The July meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England opens this afternoon in York.
Pre-Synod news and comment
Madeleine Davies Church Times Synod to debate state of the nation [includes preview of whole agenda]
Hattie Williams Church Times Synod members threaten to walk out if Scottish pro-gay marriage bishop present at York meeting
Pat Ashworth Church Times Presence & Engagement report highlights challenges faced in multi-religious areas
Harry Farley Christian Today Questions of sexuality and abuse to dominate Church of England synod
Conservative Anglicans threaten synod boycott in outrage at pro-gay Scottish bishop’s attendance
Jeremy Fletcher On Synod and the Kingdom
Synod papers etc
live video stream [when in session]
People threatening to walk out of Synod because the Bishop of Edinburgh has been invited? Jesus said, ‘By this shall they know you are my disciples: if you Love one another’ not ‘by your violent opposition to homosexuality and hatred of all who accept it.
If LGBT members of synod can endure sharing a room with these “Conservative Anglicans” then I’m sure those same conservatives can endure sharing a room with a Bishop who disagrees with them without throwing a childish tantrum and storming out. Or maybe I’ve got too much confidence in the maturity of synod members. Are they worried that the good sense and compassion shown by the SEC might be contagious?!
This is what happens when the heteronormative facade begins to crack…. Some people start to panic.
Fear of the Other? Self-image defined by heterosexual privilege? Virtue signaling?
Whatever the cause, this tantrum could be a useful exercise in anticipation of Lambeth 2020.
If they want to go, let them go.
How ungracious, and unchristian these conservative reform synod members show themselves to be. Grow up, and learn to live in fellowship with the broad spectrum of the Anglican Communion.
As now a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and a member of the Edinburgh diocese, we are proud of our Bishop John, and know he will conduct himself with christian dignity at the Church of England Synod.
He like many of us had a ministry in the Church of England, before crossing the border to Scotland.
Our prayers will be with the synod as it meets.
Fr John Emlyn
“Are they worried that the good sense and compassion shown by the SEC might be contagious?!”
Exactly what they worry about, Jo! They’re experts at holding the line, and weaponizing calculated snubs to that end. If the Primus is accepted without fuss, equal marriage is normalized, and they won’t allow that.
It comes down to this: at present, conservatives know that, backs to the wall, most liberals and moderates will give in, as they’ve given in for decades, while they’ll never surrender.
They can, of course, be surprised, if the will’s there, as it is in Scotland. Go Piskies!
It Is not the Primus who is coming. The last time the Bishop of Edinburgh was Primus was Richard Holloway and they are now on their third since then.
So a small cadre of irredentists will make an exhibition of themselves, while a mainstream Scottish bishop sits calmly and looks dignified? Let them. People who do this only ever look good in their own mirrors; to everyone else, they look unhinged.
Come on, now, this isn’t fear or phobia or ‘why can’t we all sit in the same room’!
That kind of reaction seems reactionary.
The objection is obviously at the idea that an invitation signals endorsement by the inviters and prejudices the work that needs to be done within the Synod’s own life.
Disagree with that view, but let’s not call it phobia or panic.
I wish they would panic, Jeremy, but they look collected enough to me: this snub is straight out the conservative playbook.
Conservatives will already be strategizing to get Scotland (along with Canada and, of course, TEC) sanctioned or expelled from the Communion, pour encourager les autres. England refusing to take note of the “shared conversations” is a hopeful sign that they can be stopped, but it’ll be a close run thing.
Thanks for the correction, Susan. 🙂
CRS, I’m going to call it what it seems to be: moral panic and homophobic virtue signalling. It’s rather reminiscent of the South Carolina delegation casting itself out of TEC. Perhaps you now realize that this sort of walkout is self-defeating? James Byron, it may be a collected attempt at a snub, but it is also a moral panic. Indeed, I really don’t think it’s anything to take seriously. A walkout is, by definition, a symbolic gesture by a small minority. This walkout will, if anything, awaken sympathy for the Scottish Episcopal Church. And it also has the effect of… Read more »
Sorry crs, but there’s no dignified excuse for this nonsense. It’s an attempt to make treating LGBT people well the one unforgivable sin in the CofE and the wider Anglican communion and as such it should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
“…this sort of walkout is self-defeating”
1 Who is walking out?
2 Self-defeating? Tell that to TEC. They spent millions and lost and SC won and is happily in ACNA. There remains a small rump contingent that cannot even call itself a diocese because to do so would admit defeat.
Everything I can find indicates the case in SC is still ongoing, and that the most recent judgements have gone in TEC’s favour. Regardless of whether the schismatics succeed in making off with what rightly belongs to the whole church they will remain schismatics.
In any case it is irrelevant to the situation in England where it is abundantly clear that the dioceses form part of the CofE as they’re established by law.
1. Oh, so the boycott threat was just a threat, not followed through? Mere chain-jerking through the media? Fool me once….
2. “They spent millions and lost…” In point of fact, the South Carolina Supreme Court is still deliberating, nearly two years after hearing the case. That does not bode well for ACNA: affirmance is easy, but reversal takes longer.
Jeremy Fletcher no doubt remembers the index to the prayers in the ASB. Under ‘S’ it read: ‘steadfastness, suffering, synod…’
“…most recent judgements have gone in TEC’s favour.”
Fake news.
The most recent rulings have gone against TEC litigators, decisively in Illinois, and in Texas and SC as well. I wouldn’t hold my breath for reversals. The Illinois ruling is also a done-deal. Final.
Fake news? Really?
On February 21, 2017, a three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the false-advertising case could proceed against Bishop Lawrence–who left TEC but insists on using his former employer’s name and seal.
The federal Latham Act applies, the court held, and TEC’s case must be heard.
“Bishop Lawrence–who left TEC but insists on using his former employer’s name and seal.”
Thanks Jeremy. I had a feeling that it was not fake news. It would be hard to get more “revisionist” than Mark Lawrence, who still wants to claim the name Anglican, but doesn’t actually have the basic criteria of being in communion with the See of Canterbury.