Published in the Church of England Newspaper – 12th October 2007
Communion
Sir, The news that Archbishop Rowan Williams is to meet with gay priests and celebrate
communion with them is to be welcomed (CEN Sep 21). As a lay gay evangelical,
I consider this to be an important part of the listening process that the
church is committed to undertaking. I fail to see how anybody can criticise
the Archbishop for sharing communion with his priests. Gay Anglicans would not
criticise Archbishop Rowan if he celebrated communion with conservative
evangelical priests.
Sadly, the comments from Anglican Mainstream and the Church Society are very
predictable. They seem to imagine that nobody has a right to their convictions
except them and those who agree with them. I find it deeply ironic that the
sort of evangelicals who are condemning Archbishop Rowan are the same people
who have defended Richard Wood of Dagenham for refusing communion from his
Bishop, John Gladwin. Richard Wood and they would do well to learn from the
example of gay priests who joyfully receive communion from their bishops
and archbishops.
Mike Dark
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