Where next on same-sex marriage?
Church Society has published online an article by Director, Lee Gatiss. It will be printed in the Winter 2017 edition of Crossway.
Entitled “Where next on same-sex marriage?”, it focusses on the situation in the Church of England, though with reference to the wider Anglican Communion
“So, we have completed more than two years of ‘facilitated’ or ‘shared conversations’ about sexuality issues in the Church of England. This was encouraged by the Pilling Report a few years ago, as the way forward on this issue. But what happens now that the conversations have ended? And what, if anything, should be done?
There are various potential options for the future of the Church on this subject. Some have listed only the different ways in which so-called ‘traditionalists’ might be hived off into a ‘safe space’, or leave the Church altogether once the liberal triumph is complete. But it is far from inevitable or desirable for that to be the outcome.
Others have seen the options as merely extremes: adopt gay marriage or stay as we are; with a third way (’pastoral accommodation’ of prayers for same-sex couples, but no change in doctrine) seen as a nice compromise in the middle. But this is tendentious: there are far more options than merely these three, and no-one is happy with the status quo.
In the article linked to below, from the forthcoming issue off our magazine Crossway, I explore in more detail 6 possible ways forward. So explore with me what those might be …”
Sexual Revolution, Same Old Revolution
“The sexual revolution here in the twenty-first century is not a new revolution, but a continuation of the one that has dominated humanity since our earliest days.
This revolution began when a man made a choice to declare independence from God. He wanted to be autonomous, he wanted to make his own way in the world, to answer only to himself, to shake himself free from the oversight and accountability of his Creator.
But more than that, he wanted to destroy that Creator, to escape his watchful eye, to stamp out the imprint of himself this Creator left on every human soul. For man knows he is guilty before this Creator. He can doubt it or deny it, but he can never fully shake it. To get out from under his guilt he must get out from under his Creator. To kill his guilt he must kill his Creator.”
– Read the full post from Tim Challies. (Image: Tim Challies.)
Also see:
Seven Reasons You Should Not Indulge in Pornography – Andy Naselli.
Pornography: still an issue? – Meagan Bartlett, Australian Church Record.
Three controversial Victorian bills defeated
From Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia:
“A brief update on the status of some proposed Victorian legislation I have previously mentioned as being a bad idea. It is good to see that all three bills have been defeated in the Victorian Parliament.
Two of them would have interfered with the running of religious schools, as well as other religious organisations. The third would have created a range of problems in its interaction with Federal marriage law.”
Related: Freedom of association: sanity succeeds on Spring Street – Spectator.
Peter Jensen — Against the charge of Homophobia
“It’s a pretty heavy thing to be accused of homophobia. The word is not an intellectual judgement but a more damning moral one.
There have always been examples of unkind attitudes, bullying and discrimination towards people who appear to be, or who identify as, homosexual, just as there has always been racism, snobbery and other ugly traits. Sadly, Christians have sometimes been guilty of this, and in doing so we are failing to follow the way of Christ.
However, in recent years the accusation of ‘homophobia’ has been levelled not just at these unkind attitudes towards gay people, but also reasoned biblical convictions about problems associated with homosexual practice, and any expression of concern about the power and intolerance of pressure groups.…”
– GAFCON General Secretary, Peter Jensen, writes to encourage Christian people to speak the truth in love.
Related:
- Statement from the Global South Primates and GAFCON Primates Council Concerning Same-sex Unions.
- Sam Allberry talks about homosexuality, the Bible and GAFCON.
The perversion of Lambeth 1.10
“The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt. Rev. Rachel Treweek, will preside at an ‘LGBTI Eucharist’ on 15 Jan 2017, the diocesan chapter of Inclusive Church reports. …
Will this be a violation of Lambeth 1.10? A plain reading of the document coupled with the original intention of the authors would say ‘yes’.
The presence of the Bishop of Chichester at a Brighton Gay Pride march and the Bishop of Salisbury at a similar affair, was raised in GAFCON-UK’s paper, ‘The Church of England and Lambeth 1.10’, released last week. They were cited as examples of the problematic stance of the church hierarchy on issues surrounding human sexuality — and as a violation of Lambeth 1.10.
The Bishop of Salisbury denounced GAFCON-UK’s criticism as “outrageous” and a perversion of the spirit of Lambeth 1.10. In a letter to the Church Times the Rt. Rev. Nicholas Holtam said he too had offered prayers at a Gay Pride parade, explaining: ‘The blessing of Gay Pride in Salisbury was a joyful celebration of a people who are part of our community and among the rich diversity of all God’s children. This is in keeping with Lambeth I.10, which calls us ‘to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals’…”
– At Anglican Ink, George Conger provides some personal perspective on Lambeth 1.10. It’s clear that Lambeth 1.10 can’t mean whatever you want it to mean.
Photo: Bishop Rachel Treweek, Diocese of Gloucester.
Legal problems with Victoria’s new birth certificate gender laws
“The Victorian Government has introduced a Bill, the Births Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2016, to amend its law on birth certificates to allow changing the gender on the certificate to be made easier. (The Bill was approved by the Lower House on 15 Sept 2016 and is awaiting consideration by the Legislative Council.)
There are many problems with the policy represented by this legislation … But what I want to focus on here is the interaction of the new law with the law on marriage. In my view the law will create a host of legal uncertainties at best …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster shares some ideas on complications which could arise from the proposed legislation.
Salvation Army ‘supports Safe Schools Initiative’
“The Salvation Army supports the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria in its initiative designed to reduce homophobic and transphobic behaviour and create safe learning environments for all students. …”
– A somewhat surprising press release from The Salvation Army (15 November 2016).
Same-sex marriage plebiscite bill blocked by Senate
“The Federal Government’s bid to hold a plebiscite on whether to legalise same sex marriage has been defeated in the Senate.
The proposal was voted down a short time ago in the Upper House 33 votes to 29.”
– report from ABC News.
D.C. gives initial OK to assisted suicide
“Physician-assisted suicide in America’s capital city has gained first approval, and Southern Baptist leaders locally and nationally are warning about the consequences.
The Council of the District of Columbia voted 11-2 Tuesday … for legislation that would empower doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to people who have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses and supposedly have less than six months to live. …
Mark Dever, a Southern Baptist pastor in D.C., warned the council’s effort to end suffering will only produce more suffering. …
‘The council may have acted with the best of intentions, but this will spawn a thousand private nightmares that we will never hear of, and will rob us of stewardships of the weak and vulnerable that God has given to us.
It is not good when societies learn to dispose of anyone.’…”
– Report from Baptist Press. (Photo: Mark Dever, courtesy christianity.com.)
Love your neighbour enough to speak truth
“If this were 1999—the year that I was converted and walked away from the woman and lesbian community I loved—instead of 2016, Jen Hatmaker’s words about the holiness of LGBT relationships would have flooded into my world like a balm of Gilead. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Rosaria Butterfield responds to some comments by a ‘best selling author’ (whose books have just been pulled from LifeWay Christian bookshops).
Make the time to read Rosaria Butterfield’s observations about the nature of sin and the Christian life. (Image: Desiring God.)
‘Dad got the death he wanted’
“A Vancouver-based doctor with nearly four decades experience in family medicine, Wiebe has lately become one of Canada’s leading advocates for medically assisted death.
Since the new laws came into effect in June, she has provided dozens of people with lethal doses of sedatives, all by intravenous injection. …
She discusses with the patient for the last time their wish to die. Once confirmed, she administers a muscle relaxant. Then, she injects the lethal dose of sedatives; it usually takes the patient about 10 minutes to die.
The funeral home is then called, and someone comes to pick up the body. Wiebe signs off on the death certificate. The mood can be solemn or happy, even ‘uplifting,’ says Wiebe. It all depends on who is around. If friends and family are grieving, the emotional impact can take a toll.”
– Like a wedding planner, only different. Story from The National Post.
(h/t Albert Mohler. Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
The Ashers “Gay Cake” appeal — one of these things is not like the others
“When our children were watching Sesame Street one of the regular clips featured the song “one of these things is not like the others“, training children to look carefully and make distinctions where things are different. In a case involving Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has shown that it is not very good at making distinctions between things that are different. …“
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster considers the latest ‘gay cake’ court case, this one in Northern Ireland.
Related: Many links on stories related to the case – at Anglican Mainstream.
Legal implications of same sex marriage for Christian life and ministry
“I was privileged today to present a paper on issues from a Christian perspective raised by the possible introduction of same sex marriage – at a seminar on the topic held at the Lower Mountains Anglican Parish centre at Glenbrook. …”
– Neil Foster from Law and Religion Australia provides a link to the paper he gave.
Letter to the Church of England’s College of Bishops
“I am publishing here, with permission, a letter that has been sent to all members of the College of Bishops prior to their next meeting to decide what proposals to bring to General Synod in February. …
First, this is not a PR exercise. Although the sending of the letter has been reported in Christian Today, it has not been circulated to media outlets, unlike some other previous letters. It is intended to be an honest communication to the bishops of the concerns of the signatories and others like them.
Secondly, it attempts to give a clear outline of the major theological reasons why this is felt to me such an important issue. …
Thirdly, it is striking that the signatories come from the whole range of the evangelical constituency, including ‘open’, ‘charismatic’ and ‘conservative’ evangelicals. These are people involved in key initiatives in the Church at the moment, and although they do not claim to represent the groups they work for, there will be many others who share these concerns. …
The Church of England is at a crossroads in her calling to bring hope and transformation to our nation. The presenting issue is that of human sexuality, in particular whether or not the Church is able to affirm sexual relationships beyond opposite sex marriage. But the tectonic issues beneath, and driving, this specific question include what it means to be faithful to our apostolic inheritance, the Church’s relationship with wider culture, and the nature of the biblical call to holiness in the 21st Century. …
We do not believe … that it is within our gift to consider human sexual relationships and what constitutes and enables our flourishing as sexual beings to be of ‘secondary importance’. What is at stake goes far beyond the immediate pastoral challenges of human bisexual and same-sex sexual behaviour: it is a choice between alternative and radically different visions of what it means to be human, to honour God in our bodies, and to order our lives in line with God’s holy will.
At this crucial juncture, as our bishops pray and discern together regarding how the Church of England should walk forward at this time, we urge them not to depart from the apostolic inheritance with which they have been entrusted. …”
The letter has now also been published at GAFCON UK’s website.
Synod approves gay marriage booklet
“Sydney Synod has expressed deep concern about moves to remove gender from the marriage act and has authorised the distribution of a booklet outlining the consequences of same-sex marriage for families and society.
Debate on the third night of Synod was led by Bishop Michael Stead, who chairs the Archbishop’s Plebiscite Task Force and the Dean, Kanishka Raffel. …
‘… the Task Force was convinced of the need to provide resources for Sydney Anglicans. The booklet “what has God joined together?” is the first such resource. The booklet aims to engage, equip, and embolden Sydney Anglicans to be a part of the debate on same-sex marriage.’…”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…