“The Church of England I love is a church of liberal sympathy, broad inclusion, beautiful worship, wise preaching, dog-friendly Fairtrade cookies, and when it comes to Orthodoxy its members would rather not be Goneril or Regan,” he said. their zealots devotion, but Cordelia, who confesses her love. “Churches that are sustainable – by that I mean growing in numbers and income – tend to be conservative, aggressive, fundamentalist in their writing, strict in their doctrine, and about as likely to offer choral songs as I am in the 400m hurdles. “Some of my friends, and many devout Christians, are at home in churches like these. But if the future Church of England looks exactly like this, I can not see myself in it […] “Because they are places where gays are not welcome and that excludes me.”
“Second category citizenship”
Rev Coles added, “It’s not just me,” he said. Ecclesiastical schools will not feel uncomfortable having two dads or two moms. “I am not allowed to do the first [the Church of England does not recognise same-sex marriages]; the last I can not, I’m sorry to say. Things are changing, they tell us. I play the big game, and I have it. But now I see that change is shifting more to exclusion than to integration. “Such churches complain that everyone is welcome, as confirmed on their websites and bulletin boards, but this welcome would be on their own terms, shaped by a conservative reading of the Bible, and require me and others not only to renounce the familiar life for which we were created. but also to accept second-class citizenship in the household of God. “It bothers me not only because who would not do it, but because I just do not believe, and I can not, believe that relationships that are open to grace, holiness, and healing may be contrary to God’s will.” . He continued: “Relationships between people of the same sex are all this and much more, like everyone else. a fact so obvious that no one can deny it, and therefore the sin lies in accepting anything less than equal inclusion. “I believe that reconciling my view with the Church’s traditional teaching on sexuality is at least problematic. But nowhere does Jesus indicate that loving and serving the Gospel is neatly done. “What I will miss the least, as soon as I retire, is that I have to pretend it is legitimate to delay or deny justice to it. That and a photocopy “. Rev Coles has previously stated that he plans to spend his retirement voluntarily with inmates after his partner died of alcoholism. The Church of England contacted for comments.
