EGN NEWS DESK
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s media assertion after he stated in a podcast interview that homosexual intercourse in a dedicated relationship is just not sinful is unlikely to douse the flames of controversy.
In The Rest is Politics podcast on October 20, recorded within the crypt of Archbishop Welby’s official London residence at Lambeth Palace, he instructed Labour’s former communications director Alastair Campbell and his co-presenter, former Conservative MP Rory Stewart: “What the Archbishop of York and I and the bishops, by a majority, under no circumstances unanimous, and the Church is deeply break up over this – the place we have come to is to say that every one sexual exercise must be inside a dedicated relationship, and whether or not it is straight or homosexual.”
The controversy has been unleashed by the Archbishop’s suggestion that the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) companies of blessing for same-sex {couples}, which the General Synod voted for in February 2023 after the six-year Living in Love and Faith session, are ushering in a change to the Church of England’s educating on sexual morality.
The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) this week revealed a strong response to Archbishop Welby from the Rev Dr Andrew Goddard, a CEEC council member and tutor in ethics at Ridley Hall theological faculty in Cambridge.
Goddard argued that “the Archbishop’s interview gives the look that the Church of England, with the settlement of nearly all of bishops, now teaches that sexual relationships, together with same-sex sexual relationships, are acceptable so long as the couple are in a dedicated relationship, both a civil partnership or a wedding”.
He continued: “In truth, the theological argument offered by the bishops (and sight of the authorized recommendation to bishops would possibly reveal that that is additionally essential for PLF’s legality) has been that any sexual relationship apart from marriage between a person and a girl is opposite to the Church’s doctrine of marriage.”
He concluded: “Such considerably inaccurate statements as these from a minimum of the Archbishop of Canterbury, until swiftly adopted by an apology and correction, can solely add additional to the widespread erosion of belief and rising sense of disbelief, betrayal, deception, anger and despair now felt throughout a lot of the Church of England in relation to each the PLF course of and our archiepiscopal management.”
The Lambeth Palace media assertion on October 22 declares: “In his interview on the Leading (sic) podcast, the Archbishop of Canterbury was requested whether or not homosexual intercourse is sinful. Alastair Campbell was returning to this query having first put it to the Archbishop in 2017 throughout an interview for GQ journal.
“In each interviews, Archbishop Justin spoke truthfully about the truth that these are advanced questions which have prompted deep division within the church. In each interviews, he stated that what appear most central to him are steady, dedicated and trustworthy relationships.
“Archbishop Justin was giving a private view that displays the place now held by himself, the Archbishop of York and lots of different bishops relating to sexual intimacy. He has been trustworthy that his considering has advanced over time by way of a lot prayer and theological reflection – significantly by way of the Living in Love and Faith course of – and he now holds this view sincerely. It displays his dedication to persevering with to welcome, love and embrace LGBTQ+ individuals extra absolutely within the lifetime of the Church.”
The assertion confused Welby’s “absolute dedication” to those that maintain a standard view having “a full and undoubted place within the Church of England”. It claimed that his reply to Campbell “didn’t point out a altering of educating from the House of Bishops”.
It concluded: “This is an ongoing dialog throughout the Church – and Archbishop Justin hopes that the bishops, along with clergy and laity, will hold praying and reflecting on these questions.”
But this assertion can solely serve to deepen the divisions within the C of E and the worldwide Anglican Communion over sexual morality. It makes clear that Archbishop Welby not believes that intercourse exterior of heterosexual marriage is sinful.
Before he was ordained Justin Welby belonged to Holy Trinity Brompton, the C of E’s evangelical charismatic flagship church in London’s Knightsbridge, which upholds the standard Christian sexual ethic. He reiterated on the podcast that he himself doesn’t conduct same-sex blessings due to his function within the Anglican Communion through which many provinces oppose such companies.
This diplomatic choice had left the query open as as to if the Archbishop nonetheless held the standard view personally. But he has now made clear his view that offered a gay couple are in a trustworthy, dedicated relationship, their sexual exercise is morally acceptable within the eyes of God.
That is a serious declaration from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the repercussions of which are actually poised to play out within the C of E and the broader Anglican Communion.
Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based mostly in Lancashire.
