LGBTI Mission-a vision of the future C of E? Cupcakes vs. Ashes...more

LGBTI Mission-a vision of the future C of E?

Thursday 4^th February saw the launch of a new campaign group which seeks to radically change the teaching and practice of the Church of England in a revisionist direction. LGBTI Mission is a coalition of a number of groups with similar aims; it is led by Simon Sarmiento, the editor of the website ‘Thinking Anglicans’, and its board includes Bishop Alan Wilson, former worship singer/songwriter Vicky Beeching, and Giles Goddard who last year hosted a service of Muslim prayers in his church, as well as other vicars and a church youth and families worker.

 

The front of their website says their aim is “full acceptance and affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people within the Church of England”. Several reasons are given for this. To start with, “God is love”. Then, the Church has seen change with regard to women priests and Bishops – now is the time for change with regard to views and policies on sexuality and gender. We have a ‘progressive’ Archbishop of Canterbury, they say, who has put sexuality on the church’s main agenda and who has recently apologised for the hurt caused to gay people. But most significant of all, Parliament has opened marriage to same sex couples, and public opinion is in favour of it.

 

A well produced document details the complaints about the current situation in the Church of England, states what the group would like to see changed, and itemizes some action plans to bring about the revolution. The document claims that the current doctrines and official policy of the Church of England, ie the historic teaching of the Christian faith, does not ‘recognise diversity’ in relation to different views on sexuality, and that this is harmful to many LGBTI Anglicans who have to keep their sexual orientation in the closet. The “one-sided dominant narrative about marriage, human sexuality, and gender complementarity is used a justification of persecution and bullying of LGBTI people”, it says, and calls for radical programmes of change to promote diversity, equality and inclusion in schools, youth groups, theological education and liturgies (for example conducting and blessing of same sex marriages, baptism of children of same sex couples, and ‘re-naming’ after gender transition). The ‘discrimination’ against partnered or married gay men and women in relation to ordination and preferment should be revoked, and should be countered by more appointments of openly gay clergy and Bishops as ‘role models’... (Anglican Mainstream)

Take Up Your Cupcake and Follow Me?
The Anglican Church–ever on the lookout for a new way to be trendy, relevant and cool has suggested that we take up our cupcake instead.

Across the water Fr Ed Tomlinson reports that the Anglican Diocese of Leicester distributed cupcakes to people on Ash Wednesday instead of ashes.

I thought this was a silly rumor, but it seems to be true. The Diocesan website gushes about this venture here... (Anglican Ink)

Episcopal Church Won't Stop Supporting Gay Marriage Despite Anglican Suspension, Says Bishop ..."We're not changing — so there shouldn't be an expectation that in the next three years the Episcopal Church is going to change," Curry said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, according to an article on the Institute on Religion & Democracy blog Juicy Ecumenism.

"This is who we are," Curry added...

A.S. Haley: Global Warming Alarmism Debunked: It's the Sample Size!   ...By focusing on just the last two or so hundred years, i.e., by choosing a ridiculously small sample size, the alarmists are engaging in deceptive manipulation of the real data. Anyone who wants us to close down industrial plants, stop driving gas guzzlers, and the like, while ignoring what the longer-term data show, simply wants to exercise political power over the rest of us for no good reason... (Anglican Curmudgeon)

Anglican diocese looks to secure future through ethical investing 

There are a lot of empty pews in the Anglican Diocese of Quebec’s churches, but the treasury is fuller than it has been in years.

 

As shrewd investing is replacing weekly parishioner offerings as a main revenue source, the diocese is looking to ethical investment to build its portfolio in a socially responsible way that better reflects its values...