Thinking Anglicans

Bishop of Birkenhead to retire

The Bishop of Birkenhead, Keith Sinclair, has announced today that he is to retire on 08 March 2021, 14 years to the day after he was consecrated. Birkenhead is a suffragan see in the diocese of Chester.

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FrDavid H
FrDavid H
4 years ago

The Guardian’s Andrew Brown once described some of Bishop Sinclair’s beliefs as “subtle nonsense”. Predicting the likes of Sinclair might leave the CofE over gay people, Brown was premature by the fact the bishop remained in place to peddle his strange wares. Perhaps his retirement will be greeted in many quarters with sighs of great relief
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2013/nov/28/gay-people-blessing-conservatives

Janet Fife
Janet Fife
Reply to  FrDavid H
4 years ago

For several years I served on Chester Diocese’s Urban Mission and Ministry Committee which Keith Sinclair chaired. I found him to be a capable man of integrity and enjoyed working with him. I wasn’t aware that the had ‘strange views’, let alone that he was peddling them – certainly not within the committee. You and I might disagree with his views on certain matters, but can we please be polite about it?

FrDavid H
FrDavid H
Reply to  Janet Fife
4 years ago

The link I provided seems to be outdated. Bishop Sinclair held to the view that gay expressions of love are sinful and “unbiblical”. That to me is as offensive as racism. What is there to be polite about?

Simon Sarmiento
Reply to  FrDavid H
4 years ago

I have now fixed the link, that was previously broken, to a Guardian article.
Unfortunately, the link within the latter to the text of the Pilling report itself is also broken. The report text, including the Bishop of Birkenhead’s dissenting statement can be found here
https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/GS%201929%20Working%20Group%20on%20human%20sexuality_0.pdf

I hope this will enable a more fruitful (and of course polite) discussion of the bishop’s views.

Last edited 4 years ago by Simon Sarmiento
FrDavid H
FrDavid H
Reply to  Simon Sarmiento
4 years ago

Thank you

Ian Hobbs
Ian Hobbs
Reply to  FrDavid H
4 years ago

Frankly that’s an appalling insult. I’ve know him for about 5 years and worked with him in a couple of difficult situations. I’ve found him godly, gracious and kind. He will be missed and has contributed hugely to Chester Diocese. The only peddling of strange wares is in the Guardian’s prejudice.
As an aside I rarely visit TA… why is there always so much assassination going on here?

Last edited 4 years ago by Ian Hobbs
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