by Anderson Jeremiah, ordained priest in the Church of South India (an Anglican Province), is Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University, Canon Theologian of Blackburn Cathedral, and member of General Synod, Faith and Order Commission, and Ministry Council
Last Sunday I stood in the pulpit and preached a sermon on Isaiah 58, asking what is the meaning of true fasting, if not to address the yokes and systems of oppression right before our lives? Isaiah reminded his listeners – both then and now – that we are people of Exodus and for those who hold on to God’s covenant there is an ethical demand before us to practice liberation and justice. Personal piety has a necessary public liberatory impulse.
We, as Christians living in that prophetic tradition, are called to inhabit that intersection to proclaim new life rooted in love, mercy, and justice, to repair the breach and restore lives.
The Church of England through the Living in Love and Faith process has spent the best part of the last six years listening to different voices, reading the scriptures, and reflecting through deeply held views and lived experiences. As a culmination to that process, the synod received a pastoral letter from the House of Bishops and a draft set of Prayers and Blessings.
The bishops have written a sensitive and compassionate letter carrying an apology for the hurt caused by the church towards the brothers and sisters who identify themselves as LGBTQ+. So much of love and careful balancing of words.
However, I couldn’t help but notice the absence of one word: justice. Somehow the fundamental Christian commitment to pursue equity, righteousness and mercy was missing in both the letter and prayers.
Adherence to tradition, defending doctrine and preservation of unity has overshadowed the theological necessity to restore God-given human dignity. When it comes to the pursuit of justice, the biblical mandate is clear: we can’t be neutral.
Nonetheless, the prayers help us to move beyond the bishops’ stance, reminding us that the biblical understanding of covenant is between God and people, not just individuals, and that the blessing flows from that covenantal relationship. Contrary to popular view this is a theological critique of our highly individualised post-secular culture and society.
The discussions surrounding the LLF process have been divisive, and it has not been convivial. The Synod debate, while relatively civilised and restrained, evidenced the underlying distance between different views.
Hence, I come back to our focus on justice or lack of it in the LLF process. While we find new theological ways to be inclusive, for too long as a church we have allowed misogyny, racism, slavery, patriarchy and now homophobia to continue in the name of received teaching and tradition, while we figure out our theology and doctrine. Such an approach falls short of the prophetic ethical demand to practice liberation before personal piety.
Jesus, standing in the tradition of the great prophets, said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). As Christian disciples in this age, we are urged by the same liberatory impulse to fulfil our public emancipatory mission.
The Scapegoating of the Anglican Communion
As a cradle Anglican raised in its one of the Provinces, I could not help but weep at its unfair portrayal during the debate. Several speakers highlighted the popular trope that the life-affirming steps taken by the Church of England to bless same-sex relationships are going to have devastating effects on the continuation of the Communion. Many, including the primate of Alexandria, predicted that this is the end of the road for both Archbishop Justin’s credibility and the Communion as it is now. It might well be.
However, what they failed to mention is the fact that the debate around human sexuality within the Communion has a long history and homosexuality itself has been at the forefront, most recently during the Lambeth conference (1). The truth is that the diversity and fissures within the Church of England are also reflected in the Communion. The last two decades of researching the lived worldwide Anglican Communion suggests that the Communion is not a homogenous community, and any effort to paint it that way is fear-mongering. It is gloriously diverse and organically plural.
History shows that the evangelical Anglicans played a crucial role in challenging social evils of the last two centuries such as Sathi, the practice of burning widows in their husband’s funeral pyre in India, campaigning against Caste-based discrimination, as well as mobilising popular opinion against the racialised inhuman practice of transatlantic slavery. Furthermore, it is the Anglican spirituality that rallied around the civil rights movement in the United States and inspired the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The seminal role of Anglicans in ensuring human rights, equality and inclusion cannot be overstated.
Consequently, it is such liberative Gospel principles that shaped many of the Anglican provinces in Asia, Africa and South America, and continues to inspire many Anglicans to bear witness to the Gospel as countercultural amid religious hatred in their respective contexts.
Scapegoating the Anglican Communion to enhance one side of the argument borders on an embedded racist and colonial worldview, embraced beyond these shores. There are numerous LGBTQ+ Anglicans around the world, whose lives are threatened by the same discriminatory and unjust religious piety, which seeks to safeguard orthodoxy at the expense of human dignity and equity.
We need new wine in the new wineskins
General Synod, by passing the motion, has prioritised the importance of pursuing the work of love, Love that abides and includes everyone.
It is paramount for the Church of England and its bishops, who advocate for mixed ecology as the norm, to resist the temptation to allow for a ghettoised church to flourish, and to pursue a more inclusive and diverse body of Christ.
The bishops have committed to refine and continue the work of building bridges. They should not become prisoners of fear but be set free by the Holy Spirit to give life.
The church, both in this country and across the Communion, has come a long way with regard to developing new teachings, which are very different from the received doctrines. At this historic time, it cannot afford to lose sight of the ethical mandate to practice God’s redeeming and liberating Justice. If we dither at this point, how can we then speak about the unconditional love of God that emancipates our broken humanity?
Our hurting sisters and brothers from the LGBTQ+ community are seeking fullness of life, that Jesus gave his life for, unconditionally.
In our fervent desire to preserve cramped orthodoxy, we have slipped so far from one another, demonising the ‘other’, in the process failing to see the same image of God in the brothers and sisters we condemn.
Without love, justice and equity, we will be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. The prophetic task for the bishops and the church is to walk humbly with our God and one another in love while pursuing justice. It is costly.
The Cross constantly reminds us of the brokenness of our communion, yet it is there we encounter the truth that no one is outside the embrace of God’s love, justice, and mercy, manifest in Jesus Christ.
(1) Mounsey, Chris. Being the Body of Christ : Towards a Twentieth-century Homosexual Theology for the Anglican Church. Gender, Theology, and Spirituality (London and New York: Routledge, 2014); Coleman, Simon. ‘Closet Virtues: Ethics of Concealment in English Anglicanism’, Ethnos 87, no. 3 (2022): 498-517.
Any thoughts?