Issues in Human Sexuality

Living in Love and Faith - pure chance, serendipity, or the work of God’s Spirit?

Living in Love and Faith - pure chance, serendipity, or the work of God’s Spirit?

In the course of the Living in Love and Faith process Changing Attitude England has repeatedly told bishops that we want no more conversations about us without us. On Friday we were present with bishops, we spoke, we were heard, we have been included in the conversation. Three years ago we would never have anticipated that last Friday’s meetings would have taken place. The process won’t be finished by the February meeting of General Synod. We can hope at least for a confirmed direction of travel after Synod, knowing that proposals will take time to implement. We hope and pray that the College of Bishops and General Synod have the confidence to come to a strong common mind leading to the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church of England characterised by a radical new Christian inclusion that is both possible and essential.

LGBTI+ and Church of England Teaching Documents – a history

LGBTI+ and Church of England Teaching Documents – a history

I wrote this document in July 2018 before the proposed teaching document had been renamed Living in Love and Faith. I have made minor amendments but otherwise left it unchanged. I wrote this history of the teaching documents published by the Church of England to demonstrate to myself why I was feeling so angry in 2018. I was angry because, following Pilling and the Shared Conversations, a further delay of three years was being engineered by the House of Bishops who still lacked the guts to confront the human sexuality of LGBTI+ people and the need to radically include us as equals in the Church.

Traditional or Revisionist – LGBTI+ Anglicans and the Teaching Document – a history

Traditional or Revisionist – LGBTI+ Anglicans and the Teaching Document – a history

Is the House of Bishops ready to make evolutionary and revolutionary choices about the direction in which the Church of England’s teachings about gender and sexuality will evolve? The key question about the Teaching Document for LGBTI+ members of the Church of England is: will this report achieve the radical change we now urgently need, both we who identify as LGBTI and the majority in the church for whom current teaching and practice is no longer adequate or believable?