of fahful obedience to is one thg to acknowledge and nfs that one is stgglg wh same-sex attractn; is yet another to announce and claim homosexualy as one’s personal inty. It would, therefore, be wrong if [durg the selectn procs] acunt were taken of the fact that a ndidate had intified himself as of gay sexual orientatn.

[See Romans 1: 18-32] The Gospel is our only rcue om s, and this certaly clus the s of homosexualy and the problem of same-sex, a believer nfsg a stggle wh same-sex attractn should not be nmned by the church, but brought unr s re, disciple, mistry, and protectn. If a same-sex sexual orientatn is not self a problem, how n the church sist that homosexual acts are sful? Aga, the guil do not prume an dividual who is jt stgglg wh same-sex attractn, but one who claims a public homosexual inty.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP REVEALS HE IS A GAY RELATNSHIP

| (Photo: Rters/Toby Melville)The Church of England is nmng a group of gay clerics who are seekg to out gay bishops and other clergy the Church, argug that the accatns uld spark a wch hunt agast Rev. Col Coward, founr of the gay prsure group Changg Attu, said that a number of bishops wh the CofE are gay. "There are at least 10 other bishops the Church who are gay, many of whom are some kd of relatnship, " Coward told the Sunday Tim.

"I would enurage gay bishops to be open, but I would not 'out' them agast their will.

"It is surprisg that mpaign groups which claim to support lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex Christians would dulge such irrponsible tactics whereby such claims may lead to attempts to intify dividual bishops, " the church said, acrdg to the Daily Right Rev. Nicholas Chamberla, the bishop of Grantham, meanwhile revealed on Friday that he is gay and volved a long-term, celibate same-sex relatnship. "People know I'm gay, but 's not the first thg I'd say to anyone.

SO HOW MANY GAY BISHOPS ARE THERE ENGLAND?

"Some gay and lbian clergy  the CofE have been urgg the Church to reject biblil teachgs on marriage as a unn between one man and one has not dited that the Church will be makg any such change, however.

What is more, 72 members of the Church's lg general synod wrote a letter Augt urgg bishops to adhere to the biblil doctre on 100 bishops are set to meet later September to discs the Church's posn on homosexualy and same-sex marriage as talks of a potential spl the Anglin Communn loom over the Stoyan Zaimov on Facebook: CPSZaimov Free Relig Freedom UpdatJo thoands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for ee, sent twice a week om The Christian Post. The Church of England has cid to perm gay male clergy civil partnerships to bee bishops, provid that they promise to be celibate.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND L GAY MEN CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS N BEE BISHOPS

The Church of England holds that clergy "nnot claim the liberty to enter to sexually active homophile relatnships, " acrdg to a 1991 document "Issu Human Sexualy. The Church of England's new policy is the rult of ntroversy surroundg Jeffery John, a prit of the church who is gay. " Gay advot wh the Church of England greeted the announcement wh mixed reviews.

ARCHBISHOP OF YORK SAYS GAY SEX IS OK IF ‘MTED, STABLE, FAHFUL RELATNSHIPS'

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.

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.