Following the recent announcement that LGCM and Changing Attitude are to merge, the two bodies have consulted on a new name for the combined body, which will be known as OneBodyOneFaith.
Details on the background to the choice of name can be read here.
Jeremy Pemberton, Chair of the LGCM Board writes:
We are proud to announce that from 14th February we will be known as
OneBodyOneFaith
We will also use an explicatory strapline to help people locate what we do more easily. This is:
Affirming sexuality and gender in Christ
We will also be unveiling a new logo, and you’ll see a gradul change in our identity online, on social media and in the resources we produce to support our work.
Good choices
I dislike the choice of name. Changing Attitude was a loose name that focussed on individual or institutional outlooks. LGCM allowed any definition of ‘Christian’. This OneBodyOneFaith, with the somewhat irritating modern trend for removing spaces, has a sort of ‘Anglicanese’ about it, assuming one Body when there are many bodies, and one Faith when faiths vary, or even varieties of Christianity. It carries an assumption of comprehension, rather than assumption of active toleration.
Terrible, terrible name. This is a disaster for both great organisations. Please re-think.
How sad that a specifically Christian organisation has given up its name. There are so few places where Christian homosexual men and women can make their voices heard collectively. Organisations already exist for non-Christian gay men and women. I too would ask for a re-think.
I’m not at all sure about this name, Jeremy. I’d suggest a review. ‘One Body One Faith’ could be adopted by almost any Christian group – for example, the advocates of the Anglican Covenant could propose that if you want to be one Body you need ONE faith, therefore uniformity must be insisted on. There doesn’t really seem to be anything in the name that points to gay or lesbian or trans or bi- or intersex people. It just seems a bit bland to me. I’m not sure it’s a good hook for the media to latch on to and… Read more »
In its favor it positions CA/LGCM well for debates with conservative schismatics.
The TEC experience shows that as majority opinion swings, threats of schism will follow.
I would have preferred ‘Unity in Diversity’.
Or just ‘Christian Diversity’.
It’s like a misprint from a bad hymn
I take the point about the problems with alternatives, but much as I want to be enthusiastic, can’t agree with the name: it doesn’t make clear what the organization is; it’s long and complicated; and unlike “Stonewall,” has no clear link with LGBT history. The basic purpose of a name is, surely, instant description and recognition.
Something like Equality Now!, or any of the many excellent suggestions above, would help describe what the organization is, and give its mission.
Given the critical juncture the Church of England finds itself at currently, I believe it’s expedient to postpone the relaunch and name change; a few months is all that’s required.
At the moment, LGCM and Changing Attitude need to be speaking up about the issues, not talking about themselves.
“Given the critical juncture the Church of England finds itself at currently, I believe it’s expedient to postpone the relaunch and name change; a few months is all that’s required.
At the moment, LGCM and Changing Attitude need to be speaking up about the issues, not talking about themselves.”
Very, very much agree. The merger should be postponed.
I feel it is spot on — and even more so with its focussed ‘strapline’. The name positions the organisation in a theologically secure place, while the ‘strapline’ does the same for sexual orientation and gender. Hurraaaah ! When first belonged to lgcm it was then called GCM — times change, names change, but the commitment , the truth, the love goes on. Then I was an ordinand – and now I am a pensioner. Then I was totally at the of the Church of England and now I am a little wiser (I hope), and much happier, living with… Read more »
It’s like the NAACP becoming..the Civility and good manners society…ambiguous title, does not help their cause
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