ENGLAND: Liverpool Bishop queries conservative view on gays

by Pat Ashworth and Ed Beavan
The Church Times
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=91052
March 12, 2010

SEXUALITY is not a matter of choice but a given - "in Christian terms, a grace" - the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd James Jones, told his diocesan synod last weekend. His comments have been seen as breaking ranks with conservative Evangelicals.

The debate of the past 20 years had not given sufficient attention to the situation of homosexual Christians "or to their theological, ethical, and spiritual insights", Bishop Jones said.

He said that, for some, "homosexuality has become the defining issue of othordoxy", and the "benchmark on how you interpret scripture and apply it authoritatively to the modern world". The debate had caused "much bitterness and enmity" among Anglicans.

He compared the present situation with the passionate debates between conscripts and pacifists during the two World Wars. "Just as Christian pacifists and Christian soldiers profoundly disagree with one another, yet, in their disagreement, continue to drink from the same cup because they share in one body, so, too, I believe the day is coming when Christians who equally profoundly disagree about the consonancy of same-gender love with the discipleship of Christ will, in spite of their disagreement, drink openly from the same cup of salvation.

"This is, I believe, the next chapter to be written in the Church of England and the Anglican Com­munion."

The Bishop referred to corres­pondence he had had with the Nigerian Bishop of Akure, the Rt Revd Michael Ipinmoye. He had been encouraged by Bishop Ipinmoye's reiteration that he wished to remain a mission partner, in spite of Liverpool's stance of being "on the way to a position similar to the Church's attitude to pacifism on matters of homosexuality".

Appreciation of diversity had helped people in the diocese of Liverpool to accept each other, work together, and refuse to allow any­thing to undermine its oneness in Christ, he said. "Within our own fellowship we are brothers and sisters in Christ holding a variety of views on a number of major and moral issues, and we are members of a Church that characteristically allows a large space for a variety of nuances, applications, and disagreement."

The Bishop's comments were praised by the Revd Colin Coward of Changing Attitude, who said that the diocese of Liverpool had come to exemplify "how the process of listening to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people can be encouraged and made to work".

On the other hand, sharp criti­cism came from conservative Evangelicals, notably Anglican Main­stream, which declared his argument flawed, and accused him of "muddy­ing the waters".

Its executive secretary, Canon Chris Sugden, said partnership with Liverpool's vision would "constitute a serious challenge to the Church of Nigeria in particular, and the GAFCON Primates as a whole, who have, as a matter of principle, withdrawn from sharing 'the same cup of salvation' at Primates' Meetings with those Primates who are sponsoring sexual immorality.

"It illustrates the subtle reality of the way that false teaching spreads: an Evangelical bishop who has learned to accommodate himself to the secular pressures of England none the less retains a certain cred­ibility with fellow Evangelicals in Africa, and then seeks to present partnership as collusion with his compromise."

Responding to the criticism, Bishop Jones said on Wednesday: "My address arose out of the experience of a dialogue between dioceses in Africa, America, and England. I believe that this experi­ence of dialogue between Christians of different persuasions could be helpful to the Primates as they take responsibility for the future of the Communion."

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Bishop of Liverpool's address will constitute "a serious challenge to the GAFCON Primates

The Church Times
March 12th, 2010

Appreciation of diversity had helped people in the diocese of Liverpool to accept each other, work together, and refuse to allow any­thing to undermine its oneness in Christ, Bishop Jones said. "Within our own fellowship we are brothers and sisters in Christ holding a variety of views on a number of major and moral issues, and we are members of a Church that characteristically allows a large space for a variety of nuances, applications, and disagreement."

The Bishop's comments were praised by the Revd Colin Coward of Changing Attitude, who said that the diocese of Liverpool had come to exemplify "how the process of listening to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people can be encouraged and made to work".

On the other hand, sharp criti­cism came from conservative Evangelicals, notably Anglican Main­stream, which declared his argument flawed, and accused him of "muddy­ing the waters". Its executive secretary, Canon Chris Sugden, said partnership with Liverpool's vision would "constitute a serious challenge to the Church of Nigeria in particular, and the GAFCON Primates as a whole, who have, as a matter of principle, withdrawn from sharing 'the same cup of salvation' at Primates' Meetings with those Primates who are sponsoring sexual immorality. "It illustrates the subtle reality of the way that false teaching spreads: an Evangelical bishop who has learned to accommodate himself to the secular pressures of England none the less retains a certain cred­ibility with fellow Evangelicals in Africa, and then seeks to present partnership as collusion with his compromise."

Responding to the criticism, Bishop Jones said on Wednesday: "My address arose out of the experience of a dialogue between dioceses in Africa, America, and England. I believe that this experi­ence of dialogue between Christians of different persuasions could be helpful to the Primates as they take responsibility for the future of the Communion."

END