Posted on 01/01/2007 3:53:07 PM PST by sionnsar
THE Church of England is facing a new rift over homosexual clergy with the disclosure that more than 50 gay or lesbian priests have "married" in civil partnership ceremonies.
Traditionalists and evangelicals opposed to gay clerics said this weekend they would force open debate of the issue at February's meeting of the General Synod. Campaigners have criticised bishops for shying away from enforcing the church's policy of ensuring gay clergy are celibate before they are given authorisation to enter civil partnerships.
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is also likely to face criticism from primates of the Anglican communion at a meeting in Tanzania in February. The summit was called to mend splits caused by the ordination of Gene Robinson, a gay bishop, in America in 2003.
The figures on clerical civil partnerships come from Changing Attitude, a gay campaigning organisation in the Church of England. The figures show that at least 51 priests, including four lesbians, are now in partnerships. Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, said: "Civil partnerships have helped to increase the stability of same-sex relationships and reduced the social exclusion to which lesbian and gay people are often subjected."
George Curry, chairman of the Church Society, the oldest evangelical organisation in the Church of England, predicted a "crunch moment" at the General Synod.
"Many of these people have defied the guidance. These are men and women who are in active sexual relationships," he said. "These figures expose the bishops' failure of leadership."
Prominent civil partnerships include that of Canon Jeremy Davies, precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, with Simon McEnery, an opera singer; and Jeffrey John, dean of St Albans, with Grant Holmes, chaplain of Kingston hospital, Surrey. In 2003, John's appointment as Bishop of Reading precipitated a fierce dispute in the church which was quietened only when he withdrew from the post.
Paul Collier, a chaplain at Goldsmiths College, London, and a member of the Crown Nominations Commission, said he had had little questioning from Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Woolwich, when he entered into a civil partnership with his companion of seven years: "He wanted me to acknowledge the policy of the bishops. I told him that I understood their policy."
Asked if Chessun had inquired about the nature of his relationship, Collier said: "We didn't go into any great detail about that."
http://tinyurl.com/umpxn
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Fire them all. They don't believe and are teaching falsehoods through their lifestyle choices.
Prominent civil partnerships include that of Canon Jeremy Davies, precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, with Simon McEnery, an opera singer
Just get Canon Davies in there with his opera singer.
Unbelievable. This must be the Twilight Zone, or some XXX-rated Star Trek time-travel episode.
Is this how Romans felt when Caligula ordered all the noblewomen to prostitute themselves?
It seems that the established, old world Churches have collapsed of their own redundancy. COE and Catholic.
COE attendance in England consists of the near-dead and the die-hard rural traditionalists.
This is a vacuum that the opportunistic Muslims will exploit for converts and assets. The most vulnerable converts are the "rebellious youth" who will join any cult, gang or club that welcomes them.
Just MHO
Things like this make me think that the C of E is in worse shape even than TEC...and makes me wonder of the whole future of the Anglican Communion. It's a failure not just of the Bishops but of the ABC himself.
Of course if you fire them all...then what do you do with the 60%+ (most of whom are straight, I'm sure) of English Anglican priests who deny the virgin birth? They surely need to go too. And how many more priests perjure themselves over other essentials while saying the creeds?
How do you "fire them all" without disbanding the whole C of E?
Seems to me a new Anglican Communion, maybe not one based in Canterbury, or collected around the state Church in England, is needed....I really don't know--and have a hard time imagining something different.
From what I've read on other threads that's not actually true. 25 to 35% of regular church goers in the COE are evangelicals...and most of those not "die-hard rural traditionalists." Like in the USA, the evangelical churches are some of the only lively and growing congregations in the COE. Evangelicals, due to their being active, have a huge influence on the COE--and are just now waking up to that fact.
Of course 97% of England does NOT attend church--and why should they, when it's being run by the granola crowd?
It's God's will (as evidenced by the text of His word). It will work out for the best if they follow God's will. Often times we have no idea how that may be or what it will look like.
Like the pedophiliac Catholic Priests, these people too shall be moved out positions of authority within the Church.
The Virgin Birth is "pious opinion" and is not a make-or-break belief for salvation.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed shall have life everlasting.
Does your faith and salvation hinge on the belief of a Virgin Birth?
The Virgin birth is in the oldest of the creeds, (about as essential as it gets) its truth is clearly spelled out in the gospels....and is absolutely necessary logically for the deity of Christ. Without Christ' diety there is no salvation.
So, yes, the virgin birth of Christ is much more than a "pious opinion" and is an essential belief equal to the crucifixion, death and bodily resurrection of Christ.
Very obviously salvation does depend on belief in the virgin birth--or else Christ is not Lord, just another pious teacher.
By the way, no one that I've ever heard of has called the Virgin Birth mere "pious opinion" unless they are clearly theologically liberal, and reject the authority of the bible.
Are you sure you weren't talking about the "immaculate conception" (of Mary) the old Roman Catholic doctrine (only made dogma in the 19th Century)? It surely fits the standard of "pious opinion" since there's not a shred of scriptural evidence to support it.
Part of belief in the only begotten Son of John 3:16 is to believe where He came from--according to His holy word, the scriptures.
Lots of active homosexuals, I'm sure, believe in Jesus ... they just don't believe His word on their lifestyle, and remain condemned in sin. To believe in a Jesus not of the bible is to worship an idol of ones own making....
Pingout tomorrow.
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