Church of England General Synod: Bishop of London's Living in Love and Faith Presentation February 2023 Source:The Church of England
The General Synod of the Church of England has backed plans put forward by its bishops to bless gay couples.
The motion was brought by the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, following six years of work on questions of 'identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage' known by its fully loaded title Living In Love And Faith.
For opponents of the motion it could have been more accurately described as living in sin and faith.
If true, there has been a remarkable turnaround, particularly in Synod membership.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said priests would have the option to bless gay couples, but could choose not to. He told the Synod, "No-one has to offer these services and no one will be disadvantaged if they don't."
This is very reminiscent of the step by step approach that led to the ordination of women. Revisionists do not give up. They bind their time, wearing down the opposition until they reach their goal. When the dust has settled the Church of England will surely follow the example of the Church in Wales and push for same sex marriage in Church.
As for Cottrell's assurances, Synod has only to look to the experience of Anglicans in the Church in Wales where similar assurances amounted to nothing. There has been no outcry about the shoddy treatment of traditionalists or protests of discrimination against those forced to leave.
Women and the Church (WATCH) will continue their war of attrition with their constant allegations of sexism and discrimination until they completely wreck the Church that nurtured them.
The female bishops pose for their group portrait. Photo: Neil Turner/The Lambeth Conference Source: Episcopal News Service
Perhaps it is a generational thing but I have to admit that I am not a fan of Sandi Toksvig's brand of humour. Having watched bits of QI occasionally her success seems to me to be more to do with lesbianism than comedy.
An admitted humanist Ms Toksvig has written a 'Dear Justin' letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury telling him of his mistakes at the Lambeth Conference.
Before playing the usual victim card she writes: "So, you and your other religious pals got together at the Lambeth Conference and the main take away seems to be that gay sex is a sin. It was a sin in 1998 and you just wanted to make it clear in 2022 that no-one in you finely frocked gang has moved on from that. Seriously, with the state the world is in, that is what you wanted to focus on? You didn't have other more pressing matters like, I don't know, war or poverty?..."
What the LGBTQ+ lobby fails to understand is it is not about sex it is about marriage.
Civil Partnerships were created for same-sex couples who were not legally allowed to marry. They have legally recognized unions with rights similar to those of marriage.
Having gained such acceptance the LGBTQ+ lobby are not satisfied. For them, marriage is the ultimate stamp of approval. For Christians marriage is the union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
But the activists stop at nothing. What we have is a re-run of the campaign for the ordination of women. Originally they campaigned for deaconesses to be ordained deacons. Step by step they succeeded in advancing to the priesthood and the episcopate using the same strategy of stealth and deception.
The result of their efforts can be seen in the women only photograph taken at this year's Lambeth Conference. The number of women bishops attending has grown to 97 in 2022 from 11 in 1998. "We’ve increased exponentially," said Michigan Bishop Bonnie Perry. So much for just wanting to be deacons.
Same sex relations are now characterised as 'Human Dignity', just one of the 'Calls' in the Lambeth Conference programme. The agenda includes much more but for bishops in the Church in Wales and other provinces that have decided by committee that same sex marriage is compatible with Christian teaching, it was the main item for them and they went to Lambeth determined to push their agenda regardless of the cost to the Anglican Communion.
Like TEC in the US the Scottish and Welsh provinces are comparatively wealthy but with steeply declining memberships. They are counted in thousands compared with much poorer, more orthodox provinces in the Global South where membership is counted in millions.
Many of the bishops from poorer areas came to Lambeth intent on upholding the sanctity of marriage. Much was done to thwart them but they continued to fight under Christ's banner as Christians promise in our baptism.
If the will of the Anglican Communion as a whole counted for anything the Welsh bishops and their like would be regarded as a tiny, unrepresentative minority and told where to go.
Instead, synodical processes are manipulated by liberal bishops to drive forward their own agendas. They influence public opinion by appealing to humanists and those who have no religion, increasing secular resentment then claim that the Church is out of step. It is not. They are.
This deception is exemplified by the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church who tweeted "Tonight I feel a burden lifted of what might happen at this conference and determined that we continue to be an example of diversity, an example of enabling people with differing opinions to remain part of the same Church... 'love means love' to use the latest catch phrase. Watch this video clip in which the primus claims that nobody is to be thrown out of the Communion and that there will be no sanctions for what people do.
Complete garbage.
Whilst pandering to the LGBTWQ+ lobby, thousands of Anglicans who identify with the traditional, orthodox faith, as in the Global South, have been left with no spiritual home. They have effectively been expelled whilst those continuing to attend services are made complicit.
Similarly the archbishop of Wales tweeted "I welcome this afternoon's #LambethCall affirming of the dignity of all people". He was quickly followed by affirming underlings.
If only these idiots could leave Christian marriage alone there would be no problem.
My previous entry generated quite a lot of heat from commentators but not on my main point, the sanctity of marriage.
Understandably people have become weary of the same-sex marriage debate. It drags on and on.
Revisionists do not give up. They maintain pressure until all become used to their ideas. They claim that, if approved, same-sex marriage would be accepted just as divorce and re-marriage in Church no longer raises eyebrows.
The protection of Holy Matrimony deserves more. The Church should be protecting marriage as defined, the lifelong, faithful union between one man and one woman.
Defenders of traditional marriage are accused of homophobia and bigotry. That is unfair. What people do in private is between them and their maker but that is not good enough for promoters of same-sex unions who expect others to legitimise their unions by redefining marriage.
Defenders of traditional marriage who have homosexual friends are aware that many are equally upset by demands for same-sex marriage in Church. As one succinctly put it, marriage is for heterosexuals. Same-sex couples have civil partnerships.
My entry in 2012, To be joined together, included a reference to an article 'The six ways homosexual activists manipulate public opinion' which stated: "Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths:
Exploit the “victim” status;
Use the sympathetic media;
Confuse and neutralize the churches;
Slander and stereotype Christians;
Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
Intimidation.
"By far the most popular homophile tactic is the claim to victim status, which is a very powerful, almost paralyzing, weapon that gives them a distinct advantage in the public square."
The success of this strategy can be seen at the entrance to 10 Downing street where a pride arch was erected to mark Pride Month 2021. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a reception to celebrate the achievements of LGBT people.
The Prime Minister said the UK’s first ever global LGBT conference will be about ‘kindness, tolerance and openness’ and will look at what more can be done to promote LGBT equality around the world.
We hear a lot about 'equality'. In the absence of hard theological evidence, secular notion of equality was used to justify the ordination of women. The same argument is being used to allow same-sex couples to marry in Church.
Woke cajoling has not only enforced acceptance of political correctness. It seeks to legitimise that which defies logic as if black can be white and white, black.
'Female' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes." 'Male' is defined as "of or denoting the sex that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring."
Woke personal preference permits those inclined not only to choose their own gender but to insist that others recognise their wish by using gender-neutral pronouns, something that Canadian university professor Dr Jordan Peterson challenged and suffered for expressing logical rather than woke opinions.
Demonized by progressives, the Guardian carried this vitriolic piece: 'How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'?'
The selfishness of feminist ideas of equality has changed Great Britain's historic Anglicanism based scripture and tradition replacing it with an attitude of take what you want regardless of scripture and tradition or whoever you hurt. Consequently many have been left un-churched. The forgotten victims.
Holy Matrimony is being attacked under the banner of equality.
From the Church in Wales web site Holy Matrimony is properly defined:
"Drawing on the teaching of the Bible, and of the Church down through the centuries, the Church in Wales Marriage Service talks about marriage as a gift of God. Marriage is described as the lifelong, faithful union between a man and a woman, and married love is compared with the love Jesus has for his people – a love expressed in his willing sacrifice of himself on the cross."
But the current bench of bishops, following their manipulation of the Governing Body, now claim that “it is pastorally unsustainable for the Church to make no formal provision for those in same-gender relationships”.
The bench have published their proposals to introduce same-sex blessings. In their explanatory memorandum they write:
"The Bench believes that, in the fullness of time, the Governing Body will have to consider whether it wishes to consider a change in the Church’s teaching concerning marriage. This could enable a couple wishing to live in a faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationship to celebrate the rite of marriage in Church."
Many same-sex couples already live in faithful and mutually committed same-sex relationships. They are accepted in the Church but to pretend under 'equality' rules that same-sex couples are no different to one-man - one-woman marriage defies logic.
The woke culture has become so prevalent that a poll in 2018 found that over half of our MPs were afraid to speak their mind. The silent majority must speak up. From C4M:
I am not without sympathy for the Dean of Llandaff, regarded by some members of the Cathedral congregation as a decent man who is trying to do a difficult job under difficult circumstances but by others as an inappropriate appointment by an unscrupulous Archbishop and completely out of his depth. He certainly seems to have been dropped in it, something Janet Henderson was wise to avoid.
Despite the mathematical skills of his predecessor, Bonaparte, a number of miscalculations have come to light from doubts about the accounting procedures used for the organ appeal funds, to the appropriateness of the organ project itself, given the financial problems of Llandaff Cathedral and dwindling congregations.
Obsessed by the ordination of woman and now by the advancement of the gay agenda, Dr Morgan's main concern appears to be focused on the acceptance of same-sex marriage in Church. Manipulation towards this end has been in evidence for some time at parish, deanery and diocesan levels, all geared to deliver the Governing Body result programmed by the Archbishop whether consonant with the faith or not.
Gay activists have learned a thing or two from the feminist infiltration of Anglicanism by using their strategy:
Exploit the “victim” status;
Use the sympathetic media;
Confuse and neutralize the churches;
Slander and stereotype [traditionalist] Christians;
Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
Intimidation.
So being gay has become the in-thing, picked up by politicians, bishops and career minded priests. Journalists were not slow in seeing which way the wind was blowing. Honestly held views are attacked under the guise of 'equality' while activists make accusations against anyone who begs to differ. For a flavour of this phenomenon read some of the comments made in response to an article by Peter Mullen for the Church of England Newspaper (here) for questioning "the £360,000 bill for 'facilitated conversations' which, it is hoped, will break the deadlock between liberals and traditionalists on the contentious issue of the Church’s attitude towards homosexuality".
With women bishops firmly in place in the Church of England the emphasis now is on manipulation, abandoning the concept of equality which was the basis of their complaint to ensure that they are considered for preferment above men regardless of ability. But the best laid plans....! Read "Drive to make CofE less 'male, pale and stale' backfires" here.
While the feminist agenda is being fine-tuned and the gay agenda advances, the poor disenfranchised pew sitters continue giving more money than many can afford to support a failing institution which treats them with contempt for keeping the faith rather than kneel before each new sacred cow. It cannot last.
