ENGLAND: Protest at prelates shun attack on lesbian woman bishop

by Ruth Gledhil
The Times Online
http://tinyurl.com/yjb8t3l
November 24th, 2009

A new group calling itself The LGBT Anglican Coalition, network 'working for the full and equal inclusion of LGBT Christians within and beyond the Church of England', has sent an open letter to the Archbishop of Uppsala, the Most Rev Anders Wejryd and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams at the Church of England's decision to shun the consecration of the new lesbian bishop Eva Brunne of Stockholm.

I like the sound of Eva. She's a mum, like me. Blogger Sandra Showtime writes: 'Her sense of humor doesn't hurt either. When Brunne, who was a pastor in Stockholm for 16 years, was asked what she does to relax in her free time, she answered, "I read crime fiction. And I carve. The things you do to conform to Jesus, huh?"

Her partner Gunilla Lindén, who's also a pastor, gave birth to their now three-year-old son after they entered a registered partnership. International journalists addressed whether this is a problem for the Swedish church, but Eva Brunne only joked, "Um, why? The backyard of the bishop's house is really big enough.' Various Archbishops have of course denied that they boycotted the ceremony, where Wejryd consecrated the new bishop. The Church of England, through the Porvoo agreement, is in full communion with the Lutheran Church of Sweden. So if they can have lesbian women bishops that are technically in communion with ours, the protesters, below, are understandably asking, why can't the CofE?Here is the text of the letter, posted online at 9am today:

23rd November 2009

Dear Archbishop,

As Anglican clergy and lay people, we were dismayed to see that there was no official representation from the Church of England or any other Anglican Church from the British Isles at the service of consecration of Bishop Eva Brunne of Stockholm and Bishop Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund of Härnösand.

We do understand that, as the Church of England has not yet finalised plans for the ordination of women as bishops - though we hope and pray that will happen soon - it might not have been possible for an Anglican bishop to have laid hands on the ordinands as part of the consecration. But that should not have prevented a bishop from attending and representing the Archbishop of Canterbury at the consecration on November 8th in Uppsala.

It was also unfortunate that The Revd Nicholas Howe was unable to attend the service, though we were pleased to hear that The Revd Karen Schmidt was able to attend, and indeed participate in the service, representing the Diocese of Portsmouth, with which Stockholm has a partnership link.

Many of us are indeed very grateful that the Church of Sweden has taken such a clear lead in affirming the rightful place of lesbian and gay people at all levels in the life of the Church. The recent decision of the Church of Sweden's Kyrkomötet to conduct same-sex marriages has filled us with a real hope that such a courageous and prophetic act might one day be possible in the Church of England.

The Porvoo Agreement has brought many blessings to our sister churches, Anglican and Lutheran, which share so much in our inheritance of faith and action. The interchangeability of ministers and exchange of resources continues to bring many blessings to dioceses which have a partnership link with a Porvoo church. May these links increase and continue to bear much fruit.

It is our prayer that we may continue in an ever-deepening partnership of mission with the Porvoo member churches, and together celebrate the gifts of all God's people who are called to be ministers of God's Word and Sacraments, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Your partners in the Gospel,

The LGBT Anglican Coalition - including

Revd Benny Hazlehurst - Accepting Evangelicals
Revd Colin Coward - Changing Attitude
Revd Chris Newlands - The Clergy Consultation
Jeremy Marks - Courage
Mike Dark - The Evangelical Fellowship of Lesbian and Gay Christians Canon Giles Goddard - Inclusive Church
Revd Sharon Ferguson - Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
Revd Christina Beardsley - Sibyls