'Walking
the Walk’ of Tribal Religion!
Published in the Church
of England Newspaper – 5th October 2007
I honestly didn’t know whether to
laugh or to cry when I read Chris Sugden’s quote in the article “Row over
Archbishop’s Communion service with gay priests” (21st Sept). It
was not so much that he was reacting to it – that was to be expected – but
that he accused the Archbishop of beginning to ”take us down the road of
tribal religion”. This seemed a little rich coming from Anglican Mainstream
who have been quite openly doing exactly that for some years now.
I remember attending a meeting of
Anglican Mainstream at General Synod in York in 2004 in which a succession of
speakers from parts of Africa and the USA were wheeled out with the clear
message “The time is coming – we are preparing to leave – you will have to
choose – are you with us or against us?”
If this isn’t ‘tribal religion’, I
have to say that I wonder what is.
The Archbishop on the other hand has
been patiently working with all sides in this dispute to keep people talking,
not driving people apart, as he clearly demonstrated this past week in the
United States. He as also been continuing the ‘listening process’ with those
directly affected by the gay issue in the church, and it is that listening
process is taking him - quite rightly - to meet with gay clergy next month.
The problem is, of course, that groups
like Anglican Mainstream and Reform do not want people to talk or listen. Rod
Thomas of Reform says exactly that in this week’s CEN (28th Sept)
in his reaction to the US House of Bishops’ surprise statement. “What we
needed was leadership, and not conversation” was his comment on the
Archbishop’s work in the US.
The real sting of the ‘tribal
religion’ accusation is, of course, that Tribalism is by very nature the
opposite of Communion. But Communion which is not based on conversation – of
talking and listening – of walking together in the Way of Christ – is not
Communion at all.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:29 “For
anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and
drinks judgment on himself” – a verse which evangelicals have always
understood to refer not to the controversial issue of ‘real presence’ but to
recognising the Body of Christ in the fellowship of believers. The Archbishop
will indeed be recognising “the Body of Christ” when he celebrates Communion,
and listens, and talks with gay clergy next month. It is a shame that there
will be those in the wider Body of Christ who will not.
Rev Benny Hazlehurst
Accepting Evangelicals
Published in the Church
of England Newspaper – 12th October 2007
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
London, N4
Letter Published in the Church
of England Newspaper May 2007
Dear Sir
I
read with concern the article on Wycliffe College on your front page.
The
accusation that Wycliffe is becoming a place that is ‘not a safe place for
women or gays’ is bad enough, but the implication of the anonymous statement is
that it is not safe for anyone with a more open theology as well.
At
Accepting
Evangelicals, we had reports some time ago that one of our members was
refused an appointment at an Anglican Theological College because he was a member of
this pro-gay Evangelical network.
I am
sure that this could not have been Wycliffe College, but the allegations which
are now emerging will do nothing to allay the suspicions of many. Yet again it would seem, the Gay issue has
become the litmus test of whether you are a true evangelical or not, or even
worse, whether you are a true Christian or not.
My salvation has always depended on my
relationship to one person – Jesus Christ – and his place as Lord and Saviour
of my life. My desire in life is to
share this faith with others so that they too may experience a personal
relationship with Christ. Yet I along
with hundreds of others do not interpret Scripture on this issue in the same
way as our more conservative brothers and sisters. That does not stop us being Evangelical
Christians.
I
would hope that colleges such as Wycliffe would welcome such openness and
exploration within the core faith that we share, and the present controversy
presents them with a clear opportunity to demonstrate this. I would invite Dr Turnbull and the college to
state clearly that membership of
Accepting
Evangelicals would not prevent
someone from being appointed to the staff, or indeed accepted as a student.
Such
a statement would reassure many moderate evangelicals and would be very welcome
in this current climate of polarisation.
Yours
in Christ
Rev Benny Hazlehurst,
Founder Member of Accepting
Evangelicals |