The questions asked at Synod this month are now online. Also available are the answers to the questions that were not reached during the synod session. The answers that were given orally will be put on line later as part of the transcript of the synod debates.
One question was about the theological colleges and courses attended by senior clergy. The details are here as a rtf file, but readers may find this html version more convenient.
Question 66 on ‘homophobia’ put by Stephen Coles, is interesting, as is the answer he receives. The CofE comes out with some surprising stuff. I thought the exclusion of lesbian and gay persons from much of its life, was a key part of the recent goings on in the Church and AC; and that the so-called ‘Covenant’ process is intended to keep out the Gene Robinsons and the rest of us ? So, to hear that they are encouraging respect for individual lives and viewpoints on ordination trainings, again leaves me in a state of confusion. You know, I think… Read more »
“You know, I think I’d prefer a thorough-goingly anti-gay Church to this mish-mash —then we’d all know where we REALLY stand –and could choose accordingly….”
So say the Global South, Laurie ….. Nuance is not their strong suit either!
oh dear Martin –are you saying I am in bed with them ? It is indeed a co-incidence. I think I wouldn’t have chosen to work for the CofE had its homophobia been clearer. On the other hand, it has helped to make me who I am today; and I did meet more pro-gay than anti-gay people. But the vicious minority can do terrible harm. Your analysis is very helpful to me Martin. Thanks. Will disaffected anglicans join the ranks of Quakers? (It works for me) or would acceptance be hard to take somehow ? … (Takes some getting used… Read more »
I answered Merseymike on the other thread, but probably my alternative to a swear word stopped it appearing – I’m not a …. yo yo. More seriously, why not join the Quakers? Well anyone can, but it is a different spirituality. Why not join the Unitarians? Well I was a member, and then a long time associated, and it just exhausted me in the end with its kind of unnecessary poverty of outlook. It is not easy being in the Church of England and playing a full if local role. It was not when they didn’t ordain women. The duplicity… Read more »
Pluralist – still hoping to split “open” and conservative evangelicals??
….if you consider Fulcrum people (eg Dr Goddard and +Wright) to be “open”, then I do not think you will see the split you hope for. They are solidly evo if you read their views.
Next question should be: Is Ripon College Cuddesdon really that more outstanding than the rest, or is this a case of an in-crowd, and an old-boys’ network? The recent book ‘Last Rites’ by Michael Hampson characterised RCC as a place where one was often told what could not be believed but never what belief-positions were well-supported. Candidates had to define themselves in terms of what they were not and did not believe. Apart from(hurrah) in biblical studies where the dreadful thought that there might be more evidence for some positions than for others reared its head. This is jolly odd… Read more »
Christopher: it doesn’t reflect the RCC I knew 25-23 years ago, which was a mix of all sorts arguing it out. Then again, as a married theolog, my forays into college were as sporadic as possible!
There were many things I disliked about early 80’s RCC, but ‘ideological negativity’? Not in my experience. There was an excessively paternalistic culture on the go at the time, which sought to de-skill everyone over the age of 22, but I don’t get the impression that’s your worry.
I do not hope to split Conservative and Open Evangelicals. What I do is read those on Fulcrum who take the label, and see the difference. Both Wright and Goddard have made sharp criticisms of Conservative Evangelicals in a way that make them distinct. It could well be that in any split they would be off with the splitters, though I doubt it. I don’t hope, I observe. You are the one who says what should be so and what is so, via the rule book you quote, where it seems to me that actual statements and events show something… Read more »