Thinking Anglicans

Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church

updated Maundy Thursday

The US Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has published a draft of the 95-page report titled “Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church”. This is really two reports, one from the “Traditionalists” and one from the “Liberals”.

Episcopal Life has this story: Bishops’ theology committee publishes draft report on same-gender relationships which includes useful information of the report’s status. It starts:

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops, concluding its six-day retreat meeting at Camp Allen in Navasota, Texas, has posted a draft of the long-awaited 95-page report titled “Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church” on the College for Bishops’ website here.

“For a generation and more the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion have been engaged in a challenging conversation about sexual ethics, especially regarding same-sex relationships in the life of the church,” Theology Committee Chair and Alabama Bishop Henry Parsley wrote in the report’s preface. “The hope of this work is that serious engagement in theological reflection across differences will build new bridges of understanding.”

A notation on the report’s table of contents page cautions that the report “has been edited in several places” following a discussion among the bishops on March 20. “The responses of several pan-Anglican and ecumenical theologians will be added to this study in the summer, along with some further editing, before a final edition is published,” the note concludes.

Episcopal Café reports this as House of Bishops posts same-sex report(s).

update

Bill Bowder reports this in the Church Times as US theologians have words over gay marriage.

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Equality Bill latest

The Equality Bill received its third reading in the House of Lords yesterday. Reports of the debate are online at They Work for You and Lords Hansard. The amendments to clause 202 (amendments 4 and 5 in the debate) that we detailed earlier were carried. The bill now returns to the House of Commons for consideration of these and all the other Lords amendments.

Martin Beckford writes in the Telegraph Government insists vicars will not be sued for refusing ‘gay marriages’ in churches.

Simon Caldwell and Martin Beckford also wrote in the Telegraph before the Lords third reading debate that Equality Bill could be amended by Lords to benefit Catholic adoption agencies but the amendment referred to (number 7 in the debate) was not moved.

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General Synod – questions and answers

The answers to the questions asked at last month’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod are now available.

Questions with Answers February 2010

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Poon on the Covenant

Michael Poon has written a paper The Anglican Communion as Communion of Churches: on the historic significance of the Anglican Covenant.

It is available in various formats from Fulcrum and Global South Anglican.

The paper aims to draw out the historic significance of the Anglican Covenant for the Anglican Communion. It begins by examining the nature and reasons of the “ecclesial deficit” of the Anglican Communion. It points out that the ecclesial status of the Anglican Communion has never been clarified. The Anglican Communion arises historically as an accident. It has never been constituted as an ecclesial body. The paper traces the transformations in the Anglican ecclesiastical map amid powerful global undercurrents in the second half of the twentieth century. It reflects on the emergence of the status of the See of Canterbury as “focus of unity” of the Anglican Communion. It proceeds to point out how uncritical adoption of the term “instruments of unity” from Protestant ecumenical dialogues led to confusion and mistrust among Anglican Churches. The paper then explores the potentials of communion-ecclesiology for the Anglican Covenant. It goes on to argue that the Anglican Covenant, grounded in the New Covenant, provides the canonical structure of the Anglican Communion. It constitutes the particular Churches to be a confident Communion of Churches. The inter-Anglican structures of the Anglican Communion should in fact be the ecclesiastical embodiment of the Anglican Covenant.

The Revd Canon Dr Michael Poon is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia, Trinity Theological College, Singapore.

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Bishop of Chelmsford

From the Number10 website.

Monday 22 March 2010
Diocese of Chelmsford

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell, BA, Suffragan Bishop of Reading, for election as Bishop of Chelmsford in succession to the Right Reverend John Warren Gladwin, MA, on his resignation on the 31st August 2009.

Stephen Cottrell (aged 51) was born and brought up in Essex. He was educated at the Polytechnic of Central London where he took a BA in Media Studies in 1979. He then worked in the film industry and for a year at St Christopher’s Hospice in South London. He trained for ordination at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. From 1984 to 1988 he was a Curate at Christ Church Forest Hill, Southwark. From 1988 to 1993 he was Priest-in-Charge at Parklands St Wilfrid’s, Chichester and Assistant Director of Pastoral Studies, Chichester Theological College. From 1993 to 1998 he was Diocesan Missioner, in Wakefield and Bishop’s Chaplain for Evangelism. From 1998 to 2001 he was Missioner with Springboard the Archbishop’s initiative for evangelism and Consultant in Evangelism in Wakefield. From 2001 to 2004 he was Canon Residentiary at Peterborough Cathedral. Since 2004 he has been Area Bishop for Reading in the diocese of Oxford.

Stephen Cottrell is married and has three teenage children. His interests include music, he plays the guitar and tries to play the ukulele banjo, writing, he is the author of many books on evangelism, catechesis and spirituality and one book of short stories for children, cooking, poetry and film.

The diocese of Oxford has a press release: Bishop swaps Reading for Chelmsford.
And so does the diocese of Chelmsford: Next Bishop of Chelmsford comes home “hungry for us to be a Church that connects with every person and every community”.
As does the Church of England: Next Bishop of Chelmsford comes home “hungry for us to be a church that connects with every person and every community”.

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equinoctial opinion

Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, gave a lecture on Faith, hope and charity in tomorrow’s world at Lincoln Cathedral recently.

Hans Küng writes in the National Catholic Reporter about Ratzinger’s Responsibility: ‘Scandalous wrongs cannot be glossed over, we need a change of attitude’

Andrew Brown writes in The Guardian about Celibacy and child abuse. Many people blame celibacy for Catholic sexual abuse. But it’s much more likely to have played a role in the cover-up.

Theo Hobson in The Guardian If Quakers were more Christian. I admire the Quakers’ anti-authoritarian and minimalist ethos. But they’ve thrown the baby Jesus out with the bathwater.

Antony Lerman in The Guardian Embracing the religious marketplace. Faith leaders are naive to think that religion is marginalised. It benefits from a previously unimaginable freedom.

Geoffrey Rowell has a Credo column in the Times: Verses that lead us towards a greater understanding. The two great commandments that Jesus gave us are the love of God with all our heart, mind. soul and strength, and the love of our neighbour as ourselves.

Christine Allen in a Guardian Comment is free column writes Romero, a beacon of hope for the poor. Oscar Romero died 30 years ago. Yet he can still teach us much about good Christian values.

Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times about A Primatial problem in Parliament.

Sebastian Bakare in the Church Times asks Who is behind the persecution? The plight of Anglicans in Harare raises questions of responsibility.

In a Sacred Mysteries column in the Telegraph, Taking the God out of good, Christopher Howse reviews The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens

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CEC comments on Equality Bill and Adoption Agencies

The Cutting Edge Consortium has issued a press release:

CUTTING EDGE CONSORTIUM URGES HOUSE OF LORDS TO VETO MORE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS IN EQUALITY BILL

The Cutting Edge Consortium (CEC) deplores the tabling, yet again, of an amendment to the Equality Bill, this time by Baroness Williams of Crosby, designed to provide an explicit exemption for religious fostering and adoption agencies from anti-discrimination law. The aim of Equalities legislation should be that services targeted at various population groups are provided in the overall context of achieving a more equal society, not to institutionalize discrimination.

(continued below the fold)

(more…)

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Archbishop of Dublin on the Anglican Covenant

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd John Neill, thinks that a two-tier fellowship may emerge in the Anglican Communion as the member- Churches debate signing the Anglican Covenant.

Dr Neill, who was speaking recently to members of the Marsh Society in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, said: “I don’t like two-tier fellowships, but it may be a way forward at the moment.”

Read the full article from the Church of Ireland Gazette:

Archbishop of Dublin fears emergence of ‘two-tier’ Anglican Communion by Patrick Comerford (scroll all the way down)

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Civil Partnerships: Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is considering a Civil Partnership Bill.

See this earlier report on what the Evangelical Alliance Ireland said about it.

The Church of Ireland Gazette has a report this week on what the Church of Ireland is doing in relation to it. See C. of I. delegation on Civil Partnership Bill (scroll down for item).

…”The group expressed the view that many in the Church of Ireland would welcome the legislation and that it was important that Government legislated for all its citizens. They did, however, raise issues relating to freedom of conscience and property.”

In response to a request for further information on those issues, the Gazette was told that some members of the delegation had expressed concern over freedom of conscience issues for registrars who may have objections to participating in civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The issues of property, we were told, related to the availability of parish halls under the Equal Status Act in respect of goods and services. We were told that clarity was also sought on the issue of Church halls that were not made commercially available, and that Department officials had said they would respond on that point…

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Equality Bill: more Church Times reports

First of all, the articles, letters previously listed from last week are now all available without subscription.

Second, this week’s news report written by me can be read now, see Alteration proposed for Bill.

…The effect of the amendment is to require that the approval of in­dividual religious premises for the registration of civil partnerships needs consents from a “person spec­ified, or a person of a descrip­tion specified” in new regulations to be laid before Parliament after con­sultation with various religious bodies.

The present rule forbidding the use of any religious premises for civil-partnership registrations re­mains in force in the mean time. The amendment specifically allows for distinctions to be made, not only between religious premises and “other premises” but also between different kinds of religious premises. For example, the arrangements for Quakers might be different to those for Liberal Judaism. Nor would it be necessary for the regulations govern­ing civil partnerships to be identical to those relating to civil marriages in the same venue.

A spokesman for the Archbishops’ Council confirmed on Wednesday that the amendment took account of discussions held with the Govern­ment. The Church of England’s con­cern, he said, was to ensure that the regulations provided for an opt-in or opt-out at denominational level. The C of E (and other denominations) wanted to be able to nominate a national body to declare a position on this issue, before individual ap­plications could be made. This was what the Quakers themselves had done (Comment, 12 March)

And the CT blog has noted that Equality Bill: Amendment allowing civil partnerships in church buildings could be lost, and linked to the letter already published here.

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High Court rules in favour of adoption agency

Updated

The Chancery Division of the High Court has published its decision in the case of Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) v Charity Commission for England and Wales & Ano[the]r.

You can read the ruling in full here, as web pages, or here as an .rtf file.

Earlier documents in the case (mentioned in the above) can be found here.

A press release from Catholic Care can be found here, and one from Stonewall can be found here.

There are newspaper reports:

The Times High Court reverses ban on Catholic Care’s anti-gay adoption policy by Ruth Gledhill and Rosemary Bennett and see also Catholics win latest stage in gay adoption battle on Ruth’s blog.

Guardian Riazat Butt Catholic adoption agency can turn away gay couples

Telegraph Matthew Moore Catholic adoption agency wins gay rights exemption ruling

Press Association Adoption society wins gay ruling

Reuters Catholic charity wins gay adoption ruling

Independent Sarah Cassidy Catholic group granted gay adoption exemption

Updates

Some of the press reports give an erroneous impression of what has happened so far. This report by Joshua Rozenberg is more reliable: While Catholics Care, Children Suffer, and the Christian Institute is remarkably muted in tone in this report: Glimmer of hope for RC adoption agency.

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Equality Bill: another letter to The Times

From here:

Trying to celebrate civil partnerships

Sir, On February 23 you published our letter, signed also by several senior Anglicans, urging the House of Lords to support Lord Alli’s amendment to permit civil partnerships to be held on the premises of Quakers, Liberal Judaism and Unitarians. You also published a powerful leader, “Equal before God”, in support of our letter.

Lord Alli’s amendment was carried in a free vote by 95 to 21 in the face of opposition from both front benches. Several speakers quoted our letter or your leader. The Government has now accepted it, but if the Equality Bill is incomplete at the dissolution of Parliament, it goes into what politicians call “wash-up”. Only the parts acceptable to both main parties survive; the rest fall.

We hope that, as they start to campaign for the general election, they will all give an express promise to protect the amendment.

Iain McLean, FBA
Professor of Politics, University of Oxford

Diarmaid Macculloch, FBA
Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford

Previous letter and leader article are here.

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Los Angeles suffragans complete consent process

Updated Saturday morning and Monday morning

Both suffragan bishops recently elected in Los Angeles have now completed the process of church-wide consents.

Los Angeles diocesan announcement: Episcopal church consents to Glasspool’s ordination

Los Angeles Bishop-elect Mary Douglas Glasspool has received the required number of consents from diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction to her ordination and consecration as a bishop, according to a March 17 statement from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s office.

Statements from the Los Angeles bishops-elect: Consent process complete for Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool

ENS report: Los Angeles Bishop-elect Glasspool receives church’s consent to ordination

Some initial press reports:

Los Angeles Times Episcopal Church approves ordination of openly gay bishop in Los Angeles

Associated Press Episcopal church approves 2nd gay bishop

New York Times Episcopalians Confirm a Second Gay Bishop

Update

Living Church Lambeth Regrets Consents for Canon Glasspool

…This is the full statement from Lambeth Palace:

It is regrettable that the appeals from Anglican Communion bodies for continuing gracious restraint have not been heeded. Following the Los Angeles election in December the archbishop made clear that the outcome of the consent process would have important implications for the communion. The Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion reiterated these concerns in its December resolution which called for the existing moratoria to be upheld. Further consultation will now take place about the implications and consequences of this decision.

Living Church Communion Partners on Bishop-elect Glasspool

Fulcrum Fulcrum Response to Consents being given to the Consecration of Mary Glasspool

Further update

LGCM Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement welcomes confirmation of Mary Glasspool as Suffregan Bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles

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Equality Bill: more civil partnership amendments

New amendments have today been filed, for consideration at Third Reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 23 March.

First, here is the main new amendment filed:

Clause 202
LORD ALLI
BARONESS NOAKES
BARONESS NEUBERGER

Page 125, line 25, at end insert—
“(2B) Provision by virtue of subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, provide that applications for approval of premises may only be made with the consent (whether general or specific) of a person specified, or a person of a description specified, in the provision.
(2C) The power conferred by section 258(2), in its application to the power conferred by this section, includes in particular—
(a) power to make provision in relation to religious premises that differs from provision in relation to other premises;
(b) power to make different provision for different kinds of religious premises.”
Page 125, line 29, at end insert—
“(3B) “Civil marriage” means marriage solemnised otherwise than according to the rites of the Church of England or any other religious usages.
(3C) “Religious premises” means premises which—
(a) are used solely or mainly for religious purposes, or
(b) have been so used and have not subsequently been used solely or mainly for other purposes.”

Now, here is the wording of Clause 202 as already amended, and showing in bold the effect of the above new amendment on that Clause:

Civil partnerships
Civil partnerships on religious premises
The Civil Partnership Act 2004 is amended as follows. 20
Omit section 6(1)(b) and (2). In section 6A, after subsection (2), insert—

“(2A) Regulations under this section may provide that premises approved for the registration of civil partnerships may differ from those premises approved for the registration of civil marriages.” 25

(2B) Provision by virtue of subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, provide that applications for approval of premises may only be made with the consent (whether general or specific) of a person specified, or a person of a description specified, in the provision.

(2C) The power conferred by section 258(2), in its application to the power conferred by this section, includes in particular—
(a) power to make provision in relation to religious premises that differs from provision in relation to other premises;
(b) power to make different provision for different kinds of religious premises.”

In section 6A, after subsection (3), insert—
“(3A) For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act places an obligation on religious organisations to host civil partnerships if they do not wish to do so.”

(3B) “Civil marriage” means marriage solemnised otherwise than according to the rites of the Church of England or any other religious usages.

(3C) “Religious premises” means premises which—
(a) are used solely or mainly for religious purposes, or
(b) have been so used and have not subsequently been used solely or mainly for other purposes.”

And finally, below the fold is the wording of the amended clauses of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, to show where it would end up, if this new amendment is passed.

There are two other minor amendments filed:

Clause 216
LORD ALLI
BARONESS NOAKES
BARONESS NEUBERGER
Page 134, line 9, after “sections” insert
“202 (civil partnerships on religious premises),”

Schedule 27
LORD ALLI
BARONESS NOAKES
BARONESS NEUBERGER
Page 234, line 24, at end insert—
“Civil Partnership Act 2004 Section 6(1)(b) and (2)”

(more…)

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Reforming the House of Lords – 2

See earlier article here.

From Cif belief Goodbye to the bishops by Polly Toynbee:

Today an ICM poll for Power2010… shows that 74% of voters think unelected bishops should have no place in the legislature, and only 21% believe that they should. Even more persuasive is that 70% of Christians want the bishops gone, and only 26% are in favour of keeping them.

And, from Ekklesia ICM Survey of attitudes to bishops in Parliament and religion in public life:

The population of the UK is equally split over the importance of institutional religion in public life, but three-quarters believe it is wrong for bishops to have reserved places in the House of Lords.

The findings come in an ICM poll commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, as part of the Power 2010 initiative of which the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia is a member.

They are the first major survey of public opinion with regard to the place of bishops in the House of Lords. It was carried out on 10-11 March 2010.

Findings included:

  • 43% of people believe it is important that institutional religion plays a role in public life, whilst 41% feel it isn’t important.
  • Many more Muslims (84%) than Christians (50%) believe that it is important that ‘organised religion should play a role in public life’.
  • 74% of the population – including 70% of Christians – believe it is wrong that some Church of England Bishops are given an automatic seat in the House of Lords.
  • 65% say it is important that anyone who sits in the House of Commons or House of Lords and votes on laws is elected
  • Support for the place of Church of England bishops in the Lords is least in Scotland, where only 20% of the population believe their presence is significant.

Read the full survey results here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/survey_on_bishops_icm.pdf

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Uganda: religious groups speak about the bill

I have not posted here about the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill for a whole month.

However, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda has this week issued a statement. This body consists of: the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, the Church of Uganda, the Uganda Orthodox Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The statement can be found here (H/T Warren Throckmorton).

See also the analysis of this statement at Box Turtle Bulletin.

The earlier statement from the Church of Uganda was reported here.

Also, this article was published by the Washington Post on Friday In Africa, a step backward on human rights by Desmond Tutu.

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Canadian-African Dialogue

The Anglican Church of Canada has issued a Communiqué from the Dialogue of African and Canadian Bishops.

For a little over a year, five Canadian and six African dioceses have engaged in diocese-to-diocese theological dialogue on matters relating to human sexuality and to mission. With one exception, each diocese has established a theological working group to prepare papers and responses which were shared with their partner diocese on the opposite continent (see below for list of participants). Ontario and Botswana exchanged documents related to sustainability in the context of mission. These dialogues have emerged from, and are a deepening of, relationships established during the Indaba and Bible Study processes at the Lambeth Conference of 2008…

From February 24 to 26, the bishops of these dioceses met at the Anglican Communion Office, St. Andrew’s House in London, England. In a context grounded by common prayer and eucharistic celebration we reflected together on our local experiences of mission and the challenges facing the Church in our diverse contexts. Though the initial exchange of papers had been related in most cases to matters of human sexuality and homosexuality in particular, our face to face theological conversation necessarily deepened to explore the relationships between the Gospel and the many particular cultural realities in which the Church is called to mission…

There is a further report from ENS by Matthew Davies, see African, Canadian bishops engage in theological dialogue.

…The Rev. Canon Phil Groves, facilitator of the Anglican Communion Listening Process, told ENS he was “delighted” by the dialogue. “This initiative of the Anglican Church of Canada is a direct response to the call of ACC 13 for participation in mutual listening,” he said, referring to Resolution 12 passed by the 13th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion’s main policy-making body.

Speaking about the meeting of African and Canadian bishops, Groves said: “It was a privilege for me to be invited to participate in their final day and to hear of their common commitment to mission in the way of Christ. Such dialogues build up trust and are a source of hope for the future of the communion.”

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mid-March opinion

Giles Fraser writes in the Church Times about In defence of cash and the City.

This week The Question in The Guardian’s Comment is free section has been Should religious leaders tell us how to vote? Is political activism on the part of church, mosque or synagogue, in the run-up to an election, acceptable?
Here are the replies.
Terry Sanderson The dangers of dishonesty. Religious influence on the political process is at its most pernicious when it is hidden.
Harriet Baber Render unto Caesar … Religious groups are free to express their opinions, but these should not be accorded any special privilege in the secular realm.
Nick Spencer Pope Gregory’s ghost. We’re haunted by the idea that religious figures might influence the political process. But would that be such a disaster?
Tehmina Kazi My vote is my choice. General guidance is all very well. But it’s not the place of religious leaders to provide a list of approved candidates.
Austen Ivereigh The Catholic bishops get political. Terry Sanderson paints the Catholic bishops’ pre-election statement as a cliche-ridden ‘damp squib’. Judge for yourself.

Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has given a lecture on The finality of Christ in a pluralist world.

In a Sacred Mysteries column in the Telegraph, The way Jesus read the Bible, Christopher Howse looks at ‘Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI’.

In a Credo column in the Times Roderick Strange writes that Penance should not be a burden but the key to joy. Let’s use prayer and penance this Lent to discover a new awareness of the divine presence.

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Equality Bill: new JCHR report

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has today published another report which considers the Equality Bill. Read the report starting here, or there is a PDF version here. For their earlier report, see over here.

Here is the summary of their latest findings on the Equality Bill:

In this Report, we return to two issues raised in our autumn 2009 report on the Equality Bill: employment by organisations based on religion or belief and school admissions.

Employment by organisations based on religion or belief

The Bill as introduced (and as passed the Commons) permitted a requirement to be of a particular sex, sexual orientation, marital or partnership status or not to be transsexual to be applied to employment for the purposes of an organised religion, but only if it could be shown to be a proportionate means of complying with the doctrines of the religion. The Bill also included a definition of what constituted employment for the purposes of an organised religion. Both of these qualifications have been removed in the House of Lords and the Government has stated that it will not try to restore them when the Bill returns to the Commons. The original wording of the Bill would have ensured that statute law accurately reflected case law, in the light of the Amicus judgment. The Lords amendments run the risk of generating uncertainty about the law and may mean that this provision does not comply with the relevant EU directive.

We also note further issues concerning the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and question why sections 58 and 60 of the former Act are exempted from the Equality Bill.

School admissions

We do not find persuasive the argument that it is necessary to allow faith schools to discriminate in their admissions on grounds of religion and belief in order to avoid a breach of the parents’ rights under Article 2 Protocol 1 of the European Convention. Another argument is that discrimination is necessary in order to maintain the distinctiveness of religious schools and so maintain the plurality of provision which, it is argued, is required by both Article 9 and Article 2 Protocol 1. This argument is weakened by evidence which suggests, in relation to Church of England schools, that plurality of provision has been preserved even where those schools do not have faith-based admissions criteria. It carries more weight in relation to other faith schools, however. In consequence, the exemption permitting faith schools to discriminate in their admissions on grounds of religion or belief may be overdrawn in this Bill.

In their subsequent detailed discussion of the first of these issues, they refer to the recent EC Reasoned Opinion and in a footnote provide a link to the complete text of it as a PDF. The concluding paragraphs of that discussion say:

1.11 In the absence of any narrowing or clarification of either Schedule 9(2) or 9(3) we share the view of the European Commission that UK law does not comply with the Framework Equality Directive

1.12 We note that further issues exist in respect of sections 58 and 60 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (SSFA), which in reserving a certain proportion of posts in state-maintained or aided ‘faith schools’ for individuals who adhere to the religious beliefs and ethos of the school in question may be in breach of the Framework Equality Directive 200/78/EC, on the basis that the reservation of such posts is not restricted to circumstances where it can be shown that a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement to adhere to a particular religious belief can be said to exist.

Their Conclusions and Recommendations state:

Employment by organisations based on religion or belief

1. In the absence of any narrowing or clarification of either Schedule 9(2) or 9(3) we share the view of the European Commission that UK law does not comply with the Framework Equality Directive. (Paragraph 1.11)
2. We note that further issues exist in respect of sections 58 and 60 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (SSFA), which in reserving a certain proportion of posts in state-maintained or aided ‘faith schools’ for individuals who adhere to the religious beliefs and ethos of the school in question may be in breach of the Framework Equality Directive 200/78/EC, on the basis that the reservation of such posts is not restricted to circumstances where it can be shown that a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement to adhere to a particular religious belief can be said to exist. (Paragraph 1.12)
3. Provisions of Section 37 of the 2006 [Education and Inspections] Act have also widened the ability to reserve certain posts filled by non-teaching staff. These provisions may constitute a breach of the principle of non-regression in EU law. (Paragraph 1.13)
4. We question why sections 58 and 60 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 are exempted from the Equality Bill. (Paragraph 1.14)

School admissions

5. The exemption permitting faith schools to discriminate in their admissions on grounds of religion or belief may be overdrawn in this Bill. (Paragraph 1.21)

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Equality Bill: Church Times coverage

There is a leader today, Legal protection for clerical consciences.

A LITTLE historical perspective might help those who are alarmed at the consequences of the amendment to the Equality Bill passed in the House of Lords at the end of last month. The effect of it, if the Bill survives intact, would be to permit same-sex partnerships to be solemnised in Quaker meetings, Unitarian churches, and Liberal synagogues. Much attention was given last week to the fears expressed by the Bishops of Winchester and Bradford that clerics would be compelled to register civil partnerships, under threat of legal action for exercising discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. Political parties are considering the possible con­sequences on votes in the forthcoming election. There is even a petition being got up to have the amendment thrown out.

Two points are perhaps worth bearing in mind…

The article mentioned in the leader Quakers seek liberty for gay couples is subscription-only until next Friday. So also are several letters, and a discussion of newspaper reports in the Press column.

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