The publication of a report by the Anglican Church of Canada - This Holy Estate - is a welcome piece of work in helping that church to come to terms with the fact of same-sex marriage in their society. It is a rigorous piece of work, which seeks to demonstrate how it is theologically possible to extend the marriage canon to include same-sex couples, without thereby diminishing, damaging, or curtailing the rich theological implications of marriage as traditionally understood. It manages to show how, using the bible, the acceptance of same-sex marriage is a valid way of expressing a faithful Christian response to the widespread acceptance of same-sex couples in our society. Yet the report is cautious. It continues: To say that it is theologically possible to make this change is not to say that the change is theologically desirable. We have attempted to show how it might be done—not why or even whether it should be done. Indeed, the point of the report is to engender and resource ongoing debate, but any change will have to be made by the General Synod of that church. The report includes a draft resolution, for eventual debate by their Synod, which would do three things. Firstly, it would change such a phrase as 'husband and wife' to 'partners', thus removing any indicator of gender from the Canon. Secondly, it provides parishes, or indeed whole dioceses, the right to opt out and prohibit the solemnization of same-sex marriages. Thirdly, if no such prohibition is enacted, then it gives the right to individual clergy to refuse to conduct such marriages, as a matter of conscience, although that does not remove the right of the couple to marry in their local church, using a different minister of their choice.
Whether any of this will work in practice will be a matter of the Church of Canada to decide. However it does provide us with an example of a worked through theology of why same-sex marriage can be a valid interpretation of scripture and, at the same time, how a church might allow such marriages in church, whilst providing a very high degree of protection for those who feel that such a change is wrong.
No doubt this document will fuel the ongoing dissent within the Anglican Communion which threatens to dissolve our Communion. The move by Archbishop Justin, to invite all the Archbishops of the Anglican Communion to meet at Lambeth in January 2016, must be considered to be a good thing. The Archbishop has not done this without first personally visiting each of his fellow Archbishops for face to face conversation and prayer. One would hope that the leaders of the many different provinces of our Communion would be prepared to come together in prayer and openness to the Spirit to talk through the issues which are causing such division, but sadly it is not as simple as that. Those who hold to a particular view of scripture believe that any expression of sexuality, other than that between a man and a woman in marriage, is intrinsically sinful. For them, the only response to same-sex relationships must be that of repentance. Sadly this seems to lead them to the conclusion that they cannot sit down to discuss these things with anyone, unless it is first agreed that their own views are the only biblical and valid ones - that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Starting with such closed minds, they cannot share in the debate, but rather gather themselves into a fortress that they call 'orthodox Christianity'. For many of us, such views seem more a legacy of the Pharisees of New Testament times than a response that might be expected in followers of Jesus. Faithfulness to a particular interpretation of certain texts becomes a measure of true faith for them. By contrast, my faith rests not in interpreting the Bible in an acceptable way, but rather in a life that is rooted in the daily study of the scriptures. In such living I find myself indwelt by the Spirit of the risen Christ and empowered to reach out in mission and ministry to a broken world. It is that which defines me, not how I interpret a few selected texts that some might use to condemn gay people. And so much of scripture inspires me to reach out and include others in the sacrificial embrace of Christ, whose love will surely transform their lives in the same way as it certainly has transformed my own. I seek to be the herald of a Kingdom that has already dawned in my life, rather than a judge who lays down the law of who might be invited in. It is my prayer that our Archbishops from around the world, who ought to know better, can put down their fortifications and find a shared joy in knowing Jesus as Lord. It is from such shared communion as this that we will find the courage to listen to one another and find treasure as we break open scripture and share our different interpretations of the sacred text.
