I wrote this for Accepting Evangelicals a couple of weeks ago but forgot to put it up here -
My Catholic
friends tell me that I should always do something special and memorable on my
Naming Day which, for me is March 1st, St David's Day. And this year I did; I attended the celebration,
'Unadulterated Love' arranged by Changing Attitude in London.
It was the first
of their events I had attended and I went mainly because It was suggested to me
that as a bishop and an evangelical who had formerly been principal of Trinity
College Bristol it would show support and bring encouragement to many LGBT
people. Well, I am always sceptical about how my being at something can be much
of an encouragement,
but events certainly proved me wrong!
I was one of two
bishops there and, being soon after the House of Bishops guidelines on same sex
marriage had been issued, our presence was seen as significant - even though
neither of us are members of the House (me because I am retired). I was asked
to facilitate a couple of group sessions where there would be opportunity for
both straight and LGBT folk to share their stories and challenges etc.
Pervading the
occasion was a note of celebration and mutual support, some touches of
confusion and sadness, but to my surprise very little anger about how the
church was handling the issue of same sex relationships. Rather I detected a
sense of compassion for a church that would soon hopefully embrace a wider
understanding of the all-encompassing love of our gracious and welcoming God.
There were other
evangelicals there who, like me had come
to an understanding of scripture and the gospel which impels us to support
those who are, by their God-given nature attracted to people of the same sex, both those who are
single and those in a relationship. We exchanged some experiences of how our
theological and pastoral position meant we were suspect by a number of our
evangelical friends, but also how many more of them were also seeing the gospel
and scripture in a more inclusive and accepting light. My personal concern in the group sessions was
to share how important it is for me to celebrate together with my LGBT friends
the acceptance of God and his blessing upon all committed faithful
relationships, such as my wife and myself had known throughout the whole of our
married life together.
But for those
who shared with me, the main talking point was how a good number of them had
found it difficult as gay and lesbian Christians to be accepted and comfortable
within their own evangelical churches, whether they were single or in a
relationship. Some spoke of years during which members of their own fellowship
ignored them and never spoke to them once they had been open about their
sexuality. Others told of similar cold shouldering at evangelical theological
colleges. For some there was a determination to continue in the spiritual
tradition which had nurtured them, but others spoke of how they felt forced out
by the coldness to look for a fellowship which would be more supportive and
accepting even though that meant them leaving behind some close Christian
friends and the spirituality they had long valued.
However there
were indications that the tide was turning. Some were determined to stay within
their fellowships and were gradually seeing a dawning of a new sense of acceptance
and joy in their relationships with straight Christians in their local church.
This sense of acceptance was clearly more marked in the younger age group but
it was also evident that many lay folk in evangelical churches were more open
than some clergy. Was this, some wondered, because the close ties within the
evangelical clergy-world
meant that a good number hesitated to embrace a fresh understanding because
their friends and colleagues would cold shoulder them too?
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