If the analysis above is accepted then the situation seems to be as follows. Those clergy who marry someone of the same sex believe they should live in accordance with canon C26 and that they are doing so and that their problem is simply with canon B30. However, the general category of “according to the doctrine of Christ” in C26 has within the canons one very clear specification ”“ the definition of marriage in B30. This is the canon that, in a form of conscientious ecclesial disobedience, they are not only questioning and asking the church to reconsider but actively contradicting by their actions. I think this raises three key questions.
First, can the clergy concerned (and those supportive of them) recognise that given this situation they have a responsibility to seek an urgent change to canon B30?
A clergyperson’s decision to enter a same-sex marriage is, in effect, a demand that canon B30 be amended. The logic of their actions, whether consciously or not, is that they are attempting to bring about a change in that canon’s definition of marriage. At its weakest this would involve removing the claim of dominical authority for the definition of marriage (arguably allowing those who disregard it to put themselves on the same footing as those who disregard other canons). More likely it would entail a new definition or a removal of any definition of marriage.
What is interesting, and of concern, is that despite this being the logical implication of the actions there has, as far as I am aware, been no serious attempt to change the canon by due process and very little sustained theological critique or development of an alternative wording.
If it were not such a sad and serious matter, I would find somewhat amusing Andrew Goddard’s tortured analysis of the soul-searching decisions of Pemberton and Cunnington and the dilemma it causes the Established Church.
Is this not the fortieth anniversary of the [url=http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/women/celebrating_the_philadelphia_e.html] “Philadelphia Eleven”[/url]? Is this not the tenth anniversary of the Gene Robinson consecration? Can anyone one doubt the theological Left in UK is working from the TEC playbook? Can anyone doubt that the powers that be in the CofE will fail to take decisive action by defrocking Pemberton? Can anyone explain why the “agree to differ†rationale is any different from the that of the “facilitated conversations†being foisted by Canterbury on the rest of the Anglican Communion?