I could not but comment on this news report which appears in today’s ‘Belfast Telegraph’, under the headline:
“LGBT Church of Ireland group welcomes change on same-sex marriage statement”.
It ought to have been headlined: “Church of Ireland afflicted with same terminal disease as the Church of England and they now share the same deathbed”
The article begins: “A change from the Anglican Communion on its statement around same-sex marriage issues has been welcomed by a group which represents LGBT members within the Church of Ireland.”
The article then continues: “Ahead of the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference – the first in Canterbury for 14 years – organisers scrapped a statement that reaffirmed the conference’s historic stance against same-sex marriage, BBC NI reports.
The original ‘call’ intended to go before 650 bishops for approval defined marriage as “between a man and a woman” and said the “legitimising or blessing of same-sex unions” cannot be advised.
However, just hours before the 12-day meeting was to take place, that statement was amended following backlash from LGBT affirming members in Anglican congregations around the world.
The revised statement instead says that “many Provinces continue to affirm that same gender marriage is not permissible” and said the “Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. It added: “Other Provinces have blessed and welcomed same sex union/marriage after careful theological reflection and a process of reception.”
The Church of Ireland and the Church of England do not currently allow same-sex marriage, however those within the LGBT community can be members.
The full article may be seen here.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster