Changing Attitude England wrote to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on 26 May 2021 asking them to clarify what was meant by the radical new Christian inclusion to which Archbishops Justin and Sentamu had committed themselves in 2017. We wanted to know whether that inclusion is genuinely radical for LGBTQIA+ people.
In February 2017, following the vote in General Synod not to take note of the House of Bishops’ paper on Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations (GS 2055), the Archbishops wrote setting out the way forward. They laid out their underlying principles: “In these discussions no person is a problem, or an issue; People are made in the image of God; All of us, without exception, are loved and called in Christ; There are no ‘problems’, there are simply people called to redeemed humanity in Christ.”
They said that to deal with disagreement and to find ways forward we need ‘a radical new Christian inclusion’ in the Church.
“The way forward needs to be about love, joy and celebration of our common humanity; of our creation in the image of God, of our belonging to Christ – all of us, without exception, without exclusion.”
What does radical new Christian inclusion mean?
In a report by the Bishop of London and Dr Eeva John published on 11 July 2021 ‘handing over’ the work of the Next Steps Group to the new Synod, Dr John talked about radical new Christian inclusion, addressing each word in turn, but failed to provide content to what this would mean for LGBTQIA+ people.
Changing Attitude England published a blog on July 27 2021 offering a brief proposal:
“Radical Christian inclusion for LGBTIQ+ people is that we will be fully and equally included in the life and practice of the Church of England when equal marriage, the blessing of our relationships and equality in ministry are achieved.”
Not having received a reply from the Archbishops to our May 2021 letter we decided to take the initiative by writing an expanded definition of radical new Christian inclusion as it might apply to LGBTQIA+ people. We set this out in a blog and emailed our definition to the Archbishops, Dr Eeva John, and each member of the Next Steps Group on 3 August 2021.
The Bishop of London replied on 26 August thanking us for our letter inviting the Archbishop to set out his understanding of ‘radical new Christian inclusion’. She quoted with approval our definition that “inclusion first and foremost relates to our equal standing as God’s beloved children: every single person is equally human, created in God’s image and unconditionally loved by God. It means justice for all people, including and, especially, LGBTQI+ people.”
She failed to add anything further to the Archbishops and bishops understanding of radical new Christian inclusion, telling us:
“The aim of the Living in Love and Faith project has always been to set the specific questions about which there is disagreement in the Church into the bigger framework of our Christian understanding of what it means to be human.”
We replied to the Bishop of London on 9 September 2021 again asking the Archbishops and every member of the Next Steps Group to set out their understanding of what radical Christian inclusion is for LGBTQIA+ people.
Not having received a reply, the Changing Attitude England steering group wrote again to the NSG proposing that, in order to allow a truly radically inclusive discussion of the LLF process, its outcome and the next steps to be taken, six members of the LGBTQIA+ community should be appointed to the House of Bishops and to the Next Steps Group, believing that the radical inclusion the Archbishops have called for in terms of sexuality should be treated in exactly the same way as race and gender.
On 18 January 2022 we received a substantive reply from the Bishop of London:.
“One of the goals of the learning, listening and discerning process of LLF is to offer the whole church the opportunity to explore not just what ‘radical new Christian inclusion’ means, but how it is to be lived out at local and national levels. This depth of understanding that engages both heart and mind and that encompasses the whole church – including LGBTQIA+ people within it – is not something that can be achieved by a top-down process of publishing a definition of ‘radical new Christian inclusion’. It is something that the whole church – listening to the Spirit – needs to discover and then live out together. That is what LLF is trying to achieve.”
Radical new Christian inclusion absent from the LLF course
When the Archbishops first mentioned ‘radical new Christian inclusion’, did they not know what they meant by the phrase?? The problem with the Bishop of London’s new argument, that we need to discover what such inclusion is from the grass roots upwards, is that the LLF Course never mentions radical new Christian inclusion, let alone invites people to explore a definition together. There is no introduction to the concept, nor any account of how it is to be lived out at local and national levels. In the LLF book, only seven of the 460 pages are dedicated to inclusion and exclusion.
Changing Attitude England does not believe it is possible for ‘the whole church – listening to the Spirit’ to begin to discover what radical new Christian inclusion means if the LLF Course lacks material to direct and guide participants’ exploration.
This new radical inclusive vision was also absent from GS Misc 1306, the Guide for Members of the new General Synod circulated in mid-November 2021. The Guide gives an overview of Living in Love and Faith to enable the new Synod to understand the LLF journey since the inception of the project but totally fails to mention the Archbishops’ guiding principle – to create a radical new Christian inclusion.
Letter from the Bishop of London
We wrote further letters to the Bishop of London about engagement with stakeholder groups and proposing representation of LGBTQIA+ people on the Next Steps Group and in the House of Bishops. Bishop Sarah replied to our letter on 10 March 2022. She made no reference to LGBTQIA+ people. She said nothing about radical new Christian inclusion. She acknowledged “our concerns and views” and assured us “these will be taken into consideration.” She said the NSG is “confident that the process is and will be far-reaching and, as such, will be a fair reflection of grass roots perspectives.”
Changing Attitude England is not campaigning for a ‘fair reflection of grass roots perspectives’. We are campaigning for truth, justice, equality and love for LGBTQIA+ people.
The LLF course questionnaire does not invite participants at the grass roots level to contribute ideas about the content and meaning of radical new Christian inclusion. And yet the Bishop of London says “One of the goals of the learning, listening and discerning process of LLF is to offer the whole church the opportunity to explore … just what ‘radical new Christian inclusion’ means.”
The Living in Love and Faith process, the House of Bishops and the Next Steps Group lack the courage to set out to the Church the content of the phrase ‘a radical new Christian inclusion within the unconditional love of God’. They fail the Church by refusing to define this deeply authentic Christian ideal. The Bishop of London writing on behalf of the Archbishops and the members of the NSG has studiously avoided responding to Changing Attitude England’s questions reflecting a culture of collusion among the Archbishops and bishops.
The bishops want the content and essence of a radical new Christian inclusion to arise magically from the grass roots through the Living in Love and Faith process without providing participants with the necessary guidance. We have repeatedly asked the Archbishops and bishops to define radical new Christian inclusion to enable people to engage with others and think through, across the different tribes of the Church of England, what the gospel of Jesus Christ requires of us when confronted with LGBTQIA+ people who are committed to the Church and expect the Church to engage with us as equals in the Kingdom of God and in ministry and relationships.
The bishops, the teachers and guardians of the faith, have proved themselves inadequate to the prophetic vision and courage required. Their role is to articulate the truth of unconditional love and radical new Christian inclusion.
They have been unwilling and unable to do it and that is why the LLF process is proving to be a deeply sad but very predictable failure.
To support Changing Attitude England’s campaign for a new radical Christian inclusion that grants equality in ministry and relationships to LGBTQIA+ people please join our Facebook group.