Archbishop of Wales Calls on Anglicans to Welcome Gay People, Marriage Equality

Archbishop of Wales Dr. Barry Morgan has called on the Anglican Church to welcome gay people, and accept marriage equality should it pass in the UK:

In his presidential address to members of the Church in Wales' Governing Body in Llandudno, North Wales, the archbishop called on fellow Anglicans to prove that the Gospel of Jesus was "good news" for gay people.

He said: "The Government's consultation on civil marriage raises a whole host of theological questions for the church. My concern is that in any discussion which might ensue on this, gay people may once more gain the impression the church is uncaring and unsympathetic.

"If the legislation to allow civil marriage is passed, I cannot see how we as a church will be able to ignore the legality of the status of such partnerships and we ought not to want to do so.

"The question is, will the church protect and support pastorally faithful, stable, lifelong relationships of whatever kind in order to encourage human values such as love and fidelity? Things could be said in the coming months which I think could seriously damage people pastorally."

"Rev Andrew Morton, vicar of Llangybi, Monmouthshire, who recently announced his intention to resign in an effort to move forward efforts to secure the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church," responded to Wales Online:

Mr Morton said it was clear there were same-sex unions that were “as full of grace as many heterosexual relationships”.

Predicting some disquiet in the denomination as a result of the speech, he said: “I don’t think he will gain universal approval and I think there are some people who will be aghast [who] will think he’s sold out to political correctness which is a nonsense. Anybody who knows Barry knows he couldn’t give a monkey’s about political correctness.”

Instead, Mr Morton said, the archbishop’s priority was identifying “truth”.

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and Worldwide Head of Anglican Church, Resigns

The symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has announced he is stepping down, the Guardian reports:

Williams, 61, will leave his church post at the end of December in time to start his new role next January. His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the worldwide Anglican church which he has failed to heal. Throughout his time in office he has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to these principles.

The bookies' favourite to succeed him is the archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

Said Williams: "I would like the successor that God would like. I think that it is a job of immense demands and I would hope that my successor has the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros, really. But he will, I think, have to look with positive, hopeful eyes on a church which, for all its problems, is still for so many people, a place to which they resort in times of need and crisis, a place to which they look for inspiration. I think the Church of England is a great treasure. I wish my successor well in the stewardship of it."

Sentamu opposes same-sex marriage. He said, recently:

"We supported civil partnerships because we believe that friendships are good for everybody. If you genuinely would like the registration of civil partnerships to happen in a more general way, most people will say they can see the drift. But if you begin to call those marriage, you're trying to change the English language. That does not mean you diminish, condemn, criticise, patronise any same-sex relationships because that is not what the debate is about."

Rowan Williams resigns as archbishop of Canterbury [guardian]

Anglican Priests Reconcile 20 Years After 'Outing' Shook the Church

Terence Finlay and James Ferry are reconciling after a landmark 'outing' incident that shook the Anglican church two decades ago, the Toronto Star reports:

Twenty years ago, Finlay was Anglican Archbishop of the Diocese of Toronto. Ferry was a priest at St. Philip’s Church in Unionville.

Ferry is gay. In 1988, he’d met Ahmad, a refugee from Lebanon. “It was love at first sight,” Ferry has said. “I did not believe in love at first sight. But when it happens, well, it happens.”

The two men became involved in a committed relationship. This became known in the parish. When it became apparent that some in the community were aghast at what resided in their clergyman’s heart, Ferry went to see Archbishop Finlay.

That was a mistake, it turned out:

When Ferry informed Finlay of his circumstances, Finlay ordered him to end the relationship. Ferry refused. (The church accepted homosexual clergy, but only if they abstained from giving expression to that fact. In effect, if they lived a lie.)

Finlay then issued a letter to be read at all Anglican parishes, outing Ferry and “inhibiting” him from performing pastoral duties. Effectively, the priest was fired, becoming, he said, “an outcast . . . and a ‘labelled’ outcast.”

Finlay and Ferry are participating in a public service of reconciliation on Sunday, the paper adds, and Finlay says he has evolved:

“I’ve moved in different directions,” he told the Star. “And I have been very supportive of the gay and lesbian community, and also the whole question of gay marriage.”

Toronto priests reconcile 20 years after gay ‘outing’ [toronto star]

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Attacks Gay Marriage 'Power Grab'

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey is speaking out strongly against marriage equality in the UK, in an article attacking PM David Cameron for his support of same-sex marriage, the Telegraph reports:

Lord Carey wrote that he was ''baffled'' by David Cameron's statement at last year's Conservative party conference, in which the Prime Minister said: ''I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.''

In his article, Lord Carey said: ''Like many others, I was baffled by this statement. Not because I begrudge rights and benefits to homosexual couples.''

He said he was baffled ''because this Government's proposal constitutes one of the greatest political power grabs in history.''

He went on: ''The state does not 'own' the institution of marriage. Nor does the church.

''The honourable estate of matrimony precedes both the state and the church, and neither of these institutions have the right to redefine it in such a fundamental way.''

Carey is also throwing his weight behind an ugly new petition campaign called Coalition for Marriage which you can check out HERE.

Martin Robbins shreds the campaign in The Guardian.

Said activist Peter Tatchell in response to the campaign: "The Coalition for Marriage is intolerant and out of touch. Its support for the ban on gay marriage is homophobic and discrimination. Coalition members are entitled to believe that same-sex marriages are wrong, but they are not entitled to demand that their opposition to such marriages should be imposed on the rest of society and enforced by law."

Anglican Church Leaders Come to Defense of UK 'Gay Cure' Doctor

You may recall a story I wrote about last year in which the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy suspended and sanctioned psychotherapist Lesley Pilkington for trying to use gay conversion therapy on Patrick Strudwick (pictured), a gay man working undercover.

Wrote Strudwick in a Guardian article:

"The client Pilkington tried to cure was me. I am an out, happily gay man. I was undercover, investigating therapists who practise this so-called conversion therapy (also known as reparative therapy) – who try to 'pray away the gay'. I asked her to make me straight. Her attempts to do so flout the advice of every major mental-health body in Britain."

Pilkington is now mounting an appeal against BACP, and guess who's coming to her defense?

Senior figures in the Church of England:

Former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, Bishop of Chester the Rt Rev Peter Forster, and Bishop of Lewes the Rt Rev Wallace Benn were among signatories to a letter giving support to 60-year-old psychotherapist Lesley Pilkington.

In their letter, the clerics said Ms Pilkington distinguishes "very carefully" between her "non-directive" counselling and the biblical and pastoral counselling she also offers as a Christian.

"We believe that people who seek, freely, to resolve unwanted same-sex attractions hold the moral right to receive professional assistance," they said.

"Whether motivated by Christian conscience or other values, clients, not practitioners, have the prerogative to choose the yardstick by which to define themselves. Not everyone stakes their identity on sexual feelings."

Previously...
Undercover Exposé of 'Gay Cure' Doc Leads to Landmark Malpractice Ruling [tr]

Bishop Sentamu's Friendly Bigotry

England's second most senior cleric, the Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu, has declared his opposition to same-sex marriage. No surprise there. What's surprising is the polite way in which Dr. Semantu expresses his concern. From the Beeb:

Dr Sentamu pointed out that bishops in the House of Lords did not seek to obstruct the introduction of civil partnerships between same-sex couples in 2004.

"We supported civil partnerships because we believe that friendships are good for everybody."

He said the Church also had no opposition to plans to allow civil partnership ceremonies to take place in places of worship, if agreed by the religious denomination in question.

... He said: "If you genuinely would like the registration of civil partnerships to happen in a more general way, most people will say they can see the drift. But if you begin to call those marriage, you're trying to change the English language.

"That does not mean you diminish, condemn, criticise, patronise any same-sex relationships because that is not what the debate is about," added Dr Sentamu.

So the opposition's about language. And religious freedom. Which isn't to say Dr. Sentamu doesn't feel passionate about it. According to the Telegraph, the Archbishop ...

... says the Government would face a rebellion on any changes in [marriage] legislation. His intervention may serve as a rallying cry for traditionalist Tories who oppose Mr Cameron’s plan.

“The rebellion is going to come not only from the bishops,” he says. “You’re going to get it from across the benches and in the Commons."

... “Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” says Dr Sentamu. “I don’t think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can’t just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are.

Unless, perhaps, you're King Henry VIII?