(Telegraph) Clergy should defy Church's 'morally outrageous' same-sex marriage ban, says Bishop

Gay clergy should follow their conscience and defy the Church of England’s restrictions on same-sex marriage, a prominent bishop has said as the most radical change ever made to the legal definition of marriage in Britain comes into force.

The Rt Rev Alan Wilson, the Bishop of Buckingham, said priests should be “creative” to get around restrictions on blessings for same-sex couples and that gay clergy who wish to marry should do so in defiance of the official line.

He also claimed that several current serving bishops are themselves in gay partnerships, and urged them to publicly acknowledge their status for the sake of “honesty and truthfulness” and even consider marrying.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, --Civil Unions & Partnerships, Anglican Provinces, Anthropology, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, England / UK, Eschatology, Ethics / Moral Theology, Law & Legal Issues, Marriage & Family, Religion & Culture, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), Theology, Theology: Scripture

4 comments on “(Telegraph) Clergy should defy Church's 'morally outrageous' same-sex marriage ban, says Bishop

  1. Archer_of_the_Forest says:

    And the Catholic and Orthodox Churches welcome you.

  2. driver8 says:

    Well this is a first – a CofE bishop publicly encouraging clergy not to follow their diocesan bishop’s guidance.

  3. Ad Orientem says:

    [blockquote]And the Catholic and Orthodox Churches welcome you. [/blockquote]

    +1

    [i]The elves remind commenters that exhortations to other readers to join some other branch of Christianity or another denomination are not generally helpful or welcome in the comments, especially when they are merely one line comments such as “swim the Tiber,” or “swim the Bosphorus” without any other substantive comment related to the original article. Thanks for respecting Kendall’s wishes on this topic. – the elves[/i]

  4. Sarah says:

    Heh. Elves, I couldn’t figure out what they meant and wondered why on earth they were welcoming clergy and bishops defying Church’s “morally outrageous same-sex marriage ban.”

    I just went away confused.