A petition has been initiated on change.org:
To rescind their opposition to equal marriage. To take back their recent Pastoral Guidance. To create a Church where all are welcomed.
On Saturday the 15th of February 2014, the bishops of the Church of England released Pastoral Guidance in relation to equal marriage. This document is an attempt on their part to hinder the movement of God’s Spirit in relation to the full inclusion of all God’s children in the Church of England. This document must not go unchallenged. By signing this petition, you are part of the ongoing struggle for change in the Church of England…
At the time of posting this, the petition has reached 2000 signatures.
An excellent initiative. Just what is needed.
Also need to write to our MP and get Parliament concerned. Parliamentary concern is what actually got denominational leaders moving on women bishops- isn’t it !
Scripture reading for this : the parable of the importunate widow. The bishops en mass act like the judge in the parable. We had been warned !
2000 signatures the same number as Tessa Munt M. P. amassed in order to try and keep the next Bishop of Bath and Wells resident in his moated palace.
I recall that a petition containing 12,500 signatures presented to Archbishop John Habgood was not sufficient to prevent him consecrating David Jenkins, the controversial but much loved Bishop of Durham
“Also need to write to our MP and get Parliament concerned.” Why? They’ve mostly stopped caring about the CofE, just as they don’t care about other fringe groups of single-issue obsessives. The CofE is now ignored when it speaks, because it has made it clear that it’s a single issue pressure group concerned only about sex, and deeply divided on even that. Some might think that it would be worth the CofE’s while appearing to be an organisation interested in justice, equality and love. That’s the CofE’s problem to solve, not MPs. Welby made a complete fool of himself over… Read more »
I understand the canon law argument and the law is binding whether we agree with it or not… But, what is a blessing ? If we can bless a house, a car or on certain occasions a hamster, why can we not bless a same-sex couple? Perhaps a regular liturgy is proscribed, but what is the philosophy ? Jasper Ridley’s biography of Cranmer discusses the validity of the marriage of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. Ridley draws a distinction between the canonist and the theologian, with the implication that Cranmer used theological argument but that canonists claimed that the… Read more »
Out of sight, out of mind, Interested Observer. For all its decline, the Church of England is still established, still the national church. However much its stock has fallen, many people stay invested. That’s why the church has fought desperately to silence its lesbian and gay members. It’s one thing to vote through exemptions when it’s an abstract: quite another when you’re watching gay priests dragged through the courts for — let’s call it like it is — being born gay. MPs reacted furiously to the vote to continue the ban on female bishops. Once the gay “issue” has a… Read more »
There are a sufficiently large number of parliamentarians who are aware that the C of E isn’t a homogeneously homophobic entity despite its recent history, some of whom are members themselves. A few may be moved to make mention of the matter in the corridors of power even if they don’t ask questions on the floor of the House. The wiser of the Lords Spiritual will be keeping their ear to the ground after last summer’s humiliating debacle as they will only regain respect there by demonstrating they have the willingness to engender change.