Thinking Anglicans

LGBTAC comments on Southwark

LGBT Anglican Coalition Press Release 9 July 2010

Southwark failure damages Church of England

Both recent meetings of the Crown Nominations Commission to choose a new bishop for the Diocese of Southwark have been the subject of serious leaks to a newspaper. This has resulted in huge personal pain and distress for one candidate, Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, for the second time in seven years. It is particularly outrageous that some senior church officials have suggested the leaks were engineered by supporters of Dr John, rather than by those opposed to his nomination.

It has brought the Church of England into even further disrepute with the general public, who will regard it, rightly or wrongly, as another example of the blatant homophobia that exists in the Church.

Once again the Church has failed to act with courage. The whole Commission must be held responsible for this, regardless of whether the source of the leak was an elected member, an ex‐officio member, or one of the staff in attendance at what is supposed to be a totally confidential meeting.

It is essential that a thorough independent enquiry be held immediately to determine who was responsible. There should also be an urgent review of the process of appointing bishops, as the present arrangements are not fit for purpose, and an open and transparent procedure is clearly necessary.

Notes for Editors

1. The Anglican Coalition is here to provide UK‐based Christian LGBT organisations with opportunities to create resources for the Anglican community and to develop a shared voice for the full acceptance of LGBT people in the Anglican Communion.

2. The Coalition members are:

Accepting Evangelicals www.acceptingevangelicals.org
Changing Attitude www.changingattitude.org.uk
The Clergy Consultation www.clergyconsultation.org
Courage www.courage.org.uk
The Evangelical Fellowship for Lesbian and Gay Christians www.eflgc.org.uk
Inclusive Church www.inclusivechurch2.net
The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement lgcm.org.uk
The Sibyls www.sibyls.co.uk

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Martin Reynolds
14 years ago

I can agree with all of this. It hits the nail!

The CofE would be hard put to respond in such careful and measured terms.

Pantycelyn
Pantycelyn
14 years ago

Someone speaking out at last ! Us ordinary folks just wait and wait

(for decades)

ordinary vicar
ordinary vicar
14 years ago

I think the Dean of Southwark and the Cathedral Chapter will still have to ‘elect’ the chosen candidate formally in a process which involves only the one name being put. Failure to elect leads to some kind of medieval penalty for disobeying the Crown.

Now that would be an interesting meeting to have a leak or two from …

Pantycelyn
Pantycelyn
14 years ago

Here is one creative, loving and prophetic response to homophobia from an artist.

http://thepansyproject.blogspot.com/

Lapinbizarre
Lapinbizarre
14 years ago

The development of the historical process of election is outlined here, ordinary vicar – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cong%C3%A9_d%27Elire.

Penalties for non-compliance are not detailed, but knowing Henry VIII, can probably be quite drastic, though not, perhaps, as drastic as those of Geoffrey of Anjou, father of Henry II, who in 1144 castrated the cathedral chapter of Seez, along with their bishop-elect, after they proceeded to election without his permission.

Rod Gillis
Rod Gillis
14 years ago

re lapinbizarre “Geoffrey of Anjou, father of Henry II, who in 1144 castrated the cathedral chapter of Seez, along with their bishop-elect, after they proceeded to election without his permission.”

Now THAT’S Erastianism!

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