When I was a boy, there was no such thing as sharing the peace. The 1662 Prayer Book Communion service is a liturgy that resolutely maintains the sense of the individual amidst the corporate. Charles Willams's poem, At the "Ye that do truly" expresses the sense of separation of one Christian from another in this …
Tag: Church of England
How will the Church of England respond to heterosexual civil partnerships?
The Church of England likes to portray itself as the friend of civil partnerships for LGBT+ people. This is notwithstanding the fact that when the legislation was passing through the House of Lords in 2004 the majority of its 26 bishops in the British upper chamber of parliament voted for an amendment that was widely …
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The Church of England must open its doors to same-sex weddings
The first same-sex marriages were celebrated on March 29 2014 shortly after midnight. No same-sex marriages have yet been celebrated in Church of England churches, because the established church, firmly against the proposal, campaigned for and was granted a pass by the government to make sure it wouldn’t happen. Five years on, a new campaign …
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True LGBT+ inclusion and equality in the Church of England are a long way off
This has been a strange few weeks in which to be LGBT+ and a member of the Church of England. The bishops of the church have commissioned a process called “Living in Love and Faith”. This will, according to its website, produce “resources that will help bishops” lead others in thinking about “what it means …
Continue reading True LGBT+ inclusion and equality in the Church of England are a long way off
Mood Music – A Letter from Lichfield
There have been a variety of reactions to the letter from the bishops of Lichfield diocese to all clergy and licensed lay ministers entitled Welcoming and Honouring LGBT+ people. The letter can be read here. It is clearly intended to be a strongly positive statement affirming the place and role of LGBT+ people in the …
Lamenting Orlando
Sometimes place names get meanings they would rather not. From now on, Orlando will always mean the Pulse massacre - the biggest loss of life in any American mass shooting in modern times. It will live like Sandy Hook, or Dunblane, or Hungerford in our consciousness of horror and terror. But it will not be as puzzling …
From The Quire 