since same-sex ”˜marriages’ became legal in Great Britain in 2014 a number of Church of England laity and clergy have entered into them. In addition the majority report of the House of Bishops Working Group on Human Sexuality (the ”˜Pilling’ report) recommended in 2013 that priests should ”˜be free to mark the formation of a permanent same sex relationship in a public service’ and if this recommendation eventually becomes Church of England policy the pressure to move from this half way house to the solemnization of same-sex ”˜marriages’ will become acute.
What all this means is that although the debate about the blessing of same-sex relationships and the ordination and consecration of those in such relationships have not gone away the new storm centre in the Anglican Communion is going to be same-sex ”˜marriage.’
In this paper I provide an introduction to this debate by setting out and assessing the arguments for same-sex ”˜marriage’ put forward in reports from the Scottish Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. At the end of the paper I will give an overview of what I think we have learned about the key issues in the debate and the challenges facing the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
Read it all and yes I mean the pdf of the full report.
[blockquote]The fundamental problem is that the reports do not take their orientation from the biblical material,starting from the creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2 and tracing how what is said in these chapters about God’s creation of human beings as male and female is then developed in everything else that is then subsequently said positively and negatively about marriage and sexuality. [/blockquote]
The fundamental problem is a rejection of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. A fallen world is a corrupted shadow of the Kingdom of God and not acceptable as ‘facts on the ground’ unless it serves to prepare one for repentance.
Martin Davie is a refreshing voice and I hope this document will be read and inwardly digested by all those attending Archbishop Welby’s meeting.