Anglican Mainstream

Letter to Church Times from Canon Ben Enwuchola and Canon Dr Chris Sugden

Sir, – The Revd Colin Coward [Comment, 2 June->http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/80256fa1003e05c1/httppublicpages/62f577eeafe726128025717f003f0502?opendocument] has a highly commendable concern for those who have felt damaged by and excluded from the Church because of their sexual orientation. He is also right to be concerned about doublespeak.

But statistics and statistical probabilities can be manipulated according to one’s ideology – and Mr Coward does that. He says “there has been no empirical research” and “there are no statistics,” but then reaches the amazing conclusion that “the majority of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered] Anglicans live in the global South.” The claim that about 30,000 LGBT people are members of the C of E is linked to the equally remarkable assertion that “the percentage of LGBT people is almost certainly similar in every country and society.”

He produces no supporting evidence. Ancient Greece had an incredibly high percentage of bisexual men. Homosexual orientation today seems to be unevenly distributed across the subcultures. There is a degree of plasticity to sexuality which is not just about cultural repression.

The incidence of same-sex preference in particular societies is surely related to the status of the family and social approval. A lesbian and gay website, www.avert.org, quotes the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles that, in 2000, 2.6 per cent of men and women in the UK had had a same-sex partner in the past five years. This reduces Mr Coward’s “conservative” estimate by 13 per cent.

African Christians have long recognised the presence of homosexual practice, and have stood against cultic homosexuality even at the cost of their lives. The Church of Uganda traces its roots to the refusal of royal courtiers to submit to the sexual whims of the king, an event celebrated each 3 June, Uganda Martyrs Day. In Singapore or Southampton, the issue is whether gay sex honours God. Does it?

Christian gay advocates insist that it does, because they need gay sexual relationships to feel whole. In fact, they say, God made them this way. They assume that what is is what ought to be. But both moral philosophy and biblical morality have always insisted that “is” and “ought” are not identical. Because of the fall, the human psyche gives false readings. The Bible clearly teaches that homosexual practice is sinful, abhorrent to God.

Moreover, if gay sex is granted legitimacy, where is the line to be drawn in relation to other sexual minority practices? Like gays, “sexual alternative” practitioners have been silenced, oppressed, and condemned. They do what comes naturally to them, without guilt or shame; for they are being true to themselves, and are “honestly sexual”. Should every aspect of the Church’s life be open to them, too?

Finally, Mr Coward has offered one possible response to people with same-sex-attraction issues: give in to it. But many Christian ministries are helping people who wish to shed their gay identity and lifestyle: freedom and fulfilment can be found in Christ.
BEN ENWUCHOLA
Chaplain to the Nigerian Community in England
82 Keslake Road
London NW6 6DG
CHRIS SUGDEN
Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream International
21 High Street, Eynsham OX29 4HE

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