From
the presidential address of Archbishop Barry Morgan of the Church in Wales:
Lambeth 1998, as I said, accepted homosexual orientation – what some
have regarded as "a natural attribute for some people," that is, a
natural predisposition toward people of the same sex –which has only
been fully understood fairly recently. Even so, the Lambeth answer
was to separate orientation from practice and commend celibacy.
But can celibacy be imposed? Shouldn't it be freely
undertaken as a personal vocation by heterosexuals and homosexuals
alike? As Rowan Williams once put it, "anyone who knows the
complexities of the true celibate vocation, would be the last to have
any sympathy with the extraordinary idea that sexual orientation is an
automatic pointer to a celibate life: almost as if celibacy before God
is less costly, even less risky to the homosexual than the
heterosexual." And is not separating mind and body or feelings or
orientation from practice a kind of dualism which the church has
condemned in the past since human beings are a unified whole and cannot
be compartmentalised in such a way. If that is true of humanity in
general, why should we expect people of a homosexual disposition to be
singled out in this way?
....
If the legislation to allow civil marriage is passed, I cannot see
how we as a church, will be able to ignore the legality of the status
of such partnerships and we ought not to want to do so. There is a
further complication and that is that just as the Government only
initially allowed civil partnerships outside religious premises but has
now extended that provision to include them, the same may happen as
far as what they call civil marriage is concerned and indeed some argue
that it is against European law to separate the two since there is no
distinction in law in this country between marriage in church and
marriage in a register office.
The question then as now is, will the church protect and
support pastorally, faithful, stable, lifelong relationships of
whatever kind in order to encourage human values such as love and
fidelity and recognise the need in Christian people for some public
religious support.... It is a discussion we need to have.
Dr Morgan, in a brilliant stroke, quotes the wise words of the previous Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams, on the folly of the imposition of a mandate to the celibate life on anyone, including those with a same-sex orientation.
Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham, in his post referring to Barry Morgan's address says:
Therefore
the highest duty of the Church is not to preserve institutions, but to
be, simply and completely, good news. The gospel isn't “good news/bad
news” or “good news as long as you buy it properly.” It isn’t even “what
would Jesus do?” It’s “What is Jesus actually doing through the whole
creation, and trying to do through us if only we got real?”
Jesus
referred marriage back to the way God actually made us. Marriage is a
gift of God in creation that strengthens community and expresses divine
love — that’s what’s meant by calling it “sacramental.”
In
fact a very small but significant proportion of every human population
is gay. If some of these people want to build stable faithful
relationships based on love, that has to be a good thing. Love is love
wherever it is found. We know it by its fruits, not its origins. But the
fruits reveal the origin. God is love and those who live in love live
in God and God lives in them. This is the good news.
Amen to the Good News from the bishops, arch- and plain. Alan Wilson has long been a breath of fresh air and a voice of sanity within the circle of bishops in the Church of England, and, thankfully, his is no longer a lone voice.
