Openly homosexual cleric to be appointed to prestigious position in the Church in England.

BBC News ^ | April 17, 2004

[Cracker72]

Gay cleric in line for senior job

The gay canon forced to stand down as Bishop of Reading is to be appointed Dean of St Albans.

The choice of Dr Jeffrey John to the senior Church of England post will cause more controversy across the Anglican Communion.

Traditionalists fear it will take the Church's break-up a step further following the ordination of gay bishop Gene Robinson in the US.

Downing Street is expected to make the announcement on Tuesday.

The previous Dean of St Albans, Reverend Christopher Lewis, moved to Christ Church, Oxford, last October.

Church unity

Dr John was to become the new Bishop of Reading until he withdrew his acceptance of the post last July.

His decision followed weeks of argument within the Anglican Church about whether or not he should be allowed to hold the position, because of his sexuality.

Dr John, who is in a celibate relationship with a man, said then that he made the decision because of the "damage" his consecration might have caused the "unity of the Church".

The BBC's religious affairs reporter Martha Doyle said: "The Communion is already on the verge of schism over homosexuality. This will do nothing to bring Church conservatives and liberals closer together."

"Liberals are overjoyed at what they see as a carefully crafted compromise which recognises Dr John's undisputed talents as a theologian.

"But the choice will anger traditionalists who are already furious over the appointment of a gay bishop in the United States and same-sex blessings in Canada.

"One group has described it as 'outrageous'."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had come in for harsh criticism in the debate over the Reading appointment.

He was accused of turning his back on clergy in the developing world after he said he had raised no objection to the appointment.

The Lambeth Commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury to resolve the crisis within the church is due to report at the end of this year.

[Grig]

"Why is the PM announcing this? Or do I misundertand? "

The CoE is the state church. If I recall correctly, a Catholic can't be PM, the PM appoints some church positions, and the CoE gets some tax money, public schools require classes on CoE teachings (unless you can get exempted) and in general the concerns of the CoE outweigh the concerns of other churches in the eyes of the government.

Freedom of religion was perhaps the single biggest motive for fleeing Europe for the New World.

[VOYAGER]

Openly homosexual cleric to be appointed to prestigious position in the Church in England.

Whoops there goes another rubber tree plant.....

[Peter Libra]

Agreed. Henry VIII seemed utterly desperate over the problems with Catherine of Aragon, his queen. Had she have produced a healthy male child, this man would have been content. Dailied on the side? no problem. Failure for a male heir, at that time could have been seen as the destruction of England. There was no way to for tell, the calibre of his daughter Elizabeth.

I know St Albans, Hertfordshire. I presume it is there Cannon John will preside. Lovely place, or it was. Now defiled by this hypocrite and his claim of platonic relationship- or whatever.

[Fred Hayek]

At the rate things are going in the Anglican Church, it would not surprise me that the headquarters for the breakaway is someplace like Lagos or Nairobi, an area that seems to be revolted the most by the ordination of Vicki Gene Robinson as bishop. Then again Pittsburgh could be a possibility, if that diocese does follow through on breaking away from EC-USA, as well as the rest of the apostate travesty formerly known as the Anglican Union.

[TheBattman]

The Anglican Church worldwide is running head-first off a cliff -

[MegaSilver]

Is it any wonder that a Church formed with the express goal of weakening the sanctity of marriage would come to this?

I assume you're Catholic. If so, could you cut the self-righteousness? It's irritating, whether from Evangelicals or Catholics, and it certainly does not stimulate constructive debate on the subject of reunion.

Now, I do understand that the Catholic Church believes itself to be the "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" of the creed. However, if that is true, keep in mind that it is not because of anything the Church has done; it is because of the grace of Jesus Christ.

[RussianConservative]

In Russia, Nizhni Novograd, priest marry 2 fag men...priest defrocked in week's end and following week chapel bulldozed...in end, while Western Christianity collapse in evil, Orthodoxy will hold fire of true Christianity to fight of anti-Christ that rise from corrupt West.

[RussianConservative]

Actually Orthodoxy spread quickly throughout most Western Europe and is state religions of most eastern Europe...there is hope yet. Orthodoxy not bought into all the Renissance and post crap of Western religiousity.

[AnalogReigns]

What in the world is a homosexual celibate relationship with a man anyway?

[AnalogReigns]

And Orthodoxy apears to allow (or encourage) the worship of icons, doesn't understand the Bible alone as the only infallible authority, and also has for centuries been the tool of the state (whatever state it happens to be in).

I don't think Orthodoxy will ever catch on on the West, sorry.

Evangelical Protestantism has and will continue too grow though.

[Irene Adler]

Fellow Episcopalian FReepers! I offer this as a suggestion for you to consider: after viewing The Passion, I decided to seek membership status in Mr. Adler's Mo. Synod Lutheran Parish. I was not allowed to commune until I completed a brief catechism (about 10 sessions) covering Luther's Small Catechism (the standard confirmation manual). Tomorrow, I formally join the church and the parish! I am absolutely delighted with my decision! Just during my short catechism, I have learned more about the Bible and sound-doctrine Christianity than I ever knew before. Genuine Lutheran Biblical scholarship is impressive and convincing. I hope to continue learning and growing in this faith. I wish I had done this years ago.

I would like to recommend the Mo. Synod Lutheran Church for those Episcopalians who seek a Bible-based, liturgical church.

One warning: search on a WEBsite named reformationtoday.tripod.com/chemnitz/index and scroll down on the homepage for a list of traditional, confessional Mo. Synod Lutheran parishes. There is some liberalism in the Mo. Synod which has infected certain parishes. If you wish to avoid that, check out the WEBsite for a sound-doctrine, Bible-based parish near you.

[Irene Adler]

Fellow Episcopalian FReepers! I offer this as a suggestion for you to consider: after viewing The Passion, I decided to seek membership status in Mr. Adler's Mo. Synod Lutheran Parish. I was not allowed to commune until I completed a brief catechism (about 10 sessions) covering Luther's Small Catechism (the standard confirmation manual). Tomorrow, I formally join the church and the parish! I am absolutely delighted with my decision! Just during my short catechism, I have learned more about the Bible and sound-doctrine Christianity than I ever knew before. Genuine Lutheran Biblical scholarship is impressive and convincing. I hope to continue learning and growing in this faith. I wish I had done this years ago.

I would like to recommend the Mo. Synod Lutheran Church for those Episcopalians who seek a Bible-based, liturgical church.

One warning: search on a WEBsite named reformationtoday.tripod.com/chemnitz/index and scroll down on the homepage for a list of traditional, confessional Mo. Synod Lutheran parishes. There is some liberalism in the Mo. Synod which has infected certain parishes. If you wish to avoid that, check out the WEBsite for a sound-doctrine, Bible-based parish near you.

[Irene Adler]

Sorry for the duplicate post. I initially to an error message and thought it hadn't posted.

[Irene Adler]

to = got

[lizma]

English law allowed Bloody Mary to be queen and heir. There was no upset, at least in the beginning.

He had an heir. He just couldn't accept it might be female. He tore down marriage for personal gain. He murdered people to get what he wanted.

Sorry,but the facts pan out, this guy always did what was best for him, even if it included murder.

[Mike Darancette]

I assume you're Catholic. If so, could you cut the self-righteousness?

Just stating a historical fact!

[rogueleader]

Attention non-Anglican Protestant denominations: there are a whole bunch of African Angligan churches you can probably convert really easy starting Monday.

The Church of England is headed down the path of perfidy and sin, and doom.

[rogueleader]

From one Lutheran to another, congratulations!

[RussianConservative]

Orthodoxy does not appear or allow worship of icons, which is Bible in picture. It is no more true then protestants worshipping Bible text, though I have seen when in US some who come very close to it.

As for Bible, it is only authority, do some research of Orthodoxy. As for tool of State, that impression is because Patriarchs not allowed to rule as Ceasar, Ceasar is seperate of Church, thus Patriarch is only of taking care of sheep.

As for West, have bad news for you: 7 million Orthodox in US alone and fastest of growing Christian Churchs. Only thing grow faster then Orthodoxy in US is: Mormons, Islam, secularistic atheistic hedonists.

From what I see of many protestant: it is either screaming at peoples of damnation or group hugs and sing along...one extreme or other. Protestants seem to switch churchs as whim hits, many flavors of ice cream, try everything, type mentality.

[ahadams2]

some people never learn ping.