The letter is as follows:-
An Open Letter from the LGBT Anglican Coalition to
The Archbishop of Uppsala, the Most Revd Anders Wejryd
The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Revd and Rt Hon.
Rowan Williams
23rd November 2009
Dear Archbishop,
As Anglican clergy and lay people, we were dismayed to see
that there was no official representation from the Church of England or any
other Anglican Church from the British Isles at the service of consecration of
Bishop Eva Brunne of Stockholm and Bishop Tuulikki Koivunen Bylund of H�rn�sand.
We do understand that, as the Church of England has not yet
finalised plans for the ordination of women as bishops - though we hope and pray
that will happen soon - it might not have been possible for an Anglican bishop
to have laid hands on the ordinands as part of the consecration. But that should
not have prevented a bishop from attending and representing the Archbishop of
Canterbury at the consecration on November 8th in Uppsala.
It was also unfortunate that The Revd Nicholas Howe was
unable to attend the service, though we were pleased to hear that The Revd Karen
Schmidt was able to attend, and indeed participate in the service, representing
the Diocese of Portsmouth, with which Stockholm has a partnership link.
Many of us are indeed very grateful that the Church of
Sweden has taken such a clear lead in affirming the rightful place of lesbian
and gay people at all levels in the life of the Church. The recent decision of
the Church of Sweden's Kyrkom�tet to conduct same-sex marriages has filled us
with a real hope that such a courageous and prophetic act might one day be
possible in the Church of England.
The Porvoo Agreement has brought many blessings to our
sister churches, Anglican and Lutheran, which share so much in our inheritance
of faith and action. The interchangeability of ministers and exchange of
resources continues to bring many blessings to dioceses which have a partnership
link with a Porvoo church. May these links increase and continue to bear much
fruit.
It is our prayer that we may continue in an ever-deepening
partnership of mission with the Porvoo member churches, and together celebrate
the gifts of all God's people who are called to be ministers of God's Word and
Sacraments, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Your partners in the Gospel,
The LGBT Anglican Coalition - including
Revd Benny Hazlehurst - Accepting Evangelicals
Revd Colin Coward - Changing Attitude
Revd Chris Newlands - The Clergy Consultation
Jeremy Marks - Courage
Mike Dark - The Evangelical Fellowship of Lesbian and Gay
Christians
Canon Giles Goddard - Inclusive Church
Revd Sharon Ferguson - Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
Revd Christina Beardsley - Sibyls
The LGBT Anglican Coalition is a new network of groups
working for the full and equal inclusion of LGBT Christians within and beyond
the Church of England.
Letter Published in the Church of England Newspaper - 17th July 2009
Dear Sir
I read with interest your report and Comment on the launch of the
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
Like Paul in Philippians, I will always rejoice when Christ is
proclaimed, but I am concerned that there is something deeply disingenuous about
the way in which FCA is setting out its stall.
It seems clear that Gafcon and FCA came about because of the
vigorous debate on sexuality which has been raging in recent years. Yet now we
are being told that their existence is due to something far more fundamental
than that – it is about basic Christian identity and uniqueness of Christ.
Bishop Nazir-Ali set the ball rolling last weekend when he was
quoted as saying that people who depart from their view of Biblical revelation
about sexuality don’t share the same faith. This was continued by Archbishop
Gregory Venables in seeking to polarise the debate as being between “those who
say that there is only one way; Jesus Christ ... and those who say there are
lots of ways.”
I am sure that I am not the only one who finds this transition of
purpose both alarming and misleading.
It is misleading because it is not debate on the uniqueness of
Christ which will cause FCA to make the further transition from ‘movement’ to
‘organisation’ – it is, in the words of its speakers, issues of gender (the
ordination of women as Bishops) and sexuality (greater acceptance of
homosexuals).
Such issues are not central to the Christian gospel, do not
enable or negate our salvation, and should not be seen as defining issues on
which we should be pushed to decide between the ‘real’ church and a church in
whose structures (in the words of Bishop Broadhurst) Satan resides.
I am a Confessing Anglican – I confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. According to Romans 10:9 that confession along with my faith that God
raised him from the dead means that I will be saved. Biblically, that is our
identity as Christians, not our attitude to gender, sexuality, or for that
matter FCA.
As a pro-gay evangelical, I will not be joining FCA (nor I would
imagine would they want me to) but I would appeal to them to affirm their
fellowship with all who declare that “Jesus is Lord!” If they refuse to do
this, I am sad to say, they will indeed be working towards schism, not truth.
Yours in Christ
Rev Benny Hazlehurst
A joint statement from groups working together in the Church of England
We have read and reflected upon the Archbishop’s response to
the Episcopal Church of the USA “Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future”
and have a number of questions about the consequences of his response. We
question whether the voices of those within the Church of England who are or
who walk alongside lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans [gender] people have been
adequately heard within the recent discussions. These discussions have gone on
in various places around the Communion, and we believe it is important in this
context that the LGBT faithful and those who work alongside us speak as well.
We wish to reaffirm our loyalty to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
as revealed in the scriptures, our commitment to the Anglican way and our
celebration of and thanksgiving for the tradition and life of the Church of
England. Above all, our concern is for the mission of the Church in our world.
We have no doubt that the Church of England is called to live out the Gospel
values of love and justice in the whole of its life; these values are
intrinsic to the calling of Jesus Christ to follow him and it is out of this
context that we speak.
While we acknowledge the intention of the Archbishop of
Canterbury to seek a way forward for the Anglican Communion, we have grave
concerns about the implications of his reflections in “Covenant, Communion and
the Anglican Future.” For example, we consider that references to same-sex
unions as a “chosen life-style”, and assertions that those who have made such
a commitment are analogous to “a heterosexual person living in a sexual
relationship outside the marriage bond” to be inconsistent with the
Archbishop’s previous statements on committed and faithful same sex
relationships
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4473814.ece)
and are at odds with our reading of the message of the gospel.
Whilst we applaud his assertion that we are called to “become the Church God
wants us to be, for the better proclamation of the liberating gospel of Jesus
Christ” we find no indication of how that can be achieved for those who are
not heterosexual.
We acknowledge, once again, that there are and always have
been, many loyal, committed and faithful bishops, priests and deacons –
properly selected and ordained - and many lay people who are LGBT or who work
alongside LGBT people with delight and thanksgiving. We know ourselves to be
part of the church of God in England and we work, together, to bring about the
reign of God in this part of God’s creation. We pray earnestly that the Church
of England will continue to select, train, ordain and deploy LGBT people and
enable them to exercise their calling from God in the Church of England.
Together, we reaffirm our commitment to working for the full
inclusion of all people at all levels of ministry. We will continue to work
towards liturgical and sacramental recognition of the God-given love which
enables many LGBT couples to thrive.
We will seek to strengthen the bonds of affection which exist
between those in all the Churches of the Anglican Communion who share our
commitment to the full inclusion of all of God’s faithful. We will also
continue to work closely with our brother and sister churches, especially
those with whom we have mutual recognition of orders such as the Nordic
churches.
We will work to ensure that if the Church of England is to sign
up to the Covenant, it has potential for rapid progress on this and other
issues. We find the notion of a “two track communion” flawed in the way that
the Act of Synod is flawed, and we commit ourselves to continuing the effort
to find ways forward through which those who disagree profoundly on this and
on other issues can continue to celebrate their common membership of the
Church of England and unity in Christ.
Signed by representatives of the following groups working
together in the Church of England
Accepting Evangelicals
Changing Attitude
The Clergy Consultation
Courage
Ekklesia
Evangelical Fellowship of Lesbian and Gay Christians
General Synod Human Sexuality Group
Group for the Rescinding of the Act of Synod
Inclusive Church
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (Anglican Matters)
Modern Churchpeople’s Union
Sibyls
WATCH National Committee