{"id":1925,"date":"2018-09-23T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.viamedia.news\/?p=1925"},"modified":"2018-09-23T18:31:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-23T18:31:00","slug":"bishops-please-show-us-your-workings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viamedia.news\/2018\/09\/23\/bishops-please-show-us-your-workings\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishops – Please Show Us Your Workings"},"content":{"rendered":"

by the Revd Canon Giles Goddard, Former Chair of the Human Sexuality Group on General Synod<\/p>\n

\"Giles<\/p>\n

I am glad to have among my friends several candidates for ordination, currently testing their vocations or in training.\u00a0 I\u2019m encouraged by the quality and commitment which they show, and by their deep dedication to Gospel values and to working beside people in need.<\/p>\n

Some of them happen to be LGBTI+. They\u2019re \u00a0people who have had to work out how to respond to the notorious question posed as part of the selection process – the confirmation that they have read and agree to abide by \u2018Issues in Human Sexuality\u2019 with its cruel expectation that clergy in same sex relationships should be celibate.<\/p>\n

I entered the priesthood shortly after \u2018Issues\u2019 was published but before it had morphed into policy. There was never any secret about my sexual orientation. I was fortunate to be in a widely known relationship when I was ordained both deacon and priest, and I was never required to give such a guarantee. \u00a0I\u2019m bemused and surprised, but very relieved, that others have not been put off by the question.<\/p>\n

I know that we have lost many good candidates as a result of the current position, and I know that it is a bit of a postcode lottery \u2013 different bishops have very different policies.<\/p>\n

I always ask my friends what makes them stay. \u00a0I am touched and encouraged by the answers I receive. A deep sense that they are being called to serve, a recognition that the C of E\u2019s current position is ethically and theologically unsustainable, and a trust that, in the end, the love of God will win out over the reactionary pressures of tradition.<\/p>\n

My friends\u2019 responses have increased my feeling of urgency that we must<\/em> make progress towards recognising and celebrating the diversity of human experience and love. It\u2019s an urgency which has a real focus, as I am a consultant to the Coordinating Group of members of the College of Bishops responsible for \u2018Living in Love and Faith\u2019 (LLF)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m not breaking any confidences if I say that pulling together the document\/resource\/whatever it will be is a really complex process. The four working groups \u2013 Theology, Biblical Studies, Science and History \u2013 are doing great work on developing background studies which will, in different ways, be drawn on for the final product. The College of Bishops was given a good insight into the work in progress, last week. But there isn\u2019t a great deal of time to produce the final product, if it is to be ready for Synod to think about in 2020, and expectations are running high on both sides of this debate.<\/p>\n

There is great potential for something exciting to emerge. Something which takes seriously recent scholarship and advances in scientific understanding, which recognises the range of legitimate interpretations of scripture, reason and tradition, and opens up the possibility of moving towards a shared economy within the C of E \u2013 recognising and affirming LGBTI+ people unequivocally as well as respecting the positions of those who are more conservative. I\u2019m hopeful by nature, and I think that no one would wish to see the amount of time and commitment \u2013 and money \u2013 going into the process wasted!<\/p>\n

But\u00a0 I am anxious about its reception, because I\u2019m not sure that the purpose of this whole process is fully understood.\u00a0 I think that many supporters of LGBTI+ inclusion are looking to LLF to make strong recommendations for change \u2013 including, for some, the opening up of church marriage to same-sex couples. And many traditionalists, including people close to the process, are looking to it to rule out any realistic change.<\/p>\n

LLF may not do either of those things. When I think about it, I often think about exam papers \u2013 especially maths exams. I\u00a0 remember sitting A level papers which set difficult equations to be solved. \u2018Please show your workings,\u2019 the instructions said.<\/p>\n

My hope is that LLF will enable the C of E to \u2018show its workings\u2019 as we move towards full inclusion. At the moment the only recent document accepted by the Church, albeit without due process, is \u2018Issues\u2019 \u2013 which is widely acknowledged to be deeply flawed and was published in 1991. LLF will, if it is as good as it could be and if it is accepted, bring recent scholarship and contemporary understandings of sexuality, gender and identity into the warp and weft of the Church of England.<\/p>\n

But it will be only part of a process \u2013 Synod, the House of Bishops and many others will be involved, once LLF is published, in deciding how to move forward. And any movement depends on whether we are all there to help make change happen.<\/p>\n

So I am really grateful to my friends who are willing to trust the church with their futures, because they are making a long-term commitment to a flawed and confused institution. And I am grateful to so many others who are carrying on the struggle alongside LGBTI+ people.<\/p>\n

As for me, I\u2019ve been having these conversations for 25 years. I have, God willing, around another ten years active ministry. The process of change, if it happens, will not be quick \u2013 I don\u2019t expect it to be over before I retire. It will be for others to take forward.<\/p>\n

To you all \u2013 and you know who you are \u2013 thank you<\/em> for being willing to take on the struggle. And may God be with us all as we try to help the church become the thing it so wonderfully could be, with a little more courage and a lot more love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by the Revd Canon Giles Goddard, Former Chair of the Human Sexuality Group on General Synod I am glad to have among my friends several candidates for ordination, currently testing their vocations or in training.\u00a0 I\u2019m encouraged by the quality and commitment which they show, and by their deep dedication to Gospel values and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98052871,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[179280],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-sexuality"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t