Educate for LGBTI inclusion… in the Church of England The Bishops of the Church of England have reached a critical point in deciding for greater inclusion, but survey data suggests that their demographic makes them least well placed to represent the mind of the general population or people in the pews or to understand the significance for LGBTI people of the decision they are about to make. Meetings will take place in November, December and January which will determine the church’s next policy steps. Please write to your bishop today with personal testimony that will help them to understand LGBTI experience and the views of allies to inform their decision-making so that it better represents the desires and thinking of those they serve. The Church of England is the State church in this country: you have a right to have a say. Background When Geoffrey Fisher spoke as Archbishop of Canterbury for the Church of England in the House of Lords in favour of the 1957 Wolfenden report that advocated decriminalisation of homosexuality, he was significantly ahead of public opinion in the UK, with limited decriminalisation in 1967 only being superseded by full decriminalisation by action of the European Court in 2000. The movement in a more conservative direction started with an international meeting of Anglican Bishops. In 1998, a 526-70 vote asserted that ‘faithfulness in marriage [should be] between a man and a woman in lifelong union’, abstinence being required of those not married, whilst seeking to listen to the experience of LGBTI people and oppose homophobia. August 2003 saw the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire – an openly gay and partnered priest in the Anglican Church in the USA, which many of those bishops saw as a threat. The Church of England has become increasingly polarised on the issue of human sexuality. The Church’s leadership have been seeking a status quo, seeing the different advocates as ‘factions’ to be held in tension, whilst many in the church have moved to be more inclusive, but have not been heard in the debate. The Church’s overall position has become more conservative and out of step with society, failing to live out the love and wholeness of life it seeks to preach. The accessibility and inclusiveness of the Church for members of the normal population has suffered, with expectations of clergy that are increasingly at odds with UK society, 1 sending a strange message about the church’s primary interests and its attitudes towards mature and independent adult life. In summary: 1991 Discussion document, Issues in human sexuality divides homosexual orientation from homosexual practice 2001 Those being selected for ordained ministry are required to commit to be sexually abstinent outside of heterosexual marriage, with Issues in human sexuality now given the status of church ‘teaching’ 2005 Bishops concede that clergy are able to enter Civil partnerships, but require them to make a personal commitment to their bishop to remain abstinent, with the expectation that clergy unwilling to give this commitment will lose their license to minister 2010 The Church gains exemption from the 2010 Equalities act so that it can continue to discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics 2012 Church successfully lobbies government to include ‘quadruple lock’ in same sex marriage legislation so that no priest can legally perform a same- sex marriage and so that Church buildings can’t be used for these services; ban on blessings for Civil Partnerships remains in place 2013 Clergy barred from same sex marriage, with disciplinary procedure seeking to remove licences from those who enter them Why write now? Windsor process Between 2003 and 2012, the Church of England formulated and then proposed a new contract agreement between church’s across the Anglican Communion to prevent them modifying church teaching without consent from other national churches. The process of consultation took place internationally, but also went down to a regional level in this country before the proposals were rejected by the Church of England in 2012. Pilling From 2012 through to the end of 2013, a commission was set up to consider the Church’s teaching on human sexuality again. The report acknowledged diversity of opinion, and presented this in great detail with a very variable basis in research, evidence or scholarly opinion. However, the report concluded that the Church of England should move allow priests who wanted to bless same-sex partnerships. In response, the Bishops of the Church of England re-asserted that marriage was an exclusive covenant relationship between a man and woman and set up a series of structured ‘conversations’ for the Church of England. Some members of the Pilling group dissented vehemently from the report’s findings and they were allowed to add and addendum asserting a conservative position. Conversations From 2013 to summer 2016 the Church of England has been engaged in a series of ‘shared conversations’ which have taken place at every level of its governance structures. The conversations have not been presented as dialogue, or providing a ‘safe space’; and they 2 have specifically not been intended to enable a change of position to take place in the church’s understanding or teaching. The content of the conversations which have taken place with an expectation of privacy and confidence has not been gathered centrally or disseminated for wider use. Some participants report having found the process – which relied upon a small number of selected participants – as being helpful, others painful, challenging and unproductive. Bishops’ meetings in November 2016 to January 2017 – a vital window for change It seems that it is in this term of the Churches government – 2015-2020 - that the Bishops want to take forward some kind of process for the Church of England as a whole. All the active bishops in the Church of England met from 12-15 September to consult on what they should do. Following the meeting a small ‘reflection group’ was set up to advise the 42 senior bishops what the college of 120 bishops think as a whole and what the options are for a next step. There is now an intensive series of meetings between the bishops, with the senior bishops meeting from 22–22 November to talk specifically about human sexuality; from 12-13 December with then a further meeting of the wider group of bishops again on 23rd January. It is expected that from this meeting will come a motion or legislation which will then come to the church’s governing body for a decision. It seems that the bishops will make a decision as to what kind of change the church governance can vote on. What to write? The Church of England claims to serve the whole population, but its inward looking character, persisting prejudice and the demographic of its leadership means that it is not only excluding groups of people from its life, but that it fails to see how critical a problem this is. The views of the institutional church are no longer representative of its membership1: 1 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/29/church-of-england-members-back-same-sex-marriage- poll 3 A January 2016 YouGov poll of 6200 people found 45% of people who define themselves as Church of England approve of same-sex marriage, compared with 37% who believe it is wrong. A similar survey three years ago found almost the reverse: 38% of Anglicans in favour and 47% opposed. The lowest levels of support for same-sex marriage – 24% – were found among Anglican men over the age of 55, a group that dominates the church leadership. The survey found a clear generational difference among Church of England members, with almost three-quarters (72%) of under-35s in favour. There was a majority supporting same-sex marriage in all age groups under 55, but the figure dropped to fewer than one in three older Anglicans. Support was largely consistent across different regions of England. There was also minimal variation across social class. Church members in England are still lagging behind the general public, among whom a clear majority – 56% – support same-sex marriage, while 27% say they oppose it. Beyond this, Anglicans seem to have a particular blind spot for homophobia. As the data below shows2, fewer than 20% of Anglicans think that the Church of England is unwelcoming to LGB people. Looking at YouGov survey results for those with no religion more than 40% of those think it is unwelcoming; only 20% believe it is welcoming. This has a very significant impact. Approximately one million children are educated in Church of England schools, with 15 million of the population having been to a CofE school. Whilst steps have been taken to resource Church of England schools to work against homophobia, the power of policy is weak when it comes from an institution that enacts homophobic discrimination in its practice. The Churches’ ambivalent and compromised position on human sexuality feeds and re- enforces the tacit homophobia present in society, contributing to diminishment of life for many, when it could be promoting self-acceptance and challenging discrimination and prejudice. Teenager Lizzie Lowe in Manchester committed suicide at the age of 14 because she didn’t know that her church would be accepting of her sexuality3. Her parents’ belief that she would have received a wealth of love and acceptance had she come out highlights how important it is that the Church of England is pro-active and unambivalent in expressing LGBTI affirmation. It is vital at this time that bishops are educated in the experience, beliefs and conviction of normal people in the UK – both LGBTI people and straight allies - so that 2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzMyH8nMD_OdTjZKMGdiMElxb28/view 3 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11299263/Christian-teenager-takes-her-own-life-over-misplaced- fears-about-telling-family-she-is-gay.html 4 they take to their meetings from 22 November a better understanding of the personal impact of the Churches’ teaching and the value that could be added for the UK population as well as the Church by taking a more affirming and representative stance.