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IRELAND: Anglican Evangelical Clergy Denounce "Erroneous Teachings" of their Bishops on Same Sex Marriage

IRELAND: Anglican Evangelical Clergy Denounce "Erroneous Teachings" of their Bishops on Same Sex Marriage

By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
May 20, 2015

Four orthodox Anglican groups within the Church of Ireland have written a letter expressing their regret and concern over recent pronouncements by the Bishops of Cork and Cashel on the same-sex marriage referendum. Another 34 Anglican evangelical priests have also expressed their displeasure at the two bishops.

They said a recent speech by the Bishop of Cashel at an event on Marriage Equality did not bear witness to the stated will of the Church to "love our neighbour, and (oppose) all unbiblical and uncharitable actions and attitudes in respect of human sexuality from whatever perspective, including bigotry, hurtful words or actions, and demeaning or damaging language" (General Synod 2012).

They further argued that those who disagree with same sex marriage were presented in a pejorative, negative and demeaning manner, being variously portrayed as holding indefensible views, being opposed to human rights, unintelligent, un-Anglican, likely to be oppressive, racist, sexist, homophobic, and, by extension, evil.

"Such labels demean, and such caricatures contribute to creating a culture that silences opinion, and help to create the environment in which any viewpoint against same-sex marriage within either Church or State may be bullied into submission," the evangelical Anglican coalition wrote.

"The teaching of the Church on marriage is based on a wide range of arguments - biblical, theological, moral, cultural and ethical. Indeed, it is consistent with the majority Anglican moral thinking across the globe and the witness of the wider Christian Church in both this and every other age.

"In this vein, we deeply regret the portrayal of the trajectory of Anglican moral theology as being in the direction of change, and the great disservice done to the 2004 BCP Marriage Liturgy to promote this view.

"Further, we simply cannot agree that the will of General Synod in 2012 is open to interpretation. A great strength of Anglicanism is that its unity is synodical, liturgical and episcopal. To disrespect the will of Synod, and willfully misrepresent the meaning of the Marriage Liturgy, to promote a contrary view, is not befitting of the role of bishop and is indicative of the sort of moral and theological inconsistency that is destructive for the ongoing debate within the Church and within society.

"Within a secular democracy, Christian people can, and should, have the confidence to speak for the Christian view on marriage as being for the common good of all, without fear of negative stereotype, pejorative label, or the accusation that they are acting without Christian charity or grace."

Those who signed this statement include:
Joanne Megarrell, Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship
David McClay, New Wine Ireland
Tim Anderson, Reform Ireland
William Press, Evangelical Fellowship of Irish Clergy

34 Clergy Call Bishops to Repent

Some 34 evangelical Anglican clergy also called on the bishops to repent of their actions. Bishop Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory recently instituted Dean Tom Gordon to a cathedral knowing he was entering into a civil partnership brought into focus the deep divisions within the Church of Ireland.

In a statement to the Church they said the Church's teaching on marriage is inviolable and said; "The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord's teaching that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and lifelong, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.

"As faithful members of the Church of Ireland, we wish to reaffirm the historical, orthodox teaching of the Church concerning marriage and to refute the erroneous teaching espoused in recent days by some senior clergy within our denomination on this issue. The teaching of Holy Scripture is plain, simple and clear on this issue and at General Synod in 2012 the synod overwhelmingly affirmed this teaching."

By this resolution, the General Synod declared very clearly that heterosexual marriage was and is the God-ordained sphere for sexual relationships and is alone the 'normative' context for such relationships, they argued.

Those who signed this statement included:

Alan McCann (The Revd Dr), and
Tim Anderson (The Revd)
Brian Blacoe (The Revd Canon)
Peter Bourke (The Revd)
Stanley Bourke (The Revd Canon)
Trevor Cleland (The Revd)
Donard Collins (The Revd)
Craig Cooney (The Revd)
Edmond Coulter (The Revd)
Colin Davis (The Revd)
Alastair Donaldson (The Revd)
Paul Dundas (The Revd)
William Farr (The Revd)
Geoffrey Haugh (The Revd)
Trevor Johnston (The Revd)
Bryan Kerr (The Very Revd)
Norman Jardine (The Revd Canon)
Cameron Jones (The Revd)
David Luckman (The Revd)
Mark McConnell (The Revd)
James McMaster (The Revd)
Ken McReynolds (The Revd Canon)
Bryan Martin (The Revd)
David Martin (The Revd)
Gary Millar (The Revd)
William Nixon (The Revd)
Alan Peek (The Revd)
John Pickering (The Revd)
Christopher Pierce (The Revd)
William Press (The Revd)
Robert Robinson (The Revd)
Brian Russell (The Revd)
Roy Taylor (The Revd)
Paul Whittaker (The Revd)

They argued that the Church of Ireland recognizes for itself and of itself, no other understanding of marriage than that provided for in the totality of Canon 31. "The Church of Ireland teaches therefore that faithfulness within marriage is the only normative context for sexual intercourse. Members of the Church of Ireland are required by the Catechism to keep their bodies in 'temperance, soberness and chastity'. Clergy are called in the Ordinal to be 'wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Jesus Christ'."

Bishop Burrows had argued in a paper that the churches cannot claim to be the divinely appointed moral guardians of the vocabulary of marriage. "I am persuaded that those in the Church of Ireland who have difficulty with this proposal...have perhaps failed to consider sufficiently the nature of the march of Anglican moral theology over several centuries."

END

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