Church of England bishops are being cowed by a small group of “super-conservative puritans” who believe homosexuality is a sin, leaving most too scared to speak out in support of gay and lesbian clergy and parishioners, according a leading gay vicar who is quitting the priesthood.

Andrew Foreshew-Cain, the only gay vicar in the church to have spoken publicly about his marriage, told his congregations this week he was leaving the ranks of clergy after 27 years because “institutional homophobia” prevented him from getting another job.



Foreshew-Cain said a handful of homosexual bishops were in relationships, and at least 20 clergy had quietly married same-sex partners against C of E rules. The church permits clergy to be in same-sex relationships that are celibate, but forbids clergy from entering into same-sex marriages.



“If it’s truly OK to be gay and celibate in the C of E, and all these bishops are gay and celibate, why aren’t they open about their lives? It would make a tremendous difference to the LGBT community in the C of E and beyond, and would show integrity both in them as individuals and in the church,” Foreshew-Cain said.



“But bishops are too scared about what would be done to them – people on the conservative wing would attack them so vigorously. The conservatives have been given so much freedom and weight.



“The number of super-conservative puritans is relatively small but, for fear of them, they have been given a weight of influence and regard way beyond their numbers.”



He said there was a “perverse integrity” in conservative Christians “who genuinely believe I’m going to hell because of their reading of scripture. But I have no sympathy for bishops who privately say: ‘Actually, I really support you and I want to see a church in which we can celebrate gay and lesbian relationships, but I can’t say that in public because I’ll get attacked for it.’ They hide behind a call to ‘unity’ [within the church], but they are collaborating with homophobia and hurt. And, sadly, that’s true of most bishops.”

The only bishop to have publicly acknowledged his homosexuality is Nicholas Chamberlain, bishop of Grantham, who spoke to the Guardian last September after a Sunday newspaper threatened to publicise his relationship. At the time the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he was “fully aware” of Chamberlain’s relationship when he consecrated him.



“Why doesn’t the church mention his relationship in his biography [as it routinely does with heterosexual bishops]? Even if someone is fully compliant with the rules [on celibacy], it can’t be spoken about in honest terms. It’s conscious concealment,” said Foreshew-Cain, a member of the general synod, the church’s ruling body.

He said the C of E’s attitudes towards gay and lesbian people was “profoundly harmful and damaging. The people who run the church need to be called out on institutional homophobia and held accountable for what they’re doing, because they’re doing it knowingly.”



He added: “Justin Welby is a good man trying to do an extraordinarily difficult job. But there is a huge disjuncture between what the bishops are saying and doing and what people in the pews say and do. The bishops’ authority is constantly undermined by their current position.



“I don’t think the bishops have realised that we’re living in an era where people outside the church see themselves as more moral and ethical than the church on these issues of gender and sexuality – and, indeed, race – and they’re judging the church on the basis of its behaviours on these issues. If you’re an organisation that preaches ethics and morals, that’s really damaging.”



Foreshew-Cain will leave his parishes of St Mary with All Souls, Kilburn, and St James in West Hampstead this summer and move to the north-west of England where his husband, Stephen, whom he married in 2014, is now working.



The two London parishes have a reputation for inclusivity and acceptance, built over almost two decades while Foreshew-Cain has been their vicar.



“These parishes are beacons of hope for a lot of people. I told the congregations they have to be alert to defending what makes these places special. There will be people who want to destroy that after I’ve gone,” he said.



He felt his warning was “pragmatic and realistic. Forewarned is forearmed. I don’t think the official C of E is particularly comfortable with the inclusive and progressive stance these parishes have taken. The appointment of the next priest will be crucial.”



Foreshew-Cain has had solid support from his congregations since his marriage. His diocese issued an informal rebuke but no action was taken. However, he says he was told he would not be licensed to a ministry elsewhere.



He denied he was giving up his high-profile campaign for equality within the church. “I am a faithful Anglican, I am a priest, I will continue going to church and will join a community. I’m not throwing in the towel, I’m not going to stop campaigning and raising my voice,” he said.



“But I also have a tremendous sense of relief at no longer working for an organisation which is so grudging in its acceptance and consciously discriminatory in its attitudes.”



He feared for the future of the church he “genuinely loves”, saying it would be judged by the completeness of its moral compass and not “by the things it does that are good while continuing to abuse a minority”.



He added: “The C of E as a national force and a majority church in this country is coming to an end. People are walking away, and will continue to walk away. But we have a choice about the future. Do we want to be a narrow, conservative, antagonistic sect or welcoming, highly regarded and seen as a force for good in society? That’s the choice we’re faced with.”

