Posted on 01/11/2019 6:24:45 PM PST by marshmallow
The Church of England's Oxford diocese is facing an uncertain future after a large group of its serving clergy publicly rejected their bishops' views on sexuality.
A letter to the bishops signed by a wide grouping of more than 100 church ministers says that 'the situation [in the diocese] is serious. If not addressed, we would all struggle to support the leadership of our bishops in this matter and a number of our churches may want to seek alternative means of receiving episcopal ministry, in recognition that your position is seriously differentiated from theirs. This would be a tragedy.'
The warning comes in response to the Oxford bishops' offer of 'interim LGBT guidance and support' in their diocese last October, in a move seen by many as pre-empting the outcome of the official Church of England 'Living in Love and Faith' discussions on sexuality, which will not conclude until 2020.
The letter to the bishops was sent before Christmas, and in turn the bishops have responded to the signatories with a statement of their own. Christian Today understands both letters are to be circulated to all clergy in the Oxford diocesan email news today, Wednesday. They are now also in the public domain on the website of the Oxford Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.
Clergy signatories include conservative evangelical Canon Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbe's Oxford, who has openly spoken of his celibacy despite same-sex attraction, and the leading charismatic churchman Canon Charlie Cleverly, Rector of St Aldate's, Oxford. Their two congregations are among the largest in the diocese. There are also signatories who are lay people and retired clergy, including the distinguished author, evangelist and lecturer Dr Michael Green.
The letter says: 'Our overriding concern is with the direction of travel which the Diocese is taking as......
(Excerpt) Read more at christiantoday.com ...
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye servants of the cross.
Stand up, against that Jesus, we'll nail him to a cross.
“We would all struggle to support the leadership of our bishops.
It is a struggle, because the bishops do not have authority and the supporters lack genuine leaders. They should just go ahead and make Protestant Church #32,2743.
If artificial contraception is accepted, then sex outside of natural marriage is the result. Pope Paul VI made this observation in 1968.
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