“I have come that they may have life, and may have it in all its fullness.” John 10.10
“The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece throughout.” John 19.23

The Podcast Saturday 26th October

A sequence of three events in the last three weeks has conspired to create turmoil in the Church of England resulting in a crisis that will be difficult to resolve. The first event was the interview on Saturday 26th October with the Archbishop of Canterbury for The Rest is Politics podcast.

Archbishop Justin said:

“. . . what the Archbishop of York and I and the bishops, by a majority, not unanimous, where we’ve come to is to say that all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship; and whether it’s straight or gay. In other words, we’re not giving up on the idea that sex is within marriage or a civil partnership or whether marriage is civil or religious. And therefore we’ve put forward a proposal that where people have been through a civil partnership or a same-sex marriage, equal marriage under the 2014 Act, they should be able to come along to their local, to a church, and have a service of prayer and blessing for them in their lives together. So we accept that. As with all things in the Church of England there’s always a ‘but’, and there are some principles that we’re trying to work out because of conscience no priest or church should be compelled to have these services. Now, I think personally this is a long way from church same-sex marriage . . .“

The Archbishop created a number of problems for himself as a result of what he said in the podcast:

Firstly, he said that all sexual activity, straight or gay, should be within a committed relationship. The majority of couples being married in church are already living together and are sexually active. Therefore lesbian and gay couples are also allowed to be sexually active before a civil partnership or marriage. Was the Archbishop therefore effectively reintroducing the rule that couples should abstain from sex before marriage?
Secondly, he said that a proposal has been put forward that where people have been through a civil partnership or a same-sex marriage they should be able to come along to their local, to a church and have a service of prayer and blessing. That is absolutely not what is being proposed with the Prayers of Love and Faith; a same-sex union is not to be blessed.
Thirdly, he said there are some principles that we’re trying to work out because of conscience: no priest or church should be compelled to have these services. A post-code lottery is being proposed. Depending on which parish you live in, you may or may not be welcomed as a civil partnered or married gay couple.
Fourthly, the Archbishop thinks personally this is a long way from church same-sex marriage. This is the key issue for the majority of lesbian and gay Christian couples – marriage in church is the ultimate and urgent goal. The Archbishop knows this is the goal and has moved a long way towards accepting this, far beyond what the House of Bishops has actually agreed. Revealing this publicly has put him in an impossible position on both sides.

It’s a tragedy for him and for the wider church that he had in many ways almost got there as the podcast shows. Without Makin, progress might have been robust and swift. But . . .

The Makin Review Thursday 7th November

The timing of the publication of the Makin report has proved to be a well-timed detonation of dynamite when, I suspect, it was hoped that publication of the report might pass by largely unnoticed. Those responsible for its publication and those named in the report who had already seen it knew very well that it was, potentially, explosive.

Commenting on the review when it was published Keith Makin, said “The abuse at the hands of John Smyth was prolific and abhorrent. Words cannot adequately describe the horror of what transpired. Despite the efforts of some individuals to bring the abuse to the attention of authorities, the responses by the Church of England and others were wholly ineffective and amounted to a cover-up. The Church and its associated organisations must learn from this review and implement robust safeguarding procedures across their organisations that are governed independently.”

The Resignation Tuesday 12th November

On 12th November, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that:

“Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth. When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow. It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.”

I have not yet read the whole of the Makin review, I’ve reached page 150, but from what I have read so far and from reports and reactions in the media, it is clear that the Archbishop, other Archbishops and bishops and senior clergy are guilty of having deliberately maintained a conspiracy of silence about the extreme abuse perpetrated by John Smyth. This review reveals one element of the systemically abusive culture in the Church of England today and identifies the inadequacy of the safeguarding work in general by Church House, the National Safeguarding Team, Lambeth and Bishopsthorpe Palaces, the C of E hierarchy of bishops, Archbishops’ Council and General Synod.

The Future

I am slowly feeling my way towards an understanding of what has happened over the last three weeks and what the practical implications might be. There are actions that must be undertaken urgently; the resignation of other people named in the report; full recognition of the effects of the abuse inflicted on those abused, victimised, ignored and given false promises.

I was abused as a teenager by a priest, now long dead. Reading the Makin Review I realised that I am fortunate to have lived for the last sixty years in a Church of England environment that has been populated by many deeply inspiring, healthy, creative, spiritual people. I also realised that I have lived in the shadow of an unhealthy systemically abusive culture through all those years. I have protected and distanced myself from unhealthy people, people with charisma and a public profile that protected them. The unhealthy culture has many elements and layers – naive, ignorant Biblical teaching, unhealthy clergy, unhealthy, collusive conversations and relationships, an unhealthy practice of denial, an unhealthy tolerance of homophobia and transphobia, made worse because those manifesting prejudice were often shown greater respect and given better protection than their victims thanks to their seniority and status. It will not be easy for bishops and other leaders to admit to themselves which individuals and elements in the Church are manifestly unhealthy.

Archbishop Justin’s resignation marks a moment when the Church of England might begin to recognise and understand how misguided and cruel much of our supposed “Biblical” teaching, theology and practice is – what Diarmaid MacCulloch describes as “today’s exegetical illiteracy and prejudices”. The idea of substitutionary atonement is evil and provides the energy, not only for John Smyth’s foul beatings but for attitudes towards human dignity and personal integrity that are hostile to well-being. The Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkins, is among those with the courage to name and challenge those who interpret the Bible literally and uphold punitive teachings.

Today’s hierarchy and central Church structures have been undone by their repeated inability to accept the essential need for an independent safeguarding structure. They are responsible and they have repeatedly avoided responsibility, allowing the demands for a schismatic self-governing segment of the Church of England being pursued by the Church of England Evangelical Council and the Alliance. This would legitimise an abusive, unhealthy culture of belief and practice validating teachings that deny the full humanity and equality of LGBTQIA+ people in the universal Kingdom of God. It would be a scandal that perpetuates the abuse of thousands of people in the Church including partners and spouses, families and friends and congregations.

Ideas of God

Recently I have taken t asking people what they imagine when they think about God. The majority describe a belief in a non-realist understanding of God that is at the same time inspired by a very real awareness of and experience of God. The ideas the people in my social world have about God can, at their most powerful, be described as a deeply mystical trust in the experience of being enfolded in the presence of unconditional, intimate love. These friends are increasingly alienated by the God the Church of England still seems to prioritise. This God is formulated by the cruel, literal fundamentalism of naive, historically ignorant Biblical conviction. This formulation of God results in unhealthy teachings that lead to the extremes of physical and emotional cruelty and abuse manifest in the activities of John Smyth and others. I have never believed in the reality or existence of such a God. What is shocking to me now, and has to be dealt with now, is the reality that the Church of England is still deeply divided over the most basic ideas some people have about God. This conversation has been going on for three centuries and more but is rarely admitted to in Christian conversation today.

I am thinking that as a result of this inability to talk openly and honestly about the God we do and don’t believe in it may well be almost impossible to agree the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury. The next Archbishop will need to have the most remarkable and combined gifts of courage, vision, prophecy, awareness and resolve.

Changing Attitude England

Changing Attitude England was founded in 1995, the only LGBTQIA+ advocacy group still in existence, still committed to changing our attitudes towards all sexual and gender identities. Changing Attitude, fully inclusive of our straight allies and friends, has the potential to contribute to the necessary process of thinking through the effect of the current drama. We hold to a vision for a healthy, truly inclusive, spiritually inspired, Christ-centred Church, for which the two quotations from John’s Gospel at the head of this blog encapsulate my personal mantra: A seamless vision of creation in which churches inspire people to live towards life in all its fullness.

It isn’t easy to see where and how these foundations can be laid in today’s Church. We need to model “healthy” personal lives, physically and emotionally, building on the wisdom of people who self-aware and self-reflective. We need to tell a story about the energies of unconditional inclusive love manifest for Christians in the life of Jesus and the God Jesus invites us to embody. Churches need to manifest Christ-like role models, people who are modelling their lives on the teaching and practice of Jesus described in the core of each gospel, seeking the common good, justice, truth, compassion and contemplative spiritual energy.

To help create involved in this sacred task, we invite you to join the conversation by joining the Changing Attitude England Facebook group.