Almost 3,000 signatories criticise decree that sex is only for married heterosexuals

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Almost 3,000 people, including nearly 800 members of the clergy, have signed an open letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, saying guidance issued by bishops last week saying sex is only for married heterosexuals has made the Church of England a “laughing stock”.

The signatories express “anger and disappointment” at the bishops’ “pastoral statement”, which says a same sex or opposite sex civil partnership should be celibate.

The letter says the statement is “anything but ‘pastoral’ – it is cold, defensive, and uncaring of its impact on the millions of people it affects.

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“The Church of England has … become a laughing stock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex.”

The letter expresses dismay that the bishops made a public pronouncement while the C of E is undergoing a major review of sexuality and marriage.

The church is deeply divided on the issue, with progressives arguing for inclusivity and equality, and conservatives stressing traditional biblical teaching on sexuality and marriage.

In 2017, the C of E’s ruling body, the General Synod, narrowly threw out a bishops’ report that upheld traditional teaching on marriage.

In response, the two archbishops set up two working groups and four sub-groups to “help us understand better the issues and the points of conflict”.

The archbishops said a “radical new Christian inclusion in the the church” was needed, founded in scripture, tradition and faith while also based on “a proper 21st-century understanding of being human and being sexual”.

The working groups are due to deliver a report, Living in Love and Faith, this year.

The open letter to the archbishops says: “Since the public defeat of your Marriage and Same Sex Relationships report to General Synod in 2017, we have waited for you to deliver on your promise of ‘a radical new Christian inclusion’.

“We have been patient, believing that nothing further would be said regarding sexuality and relationships until after the publication of the Living in Love and Faith report. It seems our trust has been misplaced and we feel badly let down.”

The bishops’ statement had “broken the trust of those it seeks to serve”, it adds.

The guidance from bishops, which was issued in response to the recent introduction to mixed-sex civil partnerships, said: “Sexual relationships outside heterosexual marriage are regarded as falling short of God’s purpose for human beings.”

The church sought “to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships” within civil partnerships, it added.

Signatories to the open letter include the bishop of Buckinghamshire, Alan Wilson, several retired bishops, and dozens of members of the synod.

A separate letter to the archbishops, sent by the Rev Canon Simon Butler, who chairs the House of Clergy within the synod, and the Rev Canon Chris Newlands, also an officer of the synod, calls for the bishops’ guidance to be withdrawn and an apology issued.

Writing as “partnered gay men”, they say: “We believe that the ill-considered statement demonstrates once more the inability of the House of Bishops to connect with public attitudes”.



