The Porvoo Communion (Anglican-Lutheran), of which the Church of Ireland has been a member since 1995, last month held a high-level consultation in Turku, Finland, on the theme of marriage.
The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Michael Jackson, and the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Rt Revd Michael Burrows, attended from the Church of Ireland. Archbishop Jackson had been invited to give a series of Bible studies and Bishop Burrows acted as a Group Convener.
Each member-Church of the Porvoo Communion was invited to submit copies of its marriage liturgies and regulations. Dr Jackson told the Gazette that this material, together with lectures on the interpretation of biblical passages related to marriage, on theological arguments surrounding the issue of same- sex marriage, and on aspects of human genetics “gave scope and shape to the discussions”.
Truly what is their to discuss?. Marriage is between one man and one woman. And that’s it.
Presumably because several churches in the Porvoo Communion are, or are close to, permitting same sex marriage. This has caused considerable strain especially with the Baltic Lutherans and the Church of England.
There is a Communique (whose URL I somehow can’t copy – but do a search on “Porvoo Turku Marriage”). Long story short – we met, we communicated, we disagreed, we went home. Most positive thing they could say, “the value of honest encounter and strengthened friendship provides a platform of sustained communication in the face of these issues which raise such difficulties for us.”
There’s a basic ecclesiological incoherence embedded here – which of course arises from modelling ecclesial life on the unitary sovereinty of the nation state.