Updated to add the Jeremy Pemberton article
Richard Peers Quodcumque – Serious Christianity Sex, Lies and Honesty in the Church: An Anglican Response to James Alison
Jeremy Pemberton From the Choir Stalls Honest to God: responding to James Alison and Richard Peers
Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Church Teams – What are they?
Richard Kew The Living Church Living with Cranmer’s Lectionary
Ian Paul Psephizo Why we all need printed Bibles
Completely agree with Richard Kew about the paucity of the RCL. Even the lessons are much shorter. As a choirboy I used to play multiple games of hangman or noughts and crosses during each reading. However, he need not worry about Cranmer excluding Isaiah. It does not appear in the Summer, as one might expect, before Jeremiah, but only because it has been left to the end. Isaiah is the Old Testament lesson from late November, at Matins and Evensong, all the way to the end of the year. Far from ignoring Isaiah he felt it important enough to move… Read more »
I find it astonishing that Peter Ould, commenting on Richard Peers’ article, supports the imposition of celibacy on all gay clergy. As someone known to be gay, he resolved his own sexual conflict by marrying a woman. He is an example of the agonised contortions which some “conservatives” embrace in order to obey some so-called bible-based rules. Surely, not all gay clergy are called to Ould’s solution to enable them to escape celibacy? No wonder the CofE is an irrelevant laughing stock.
Jeremy Pemberton has written Honest to God: responding to James Alison and Richard Peers https://jeremypemberton.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/honest-to-god-responding-to-james-alison-and-richard-peers/
“Allowing same sex couples, those in civil partnerships, to share their homes is identified by some on the evangelical wing as a step too far.” — Richard Peers Then it sounds like evangelicals will go to great lengths to humiliate and shame GLBT people. And I am tired of it. In order to preserve evangelicals’ worldview, GLBT people and same-sex couples are required to contort themselves into knots. I am reminded of a lecturer I heard speak 20 years ago, a self-described “reformed ex-lesbian”, who said she dreamed of a world where everyone appeared the same when in public and… Read more »
‘some’ evangelicals Peter. Richard is right. There is huge change going on in this tradition but the conservative voices easily get the publicity.
Responding to Richard Peers and Jeremy Pemberton’s most helpful articles: surely one easy way forward is for clergy to make it absolutely clear (as I am very happy to do here) at every available opportunity that they do not and can not support ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’ as any kind of basis for church teaching or human flourishing. It is a deeply flawed and very out of date document that would not, I suspect, gain the support of the congregations whom those we are ordaining are sent to serve. If significant numbers of already ordained clergy – and I believe… Read more »
Two or three years ago I had a very young potential ordinand, seeking to explore her vocation. She moved into the Diocesan discernment process and prepared for a selection conference. The diocese gave her a book, which one might assume was something to encourage and help her on her journey. She could not make head nor tail of the book, so she came to see me and asked me to explain it. The book was ‘Issues in Human Sexuality’. I understand it was a requirement then (maybe still now) that every ordinand had to read it. I did my best… Read more »
Andrew. Perhaps the learning is that easy ways don’t work. True change only happens when sufficient numbers of people are willing to take paths that are potentially difficult and costly. I am thinking, for example, of the long chain of people from Rosa Parks to Colin Kaepernick making a stand for US race relations. Or those extremely brave actresses who triggered the “Me Too” movement with the early published allegations against Harvey Weinstein. I am sorry if my words sound harsh, but to me the most shocking thing about the Peers and Alison articles is the passivity of so many… Read more »
Unfortunately the power dynamic makes resistance very costly (Jeremy Pemberton being example 1). But still, opportunities for resistance are there. When I entered into a serious relationship, I did have a healthy rapport with my bishop, and kept him informed. Since I was in rural ministry, the relationship was a long-distance one, and my partner would visit and stay at the rectory for a few days. He knew people in the parish, from his work and family ties, and so became involved in the social life of the parish. Eventually, someone complained to the bishop. He called me in with… Read more »
Two components perhaps that might lead to ‘so few willing to make a principled stand’. One as Jim Pratt points out is the power dynamic: clergy almost always work in isolation and with surprisingly little legal protection against the whim of their bishop so resistance can indeed be costly and- because it is always individuals in isolation- ultimately ineffective. I think the second component is more important: there is no obvious way *to* make a principled stand. What do we do? The ‘if we all stood up together’ notion comes up regularly on TA and nobody has yet seen what… Read more »
Speaking for himself, Ian Paul might have titled his article “Why I Prefer My Printed Bible.” He does not speak for me with “Why We All Need Printed Bibles.” Long before there were bound books, the temple rabbis did just fine studying the Torah on roll-up scrolls. Young people today don’t relate to printed books and magazines, any more than they relate to wrist watches. In my church, we stand to HEAR the Gospel proclaimed.