Same sex relationships and this parish church.

The on-going issue of same sex relationships and the Church.

At the beginning of Lent in 2007, the meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion pushed the issue a stage further. The Lambeth Conference held late last year was boycotted by about a quarter of the bishops because of the continued presence of the bishops from the US and Canada who had supported and participated in the consecration of a bishop in a committed same sex relationship. Now last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury has produced a reflection on the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the resolutions agreed to there which anticipates a ‘two track’ Anglican Communion based on this Presenting Issue. In March 2007, St Peter’s Eastern Hill re-affirmed an earlier 2005 position along the following lines:

Broadly speaking, substantial differences remain on quite basic issues as to what is church and who is church and how encompassing is God's love and grace. There are obviously going to be differences in the life of the Church in say North America as compared to Nigeria. The question is how do we deal with that fact. Unity has been maintained for now, but it comes at a significant cost.

The presenting issue relates to honesty and integrity about same sex relationships. Much of the surrounding discussion is deeply saddening and more than a little offensive. We are part of an institution that internationally is deeply divided. The lightening rod for that division just happens to be this. But it is indeed about us all, as a community of faith. Consideration of race or class is no longer possible in the acceptance or otherwise of a person as a Christian. Gender and sexual orientation remain contentious. Any open consideration of this painful time must include the acknowledgement that for a substantial proportion of this parish and the wider Church, this is actually very personal.

On Lent 4 2005, when this issue was starting to gain momentum, the then clergy team and churchwardens issued a statement that included the following:

“In a century's time this will look as sad as earlier schisms over slavery or race.

At stake is the inclusiveness and justice of a gospel that preaches and lives out the love of God in Jesus Christ – one who himself reached out in love and care to the foreigner, the outcast and those on the edge.

St Peter's Eastern Hill, the Anglican parish church of Melbourne since 1847, condemns this growing and dividing intolerance and affirms the proper place within the Church of all people, gay or straight, who are seeking to grow in integrity, faith and service.

Your current parish leadership reaffirms that statement now.”

The Strategic Planning meeting of our vestry plus a wider group of those exercising responsibilities and ministries in this parish has now in July 2009 reaffirmed our commitment to the inclusiveness and welcome of what we offer here, including to those who are the subject and object of this current sad and bitter debate.

JCD