Anglican Mainstream

by Matt Cresswell for Church of England Newspaper

CHANGING THE law to allow civil partnerships to be held in religious buildings would promote ‘confusion’, the Church of England has argued.

It was responding to a letter published in The Times signed by the Bishop of Salisbury and supported by five former bishops and several deans and professors, which expressed public support for Lord Alli’s amendment to The Equality Bill. The amendment would repeal the current law under The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which bans religious buildings from hosting ceremonies for civil partnerships.

The Times letter said: “To deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory.” Amongst those who signed it were Lord Harries, former Bishop of Oxford, The Rt. Rev John Gladwin, former Bishop of Chelmsford, the Very Rev Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, and the Very Rev Colin Slee, Southwark.

A spokesperson for the Church of England said: “We have yet to see the proposed amendment, so cannot comment in detail. Views within the Church of England vary on the issues raised, however we agree with the comments made by Baroness Thornton, speaking for the Government, when the original amendment was debated on January 25.

“Amending the Civil the same level as marriage. “It is important that this amendment is resisted,” he said. “I think it is noteworthy that the mainstream churches and religious organisations of this country are not behind this move.”

Synod member, Alison Ruoff said she did not respect any of the signatories of the letter. She said she feared the church was being “dictated to by society” rather than adhering to the Bible and that the amendment, if passed, would inevitably lead to more schism in the church. But Mr. Slee defended the letter saying, “I believe very strongly that the Christian gospel is about justice”.

Of those bishops who did not support the letter he said: “many of them lack courage and some, sadly, remain institutionally homophobic.” He added: “The real issue here is the House of Bishops. There is far too much emphasis on corporate decisions.”

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