Living With Difference group: members named
on Friday, 8 September 2023 at 10.37 pm by Simon Sarmiento
categorised as Church of England, Safeguarding
press release
Living in Love and Faith – first facilitated group conversation held
08/09/2023
The first meeting of the ‘Living With Difference’ group – who have been invited to be part of a series of three facilitated conversations around the Prayers of Love and Faith – was held on Thursday September 7.
The members of the group are:
- Ade Adebajo (Elected member of the London Diocesan Synod)
- Ruth Bushyager (Bishop of Horsham)
- John Dunnett (National Director, Church of England Evangelical Council)
- Simon Friend (Co-Convenor of the Evangelical Forum for General Synod)
- Giles Goddard (Vicar, St John’s Church Waterloo)
- Jamie Harrison (Chair of the House of Laity, General Synod)
- Sarah Jackson (CEO, Church Revitalisation Trust)
- Helen King (Vice-Chair, General Synod Gender & Sexuality Group)
- Karen Lund (Archdeacon of Manchester)
- Kate Massey (Vicar, St Paul’s Stockingford)
- Judith Maltby (Chaplain, Fellow & Dean of Welfare, Corpus Christi College, Oxford University)
- Tom Middleton (Director of Forward in Faith and Secretary of the Council of Bishops of The Society)
- Sarah Mullally (Bishop of London, Co-Chair of the LLF Implementation Steering Group)
- Mark Nam (Assistant Curate at United Church in Longwell Green and St, Anne’s, Diocese of Bristol)
- Neil Patterson (Diocesan Director of Vocations and Ordinands, Hereford)
- Vaughan Roberts (Rector of St Ebbe’s, Oxford)
- Jonathan Sedgwick (Archdeacon of Southwark)
- Charlie Skrine (Rector, All Souls Langham Place)
- David Walker (Bishop of Manchester)
Notes to Editors:
The group will aim to reflect the spectrum of views held and work to offer back to the Bishops an understanding of how their proposals can be taken forward, reflecting the issues raised in the conversations. The group will meet for three full days, in London, on September 7, 12 and 28.
This is scheduled to feed into meetings of the College of Bishops in September and the House of Bishops in October.
Not quite sure why this group is needed and why the bishops don’t just get on with what Synod agreed. At this rate it will be another 10 years before the prayers brought by the bishops and approved by General Synod will be available for local use! 😞 Though I am pleased to see some excellent folks in this list. It feels as though the conversations of this group could be used as another excuse to delay. But I pray that won’t be the case.
I’d count on that being the case, based on past experience.
A lot of of the CofE establishment, from local priests on up, don’t want to deal with GLBT+ people (although our donations and dues are always welcome). The Archbishop of Canterbury wants to hold together the Anglican Communion by keeping the African provinces happy at the expense of GLBT+ people and provinces friendly to them. So LLF will be a very slow walk.
It’s not just the African provinces — although let’s not forget that it’s not all African provinces — as CEEC et al have suddenly discovered their anti-colonialist consciences (or is it a marriage of convenience; and an unholy alliance?)
“In Canada we have more than a passing familiarity with confusion…” For what it’s worth, enjoy!
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=563900801&q=due+south+scenes&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_q_Wjv5yBAxUtlIkEHe__D5wQ0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1292&bih=659&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8b982897,vid:ryla4x-lQ58,st:0
It will be a challenge for this group to agree on biscuit preferences let alone prayers 😉
And nobody who prefers their biscuit not to be new-made, and to be wholly dunked, will be welcome!
A friend of mine at college was ticked off in the college refectory for not eating her banana with a knife and fork. Apparently it’s common to peel as you go and bite chunks of the fruit. Who knew?
Do all the best people know that eating a banana requires a knife and a fork? And do they also know that babies should not be sprinkled but that mature believers should be immersed? I guess that I won’t ever be invited to a posh banana-eating dinner, or to an Anglican committee!
Fr Dean and Alexander, these comments brought a smile and reminded me of sitting on an appointment panel with male colleagues. I was instructed by the Chair to remain and have lunch with the candidates. “ Why me” I muttered…..( absolutely livid). He told me firmly that I was the only one capable of appraising table manners and etiquette! I did try to be balanced but there was the temptation of reporting the ghastly crime of a candidate talking with one’s mouth full…lol…
Actually, I was invited to a session with some high-powered Church of Scotland ecclesiastics and academics. Someone lambasted the Baptists; and then a renowned Presbyterian defended the Baptists. A “healthy discussion” ensued, during which it was clear that between one-third and one-half of those present were not at all happy with paedobaptism! On the other hand, we ate our delicious food, with implements and propriety. I have attended similar Anglican functions – but the number of antipaedobaptists was smaller – say, one-quarter – with several more wishing for a tougher paedobaptist polity. I thought that my fellow-Scots were the more… Read more »
I wouldn’t give anyone a job who made their goodbyes with the words “see ya later” unless of course there was a possibility that we might meet later that same day.
One group of people will be saying “we need orthodox bishops to look after us”.
The other group will be saying “you need no such thing and please stop calling yourselves orthodox”.
What a pointless charade.
Some believe that to be effective a committee should have no more than three members, of whom two are permanently absent! The CofE goes in the opposite direction here, establishing a group that is so large & unwieldy that it will take forever to achieve nothing.
What needs achieving is not the work of this group actually. Now I would not have set up yet another consultation at this point but as I understand it, this is a last gathering of voices into the debate ahead of the Bishop’s decision on October 9th.
There was once a definition of a committee published, I think in the Methodist Recorder.
“A committee is a collection of people [originally ‘men’] meeting together in order to decide not to come to a decision.”
I think that just about covers it.
Another definition I have heard is that a committee is a group of people who keep minutes and waste hours.
Which may be the goal.
They’re running in place as fast as they can.
Heavily weighted to the south of the country. This will save on train fares and hotel rooms I suppose.
Hands up those delighted not to be a member of the group.
Professional and quasi professional Anglican Christians meeting each other to talk about sex. Most of whom know full well what the others think anyhow. What’s Different about that?.
I’m not sure they’re mainly talking about sex, and yes they will know each other’s views. It’s about what provision the church needs to make to allow different elements of the church to stay together under one roof if/once the Bishops commend the Prayers of Love and Faith. I hope the group will recognise that they are not, and never will be, of one mind on sexuality and move quickly on to how the church can function when there are different views and different liturgical practices. While I can see the point in consulting everyone, in some ways the House… Read more »
At least no faction can say they weren’t consulted on the final stages.
That’s how I see that as well. And whatever the model Anglicanism picks on going forward will highly to influence the outcome of our RC “Synod on Synodality” model in the next years to come.
Actually I feel that the moderate middle is rather underrepresented in this group. Perhaps we don’t squeal often enough and loud enough. I am thinking of the kind of folk who make up the church in rural England (which is where I live) who perhaps initially found the idea of ‘same sex blessings’ a bit difficult – or at least strange – but for whom genuine care for individuals (expressed often and practically in our villages) outweighs hard line theological views (whichever end of the spectrum they are coming from). And I happen to date to think that the heart and… Read more »
While I agree with you completely it brings me back to my sad view that the ABC regards rural parishes as something to replace so they can sell off the churches for smart housing and divert funds to their pet projects, advisors , etc etc
So no one is interested in the middle ground( which might also be reasonable) but only to keep the polarisation going as long as possible to slow the process to a stop
The “little places” have seldom been properly represented. There are many many hundreds of them, so they matter.
My ministry was mostly in parishes exactly as you describe. Not entirely plain sailing of course but hugely rewarding. They were without question the body of Christ in their locality but for the most part seen solely as units of income generation and bums on seats by the hierarchy.
That was hugely disrespectful (by the hierarchy) and must have been distressing for you
The sad thing is that the part of the Church which is valuable and still performing it’s true function is parish worship and yet that’s the bit which is being closed. I do wonder whether there is a future for the Church of England – at times I don’t think it deserves one.