Lambeth Conference
You guys might know that it’s the Lambeth Conference this week. The Lambeth Conference is the biggest meeting of the Anglican church there ever is: every bishop from the Church of England can attend.
This one is big news. The General Synod voted today to ordain female bishops. Can I get an Amen? :d
They’re also talking about ordaining gay men as bishops. Unsurprisingly, I absolutely support both these measures! I’m an atheist but I grew up in the Church of England, and I’m worried about what’s going to happen. I am, after all, a bisexual woman and I want others like me to able to advance.
It’s complicated, though. The Anglicans have managed to avoid splitting the church over this, at least in the UK: following the proud C of E tradition of waffling! But the ordination of Gene Robinson, a non-celibate gay bishop, has caused massive problems. Now it looks like the conservative parts of the church, including many of the African bishops, are going to leave. Schism hasn’t quite happened yet, but they’ve decided to make themselves their own council; they’ve been in talks with the Vatican. Such a split can only be a bad thing for the Church and the liberal cause - this council’s raison d’etre would be resisting reform!
The dean of St Albans’ Cathedral, my local, is named Geoffrey John. Some of you might have heard of him; he was going to be a bishop, but turned the job down because he wanted to stop exactly this from happening. He’s gay, and celibate; he has a long-time partner but they don’t even live together. Well... officially they don’t live together. Those of us who know them better turn a blind eye to certain pertinent facts. Which is not at all to say they’re sleeping together - I’m sure they aren’t - but how much Geoffrey’s partner’s home is actually used is what you’d call open to question.
Even those of us who’re resolutely secular should be concerned by this. The conservatives are basically saying they’ll leave for the express purpose of having a church that’s more sexist and homophobic than the Anglican community at large is willing to be. There are no other issues driving them. Even Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury and therefore the leader of Anglicans worldwide) is becoming publically exasperated. They’ve got no legitimacy, this new council.
Besides, a lot of Anglicans don’t like Rowan Williams and will blame him. Which is completely unfair - this one is entirely due to the conservatives - but it’ll happen. I love Rowan Williams and he’s tried so hard to prevent schism; the idea that he’ll be blamed for this really upsets me. He’s a great man, he’s clever and willing to listen, committed to ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue. He also has a healthy appreciation for Only Fools and Horses. I remember that when he attended a wedding I was at, a year or so ago, he was brilliant. Astonishingly patient with all those seeking photo-ops, and entirely agreed with me that The Simpsons is a programme chock-full of family values!
The conservative Anglican bishops held their own conference a few weekends ago in Jerusalem, boycotting the Lambeth Conference. They did their own thing, and declared their sexist, homophobic, arguably-not-backed-by-Gospel beliefs. Unfortunately, they had perhaps not checked the dates for the conference well enough. You see, that weekend had another big event happening in Jerusalem...
The Gay Pride parade.
Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humour?
This one is big news. The General Synod voted today to ordain female bishops. Can I get an Amen? :d
They’re also talking about ordaining gay men as bishops. Unsurprisingly, I absolutely support both these measures! I’m an atheist but I grew up in the Church of England, and I’m worried about what’s going to happen. I am, after all, a bisexual woman and I want others like me to able to advance.
It’s complicated, though. The Anglicans have managed to avoid splitting the church over this, at least in the UK: following the proud C of E tradition of waffling! But the ordination of Gene Robinson, a non-celibate gay bishop, has caused massive problems. Now it looks like the conservative parts of the church, including many of the African bishops, are going to leave. Schism hasn’t quite happened yet, but they’ve decided to make themselves their own council; they’ve been in talks with the Vatican. Such a split can only be a bad thing for the Church and the liberal cause - this council’s raison d’etre would be resisting reform!
The dean of St Albans’ Cathedral, my local, is named Geoffrey John. Some of you might have heard of him; he was going to be a bishop, but turned the job down because he wanted to stop exactly this from happening. He’s gay, and celibate; he has a long-time partner but they don’t even live together. Well... officially they don’t live together. Those of us who know them better turn a blind eye to certain pertinent facts. Which is not at all to say they’re sleeping together - I’m sure they aren’t - but how much Geoffrey’s partner’s home is actually used is what you’d call open to question.
Even those of us who’re resolutely secular should be concerned by this. The conservatives are basically saying they’ll leave for the express purpose of having a church that’s more sexist and homophobic than the Anglican community at large is willing to be. There are no other issues driving them. Even Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury and therefore the leader of Anglicans worldwide) is becoming publically exasperated. They’ve got no legitimacy, this new council.
Besides, a lot of Anglicans don’t like Rowan Williams and will blame him. Which is completely unfair - this one is entirely due to the conservatives - but it’ll happen. I love Rowan Williams and he’s tried so hard to prevent schism; the idea that he’ll be blamed for this really upsets me. He’s a great man, he’s clever and willing to listen, committed to ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue. He also has a healthy appreciation for Only Fools and Horses. I remember that when he attended a wedding I was at, a year or so ago, he was brilliant. Astonishingly patient with all those seeking photo-ops, and entirely agreed with me that The Simpsons is a programme chock-full of family values!
The conservative Anglican bishops held their own conference a few weekends ago in Jerusalem, boycotting the Lambeth Conference. They did their own thing, and declared their sexist, homophobic, arguably-not-backed-by-Gospel beliefs. Unfortunately, they had perhaps not checked the dates for the conference well enough. You see, that weekend had another big event happening in Jerusalem...
The Gay Pride parade.
Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humour?