The Church of England has condemned the Church of Sweden’s authorization of rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, saying the decision will impair relations between the two churches and threatens the “fragile unity” of the Anglican Communion.
Copies of the June 26 letter, written by the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council to the Archbishop of Uppsala, began circulating among members of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops on July 12, and may factor into the bishops’ debate on same-sex blessings at General Convention.
Adopting same-sex blessings, one bishop told The Living Church, would put the Episcopal Church in the same place as the Church of Sweden and could lead to a breach with the Church of England and wider Anglican Communion.
Written by the Rt. Rev. Christopher Hill on behalf of the Council for Christian Unity and the Rt. Rev. John Hind on behalf of the Faith and Order Advisory Group, the letter said the adoption of same-sex blessings by the Church of Sweden was “problematic.”
“Although there is continuing debate among Anglican about human sexuality, the teaching and discipline of the Church of England, like that of the Anglican Communion as a whole as expressed in the Lambeth Conference of 1998, is that it is not right either to bless same-sex sexual relationships or to ordain those who are involved in them.”
I appreciate these bishops’ statement, but in fact, while the Church of England does not officially bless same-sex unions, unofficially the blessings go on all the time, as they do in the US and Canada where some bishops allow them officially, and in all three countries the ordination of people active in same-sex intimate relations is common. In England, this is covered by the fig leaf of the clergy’s telling the bishops that their partnerships are celibate. In the Americas, there’s not even that.
One would hope that this protest to Sweden will lead to more honesty at home.
One would wish. If they really think that SSB’s/marriages are right then they should be willing to do them openly and honestly. The unwillingness to be honest is very revealing of the character of the Bishops.
[blockquote]but in fact, while the Church of England does not officially bless same-sex unions, unofficially the blessings go on all the time[/blockquote]
I keep hearing this Katharine, but I have not heard of them taking place in any church and do not know of it occuring anywhere. That is not to say that it does not take place surrepticiously and in private by priests who risk discipline should it become public. If they are known about they should be reported to the diocese.
I think it is over cynical to say that we turn a blind eye to it and the Bishops of Guildford and Chichester for the Archbishops’ Council correctly state the position in law and fact of the Church of England.
Pageantmaster, pardon me if I have misstated what’s going on in England. I only read news items highlighted in the blogs. It was my impression that there are lots and lots of “gay” priests, and that many of these have registered civil partnerships on the basis of telling their bishops they are celibate. If the blessings in church are few, that’s good. You’re doing better than the USA.
I really would prefer to see TEC’s General Convention make “legal” what is going on in many parts of the country, so that the CofE could also issue such a letter to them.
Thanks Katherine – certainly it is a line which has been touted on the blogs as some sort of apocryphal justification for what has been going on in TEC.
As for TEC and the decisions that it is making – these are for TEC alone, but they do have an impact on us in our ecumenical relations and witness as Bishops Christopher and John point out. I would be sorry to see TEC go off the deep end and become merely the gay church and a shadow of what it once was, and might have been, gathered with us at the foot of the cross.
Pageantmaster, you are right to remind me that I should not generalize about the Church on the side of the Atlantic opposite my home. I do know that various Global South bishops have expressed concern about the uneasy compromise the Church of England has had to make with the civil domestic partnership law, and that your situation as an established church is different.
I am of two minds about TEC. Yes, it would be tragic to see the bishops join the deputies in going off the edge. On the other hand, American Anglicans/Episcopalians are deeply sick of the obfuscation and pretending. Let their yes be yes, and their no be no, and let us move on as we think right.
When WO killed our ecumenical life, pushing us away from Rome and Constantinople, people championed Poorvoo as a great hope…seems even that is dying now.Seems to me that the whole communion is in meltdown, unravelling at speed, a downward spiral of confusion with it’s roots in 1992 or the 1970’s if we look to America. the price od disobedience and denial of scriptural authority is anarchy
The announcement of this seems another clear warning to the GC 2009 idealogues about the limits of Anglicanism. I doubt it will be attended to in a fashion other than emotional twaddle by that entity.
The Church of England has condemned the Church of Sweden’s authorization of rites for the blessing of same-sex unions,
Ummmmm, no. Two bishops wrote a letter saying the same thing that is always said. Nothing new here.
Keep on revising what the CofE wrote to the Church of Sweden Brian. Claim it is just two bishops off their own bat; that they are saying the same old same old; claim there is nothing new here.
I suppose we should listen respectfully to what you have to say as that is your story and your history; indeed your historical story which is be listened to earfully and respectfully; more, that it is your history told as a story; even as we listen with respectful listening to your own story-telling…all through the power of the Spirit of Ubuntu.
#9, the letter was written on behalf of the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council, by two bishops who head committees. This hardly sounds like an individual effort on their part.
1. This is a formal letter from the Archbishop’s Council. It’s part of a formal ecumenical relationship. It is the most serious ecumenical warning I have ever seen come from the COE.
2. The COE really is very different from TEC. Don’t ask, don’t tell blessings and partnered gay clergy are focused in 4 or 5 areas in England – with some deaneries in London being the real heart. I lived in and knew very well 3 dioceses across central, eastern and western England. The bishops, honestly as far as I could see, said that they did not license or ordain non celibate gay clergy and I knew of no same sex blessings that occurred. The official policy of the COE HOB is that non celibate men and women who aren’t married should not be ordained. Church blessings of non celibate same sex relationships are prohibited. It seems that in perhaps 4 or 5 dioceses bishops “turn a blind eye”.