B
BartholomewB
Guest
The Church of England is moving toward authorizing its clergy to perform same sex “marriages.” This comment by @sonofberea is reposted from an Anglican website, the
Archbishop Cranmer blog:
… … …
In advance of the “Living in Love and Faith” exercise going public I have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I wanted to remind him of the physical harm that male SS relationships can cause and also to invite him to remember that the NT uses the word “love” almost exclusively in the sense of “agape” and to hope that the LLF would maintain that sense of self-sacrificial, rather than sensuous or self-serving love.
I have had a reply from ++JW’s “Correspondence Manager.” It did not address my specific points but I thought the following comments were worth passing on, for those of you struggling with loyalty to the CofE. The letter notes that “the Archbishop is often asked to speak decisively on matters of human sexuality” but he “has no formal authority, although a great deal of influence. He has encouraged the start of a process of deep reflection on the topic.”
It anticipates that the process of bringing LLF into effect will then “enable us all to have more wisdom in these very complicated areas of our life together.” It then notes that “moving to make provision for SS marriage, rather than blessing, or any other form of partnership, would represent a huge shift in terms of doctrine of marriage, but also in terms of how we understand humanity, gender, embodiment etc.” It does not exclude the possibility that such changes may happen in some provinces but that “they need to be discussed and prayed through thoroughly.”
It concludes that while there is no overall consensus, “what Archbishop Justin has done so far is to encourage respectful discussion of how we, as a whole church, can move forward together.”
I am no expert on the CofE but there may be one straw in the wind in the phrase “moving to make provision for SS marriage, rather than blessing…” I may have missed something but I thought the CofE had ruled against even having services of blessing for a SS couple. This phrase might suggest that some movement on that red line may be in the offing. It will, of course, be a further peg on which the activists will hang their efforts to eventually force full SS marriage on the church.
Archbishop Cranmer blog:
… … …
In advance of the “Living in Love and Faith” exercise going public I have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I wanted to remind him of the physical harm that male SS relationships can cause and also to invite him to remember that the NT uses the word “love” almost exclusively in the sense of “agape” and to hope that the LLF would maintain that sense of self-sacrificial, rather than sensuous or self-serving love.
I have had a reply from ++JW’s “Correspondence Manager.” It did not address my specific points but I thought the following comments were worth passing on, for those of you struggling with loyalty to the CofE. The letter notes that “the Archbishop is often asked to speak decisively on matters of human sexuality” but he “has no formal authority, although a great deal of influence. He has encouraged the start of a process of deep reflection on the topic.”
It anticipates that the process of bringing LLF into effect will then “enable us all to have more wisdom in these very complicated areas of our life together.” It then notes that “moving to make provision for SS marriage, rather than blessing, or any other form of partnership, would represent a huge shift in terms of doctrine of marriage, but also in terms of how we understand humanity, gender, embodiment etc.” It does not exclude the possibility that such changes may happen in some provinces but that “they need to be discussed and prayed through thoroughly.”
It concludes that while there is no overall consensus, “what Archbishop Justin has done so far is to encourage respectful discussion of how we, as a whole church, can move forward together.”
I am no expert on the CofE but there may be one straw in the wind in the phrase “moving to make provision for SS marriage, rather than blessing…” I may have missed something but I thought the CofE had ruled against even having services of blessing for a SS couple. This phrase might suggest that some movement on that red line may be in the offing. It will, of course, be a further peg on which the activists will hang their efforts to eventually force full SS marriage on the church.
Last edited: