Few people could be unaware of the tremendous conflict in recent years that has been going on in the Anglican Church, indeed in the Anglican Communion worldwide, over the issue of homosexuality.  Not that the controversy is limited to the Anglican Church of course.  Every Christian denomination is being torn apart by the issue.  But our focus in this article is on the Anglican Church, this being the established Church of the United Kingdom (Queen Elizabeth is actually the official head of the Church), because as I write, there is a once-in-every-ten-years conference being held in Canterbury to which all the bishops across the Anglican Communion worldwide have been invited.  

But they are not all coming, because the Church has become so severely fractured over the conflict of views about homosexuality, they cannot bring themselves to meet one another even to discuss the issue any further. A “slow moving train wreck” is how the Right Revd Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, described the situation of the Anglican Communion, as reported in the Telegraph on Monday.  The traditionalists have thrown down the gauntlet; last month they held their own rival conference in Jerusalem, forming a group known as Gafcon (which stands for the Global Anglican Future conference) in which, extraordinarily, they have decided to stay within the Anglican Communion and work against the rest of us, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, because in their view we are apostate.  They are “the true church” they believe, and their task now is to bring the rest of us into line, or see us go.

This latest development is a culmination of years of increasing controversy.  You will no doubt recall the tremendous fuss made in May 2003 over the appointment of openly gay priest Jeffrey John to become Bishop of Reading.  Under great pressure, he agreed to decline the appointment and then became the Dean of St Albans instead, a solution which apparently seemed marginally less controversial at the time.  The great problem with Jeffrey John’s appointment was not the fact that he was openly gay, as such—he was committed to celibacy in accordance with the Bishops rules at the time.  Although he has a life partner,  apparently out of deference to the Bishops rules, they have ceased to have a sexual relationship.  But his well-known support of monogamous gay relationships, as published in a wonderful little book (1993), called “Permanent, faithful, stable” is what marks him out as a rebel; because even though Jeffrey John magnanimously agreed to live in accordance with the rules of the church as they stand at present and be celibate, his refusal to declare gay relationships to be a sin has made him a pariah among traditionalists.

The subsequent appointment of Gene Robinson to become the Bishop of New Hampshire the following year in March 2004 was a red rag to the conservative bulls in the Church; the final straw and death knell to the possibility of reaching any overall agreement among the bishops, as it turns out.  So Gene Robinson is the one Bishop who has ostentatiously NOT been invited to the Lambeth conference.  Having met the man and heard him speak, he is to my mind (and a great many others too) the most wonderful, humble, gracious, loving, Christian man you could ever meet. Just the sort of person you would imagine to represent the person of Jesus Christ and pastor his churches.  Although Gene Robinson is not allowed into the conference or any meetings of the other bishops, because of the controversy still surrounding his appointment, he is in fact around.  And so this conference in Canterbury has opened in the wake of incredible controversy and schism in the Church.

Now, in spite of those boycotting the conference, according to the Anglican Communion website, www.anglicancommunion.org, some 650 Anglican bishops (a significant majority) from all over the world have nevertheless made their way to Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference 2008 focussing on the theme: Equipping Bishops for Mission.  Because this conference happens only once every ten years, naturally it is a very significant event for the Anglican Church worldwide.  Those attending are mixed in their views about the gay issue, but there are an increasing number of Bishops who are actually supportive of gay people and supportive of gay people in ministry and same-sex partnerships, even though most do not make their convictions widely known. Those attending the conference who are definitely not in agreement are nevertheless not prepared to break the Communion over their difference of opinion; most are committed to what is known as “Listening process”—in which they will at least listen to the experience of lesbian and gay Christians even if they cannot agree with us.

The other 200 or so Bishops who have refused to come to the conference hold to a very traditional view of the Christian faith—one which cannot accept anyone in their midst who is openly gay and living in a same-sex partnership, especially when they are working in the ministry of the church, even if they are living a celibate life.  This is because, according to their traditions and their way of reading the Bible, they believe that any kind of gay identity or lifestyle is innately sinful and displeasing to God—they believe it is contrary to God’s created order and therefore totally unacceptable in the Church.  They feel that even to associate with other Bishops and priests who do not take such a hardline view, is to violate the traditional understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This is a complex issue that is hard to understand from the outside (I will try to explain more of why this is such a difficult issue in my next article).

Well the Conference has gone ahead without them.  It began last week, with a three-day retreat.  More than 75% of Anglican bishops worldwide had registered for the Conference, representing 36 of the 38 provinces of the world-wide Anglican Communion.  Significantly, reported on the Anglican Communion website, there are also 10 husbands among the 550 spouses taking part in the parallel conference, “God’s People for God’s Mission”, their wives being the bishops in those parts of the Anglican Communion that are now prepared to ordain women bishops—unlike the UK which has only just passed a resolution at Synod approving the appointment of women bishops for the future—a milestone of enormous significance, because until very recently, women were not allowed to be appointed priests because . . .well because they are women, and according to the traditionalists interpretation of the Bible, women are not allowed to lead men.  This is just another enormously controversial issue that has also fragmented the Church. But a little more progress has been made on that issue—not enough, but things are perhaps beginning to move in the right direction at least. There is hope!

The Lambeth Conference this year has two key points of focus: strengthening the sense of a shared Anglican identity among the bishops from around the world, and helping to equip bishops for the role they increasingly have as leaders in mission, involved in a whole variety of ways in helping the Church grow.  That is the official position. No doubt the conference schedule, which rightly gives time to looking at much more important issues, such as world poverty and other major concerns, won’t become overwhelmed with more controversy over the gay issue, because some of the biggest trouble-makers have stayed away.

Although the only people who can actually participate in the conference itself are Bishops and Archbishops from around the worldwide Anglican Communion, on the campus of the University of Kent where the event is being held, there is also a “Market Place” where all kinds of groups have opened exhibition stands, either to sell products of interest or make their special interests known. On this occasion, for the first time, lesbian, gay and transgendered people are well represented, in spite of our still being seen as pariahs by the old school of bishops from a traditionalist mould.  I am one of those people exhibiting and representing the interests of LGBT people at Lambeth.  Personally I don’t have a stand representing my own work—known as “Courage”—a pastoral ministry that helps support lesbian and gay Christians who are trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality.  It is an expensive business to have a stand for two weeks at the Lambeth conference!  But rather I am privileged to share a stand with another important organisation called “Changing Attitude” which, as its name implies, has been working for years towards change in the Anglican Communion and acceptance of same-sex partnerships and acceptance of the ministries of gay priests and bishops.  We are also sharing a stand with the American & Canadian groups, of similar objectives, known as Integrity.  Also represented is the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement.  We are all members of a group called Inclusive Church, which also embraces women’s issues and other marginalised groups.   Believe it or not, this represents progress!

Yet as I have helped to man the stand in the past two days, we have been visited by many supporters or interested people, bishops and their spouses and staff, who are sympathetic, whilst those of a more traditionalist viewpoint tend to take one look at our stand and then walk in the opposite direction.  One very beautiful African woman, a bishop’s wife, who felt no need at all to listen to a word I had to say, nevertheless felt she needed to tell me that if I don’t repent, then I am destined for hell.  “You must give up all association with these people and repent” she urged me passionately.  “But I am one of these people”, I protested, as she walked away.  Not much dialogue possible there. 

Why is this issue so hard for the church even to discuss?  I’ll return to that subject in my next article. 

Jeremy Marks is founder & director of Courage, a UK based ministry that offers help to LGBT Christians who are trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality. 

Website: www.courage.org.uk