Dutch Reformed Church Will Be Asked to Accept Gays, But Not Gay Marriage

The general synod of the Dutch Reformed Church will be asked by its Western Cape moderator to consider accepting homosexual relationships and pastors, Beeld reported on Thursday.

Western Cape moderator Dr Frits Gaum said the proposals were the collective plea of 26 church parishioners, among them Gaum’s own son, Laurie.

The issue was “a very divisive one in churches all over the world”, but the general synod should consider the request “in a sober, scripture-guided manner”, Gaum said.

In the proposal, the 26 request that a significant section of church policy, announced in 2007, should remain unchanged. This included the decision that only the union between a man and a woman could be regarded as a marriage.

However, the 2007 policy also states the church will not accept homosexual relationships as an alternative to marriage.

The new proposal asks the general synod to accept there could be a permanent and unique relationship between two people of the same sex.

In 2007, the church also ruled that gays could become pastors, on condition they led celibate lives. Gaum said he would ask the church to drop the celibacy clause.

Rest here

 

Obama Picks Episcopal Priest for Inauguration Prayer

The Deacon’s Bench reports:

He replaces Louie Giglio, the evangelical pastor who found himself in hot water for his remarks on homosexuality two decades ago.

FromCNN:

The president has picked a neighbor to deliver the closing prayer at the inauguration.

The Rev. Luis León told CNN on Tuesday the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee invited him last week to deliver the closing prayer at the 57th Presidential Inauguration.

León pastors Saint John’s Church, an Episcopal parish just across Lafayette Park from the White House, dubbed the “Church of the Presidents.”

“I found out last week,” he told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.

A source close to the inaugural committee confirmed León would be delivering the benediction and said a formal announcement would be coming later in the week.

The historic church León has pastored since 1995 has been connected to every president since its founding in 1815. Inside the historic building, Pew 54 is reserved for presidents whenever they come to worship.

President Barack Obama and his family have worshiped at the church numerous times during his first term. They have visited the church more times than any other during his presidency, and the president and León are said to have a good relationship.

León’s benediction will mark his second appearance on the inauguration stage. In 2005 he delivered the invocation for the President George W. Bush’s second inauguration.

“You don’t get used to this. I’m just as nervous now as I was the first time,” León said. “From the moment someone asks you to do that, your wheels are spinning with what to say. So my wheels were spinning now.”

Read more.

Ah, yes, an Episcopalian… Just right… Relativistic, inclusive, politically correct, completely inoffensive and totally harmless…

 

The Letter of the 1,000 Priests

This letter appeared in the Telegraph signed by a thousand English priests:

Sir, After centuries of persecution Catholics have, in recent times, been able to be members of the professions and participate fully in the life of this country.

Legislation for same sex marriage, should it be enacted, will have many legal consequences, severely restricting the ability of Catholics to teach the truth about marriage in their schools, charitable institutions or places of worship.

It is meaningless to argue that Catholics and others may still teach their beliefs about marriage in schools and other arenas if they are also expected to uphold the opposite view at the same time.

The natural complementarity between a man and a woman leads to marriage, seen as a lifelong partnership. This loving union – because of their physical complementarity – is open to bringing forth and nurturing children. This is what marriage is. That is why marriage is only possible between a man and a woman.  Marriage, and the home, children and family life it generates, is the foundation and basic building block of our society. We urge Members of Parliament not to be afraid to reject this legislation now that its consequences are more clear.

The signatories are here.

 

African Anglicans Say Gay Bishops Affirmation ‘Shatters Hopes of Reconciliation’

The Christian Post:

Anglican leaders in Africa have expressed their outrage over the Church of England’s decision to approve gay bishops in its order, saying that the decision could put an end to hopes of healing broken relationships in the Communion.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria, one of the world’s largest provinces of the Anglican Communion with 17 million members, said that the affirmation of gay bishops “could very well shatter whatever hopes we had for healing and reconciliation within our beloved Communion,” Reuters reported.

Okoh added that the Church of England has given into “the contemporary idols of secularism and moral expediency,” and that it is “one step removed from the moral precipice we have already witnessed in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada.”

Last week, the House of Bishops of the Church of England announced that it had internally decided to allow gay clergy to serve as bishops if they promise a life of celibacy, even if they are in a same-sex civil partnership.

“All candidates for the episcopate undergo a searching examination of personal and family circumstances, given the level of public scrutiny associated with being a bishop in the Church of England. But these, along with the candidate’s suitability for any particular role for which he is being considered, are for those responsible for the selection process to consider in each case,” the Right Rev. Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, said in a statement.

The Rev. James further explained that the presiding members deemed it would be “unjust” to ban gay clergy from serving as bishops if they lived their lives full in accordance with the Church’s teachings on sexual ethics and personal discipline.

Conservative Anglicans protested the decision, however, saying that it broke from traditional stances and that it should have been voted on in the Church’s General Synod, where all bishops would have had a chance to vote on the issue.

The Anglican Communion has been divided greatly over the issue of homosexuality. The Anglican Church of Canada began blessing same-sex couples in 2002, while the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained in 2003 the Rev. Gene Robinson as the first-ever gay bishop. The Church of England had remained moderate on the issue, allowing gay clergy to serve while defending the traditional definition of marriage – but its recent turn to allow gays to move to the highest episcopate rank has been firmly opposed by African church leaders who remain conservative in their positions.

Other African Anglican leaders who have spoken out against gay bishops include the Rev. Stanley Ntagali, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, which has about 8 million Anglicans.

Ntagli said that the Church has taken “a significant step away from that very gospel that brought life, light, and hope to us.”

“This decision violates our biblical faith and agreements within the Anglican Communion,” the Ugandan church leader said. “This decision only makes the brokenness of the communion worse and is particularly disheartening coming from the mother Church.”

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, the Primate of Kenya and the leader of the influential Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, added that the Church of England had compromised “with the secular preoccupations of the West,”the Independent noted.

All this means that the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rev. Justin Welby, has a lot of work in order to bridge the growing divide in the Anglican Communion. Welby has stood behind the Church in its opposition to the U.K. government’s plans to legalize same-sex marriage, but he has also promised to “listen very attentively to the LGBT communities.”

“I am always averse to the language of exclusion, when what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us. Above all in the church we need to create safe spaces for these issues to be discussed honestly and in love,” Welby has said.

 

Priests in Same-sex Relationships May Become Anglican Bishops

Well, there you have it:

(CNN) – Men in a civil union will now be allowed to become bishops in the Church of England, but they are not allowed to have sex.

Intercourse between two men – or two women – remains a sin.

“Homosexual genital acts fall short of the Christian ideal and are to be met with a call to repentance and the exercise of compassion,” according to Anglican doctrine.

Men and women in same-sex unions were already allowed to serve as priests in the Church of England, but there was a moratorium on advancement to the episcopate – becoming a bishop – while the church considered the issue.

The church announced Friday that if men in celibate civil unions may be priests, then there is no reason for them not to be bishops, as long as they are “living in accordance with the teaching of the Church on human sexuality.”

Rest here.

In other words, the ban on gay male clergy who live with their partners from becoming bishops has been lifted and that with some the flimsy conditions.

 

Anglican Vicars Threaten to Defy Gay Marriage Ban

Vicars are threatening to bypass the ban on same-sex weddings in the Church of England by blessing homosexual marriages performed in other churches.

Of course they would… The Telegraph has more.

 

Men Are Leaving Mainline Denominations

Anglican Samizdat:

From here:

Rev. Nancy Talbot feels like one of the more blessed female clergy.

When the North Vancouver minister looks out on the pews on any given Sunday, she feels fortunate her small congregation is slowly growing and that at least men make up roughly three in 10 of those at worship.

The gender imbalance could be far worse. The minister at Mount Seymour United Church is painfully aware men have been quietly, but in huge numbers, streaming away from many of North America’s Christian churches.

“I don’t think many of us have answers to why it’s happening,” says Talbot, who has led Mount Seymour United for eight years while raising two boys in a same-sex relationship with her partner, Brenda.

Rev. Talbot remarks in the last paragraph that she has no idea why men are not coming to church. Nancy and Brenda have made it clear that men are redundant in their personal lives. Why would it be otherwise in the church?

At least homosexual men should feel at home in the United Church:

And, given the United Church began ordaining homosexuals in 1992, some of the denomination’s gay clergy expect that roughly half of the small cohort of remaining male ministers will be homosexual.

 

 

The Queen James Bible

I kid you not… A Gay Friendly Set Of Scriptures.

The Queen James Bible is doing for the church what gay marriage rights have  done for many states, making religiously accessible without discrimination. The bible which was just recently released for sale features the teachings of the scriptures in a gay and lesbian friendly manner.

The homosexual friendly bible does not list editors by name and on Amazon the  books publisher is simply noted as “Queen James.”

Located at QueenJamesBible.com the books editors write:

“The Queen James Bible resolves any homophobic interpretations of the Bible,  but the Bible is still filled with inequality and even contradiction that we  have not addressed. No Bible is perfect, including this one. We wanted to  make a book filled with the word of God that nobody could use to incorrectly  condemn God’s LGBT children, and we succeeded.”

In some cases the Queen James Bible editors say they have simply corrected  gay hate wording added to the bible in recent memory. For example QueenJamesBible.com notes that the word “homosexual” wasn’t included in the bible until 1946.

While the bibles editors did not delete passages they did make changes to the  eight most cited passages used to spread hate speech against homosexuals.  According to the editors the passages were amended “in a way that makes  homophobic interpretations impossible.”

The bibles editors explain why they chose the King James version of the bible  for their Queen James Bible edition:

“The King James Bible is the most popular Bible of all time, and arguably the  most important English language document of all time. The brainchild and  namesake of King James I, who wanted an English language Bible that all could  own and read, it has been in print for over 400 years and has brought more  people to Christ than any other Bible translation. Commonly known to biographers  but often surprising to most Christians, King James I was a well-known bisexual.  Though he did marry a woman, his many gay relationships were so well-known that  amongst some of his friends and court, he was known as “Queen James.” It is in  his great debt and honor that we name The Queen James Bible  so.”

Sorry, I’m feeling a little queasy after reading all this… In fact, I think I may be sick.

 

Church of England Banned from Offering Same-sex Marriages by Government Law

The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced.

The BBC has the breaking news:

Other religious organisations will be able to “opt in” to holding ceremonies, Culture Secretary Maria Miller said.

But she added that the Church of England and Church in Wales had “explicitly” stated strong opposition and would not be included.

The plans are due to be introduced before the next election, in 2015.

Labour backs the changes, which apply to England and Wales, and urged ministers not to be “too reserved” in promoting them.

The Church of England and Roman Catholics, among other denominations, have voiced opposition to same-sex marriage and are expected to oppose the bill, even with its caveats.

But some religious groups, including Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism, are in favour.

In her statement, Mrs Miller promised a “quadruple lock” to protect religious freedom, involving:

• No religious organisation or individual minister being compelled to marry same-sex couples or to permit this to happen on their premises

• Making it unlawful for religious organisations or their ministers to marry same-sex couples unless their organisation’s governing body has expressly opted in to provisions for doing so

• Amending the 2010 Equality Act to ensure no discrimination claim can be brought against religious organisations or individual ministers for refusing to marry a same-sex couple

• The legislation explicitly stating that it will be illegal for the Church of England and the Church in Wales to marry same-sex couples and that Canon Law, which bans same-sex weddings, will continue to apply.

Mrs Miller said the Church of England and Church in Wales had “explicitly stated” their opposition to offering same-sex ceremonies, so the government would “explicitly state that it will be illegal for the Churches of England and Wales to marry same-sex couples”.

She also said: “I am absolutely clear that no religious organisation will ever be forced to conduct marriages for same-sex couples, and I would not bring in a bill which would allow that…

Rest here.

 

 

Tears In Tron

As a Glasgow congregation prepares to leave the Church of Scotland.

A Glasgow congregation which is leaving the Church of Scotland because of the Kirk’s stance on gay ministers held its last service in its building yesterday.

The pews of St George’s Tron in Buchanan Street were busy as 500 worshippers came to hear its minister, the Rev Dr Willie Philip, deliver the final sermon.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Philip said that church members had been frustrated by the way matter had been handled by the Kirk.

“Some of our older people have been here all their life, and some of them in the past five years have given all their life savings into refurbishing this building,” he said.

“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel angry, and it would be very, very easy to become bitter. But we don’t want to become bitter people.

“We want to focus on the future, draw a line under things and put the past behind us. It’s sad, but we didn’t want today to be a funeral service.”

The congregation announced in June that it was leaving the Church of Scotland over the issue of allowing openly gay clergy, which will be voted on by the Kirk at its General Assembly next May.

Since then, church members have been engaged in increasingly acrimonious negotiations with the Kirk over the ownership and use of the recently refurbished church building and its manse.

There has also been a dispute over money said to be owed to the Church of Scotland by the congregation.

The situation came to a head last Wednesday when Sheriff Court officers, on behalf of the Church of Scotland, entered the church during a prayer meeting and served interim interdicts on Mr Philip, preventing the congregation from removing any of the fixtures and fittings and claiming ownership to any that had already been taken.

Before beginning his sermon yesterday, the minister told members that all further services were being held at a hall in nearby Bath Street.

Acknowledging the “pain” that some members were feeling on leaving St George’s Tron, Mr Philip’s sermon focused on the difficulties faced by those who, he said, would stay true to the Bible’s teachings and “make a life investment with Jesus”.

He made reference to the Church of Scotland’s “refusal of any terms on which we might continue to use the facility”, and that they would now “bid a fond farewell to a building which has been a wonderful place of fellowship for many years for some of us”.

He added: “But the real temple of the Lord is where He himself dwells, and He dwells not among dead and empty edifice but in the midst of the living stones, His own people, whom He loves and has promised never to leave nor forsake.”

The hymns chosen for the last service also underlined the congregation’s sense of defiance at having lost the battle for ownership of the building: In the Hour of Trial, A Safe Stronghold our God is Still and The Son of God Rides Out to War.

Following the service, a photograph was taken of the congregation before Mr Philip shook hands and embraced members as they stepped out on to one of Glasgow’s busiest streets.

One man clasped the minister’s hand and shaking it firmly, said: “We’re behind you 100 per cent of the way. Nothing changes.”

Church members expressed a mixture of sadness and anger at what they feel was the injustice and heavy-handedness by the Kirk. Norrie Miller, 76, who had been attending services at the Tron for 57 years said that the decision to leave the Church of Scotland had been difficult.

“My whole family are here, daughters and grand children, so it’s been an emotional time for us,” she said.

“I’ve been a life time in the Church of Scotland, and we’re really appalled at their aggressive tactics. But we move on with great anticipation for new beginnings and a great sense of unity, young and old, and 99 per cent support.”

Terry McCutcheon, 38, who has attended the church for ten years, said: “There’s a real sadness that our church family is having to leave here today. It’s a vibrant place, there are hundreds of us. It’s not a dying church, it’s a living church.

“The saddest thing is that it’s not a Communist regime that’s shutting us down, it’s the national church. It’s a scandal”.

He said the congregation had sunk £2.6 million into the refurbishment of the building, but the Church of Scotland would not listen to its requests to be allowed to stay.

The Church of Scotland has insisted that because the congregation has chosen to leave the Kirk, it has no right to the building, manse or contents. It also says that the congregation owes the Kirk almost £1m in unpaid contributions and an outstanding loan. The Kirk has denied the accusations of heavy-handedness and aggression, pointing out that the congregation’s leaders had been recalcitrant during negotiations, only allowing Kirk officials in to carry out an inventory when threatened with legal action, and had yet to hand over the congregational records.

A Kirk spokesman said yesterday: “We are disappointed that they’ve chosen to leave the Church of Scotland before the matter was dealt with by the General Assembly. We were prepared to discuss matters with them, but it has been difficult to do this when they would not speak to us.”