clothe yourselves with love

Today, the Bishop of Oxford together with his area bishops in Dorchester, Reading & Buckingham, sent out a letter to the 1,500 clergy and lay ministers in the Oxford Diocese.

The letter begins with a quotation from Colossians 3, words which the whole Diocese is being encouraged to live with in this season. It then considers six areas before its final conclusion, returning to Colossians:
The current national process on questions of sexuality in the Church of England; the wider debate; inclusion and respect (the longest section, which re-iterates the Lichfield principles); liturgy and prayers; an announcement of a new chaplaincy team in the diocese for LGBTI+ people and their families; and a commitment to ongoing listening to all within the church.

The journey toward full acceptance for LGBTI+ people in the church is long and complicated, but letters like these in a diocese like ours from bishops who are united in courage, compassion, faith and love, take our journey forward. So the first thing that must be said is - Thank you. Anyone who follows this process in the church knows that bishops who speak out supporting gay people aren't always met with garlands of flowers and songs of joy!

At the book launch for The Possibility of Difference, I was asked how I found the church's response was to gay people today. I replied that I could only speak for myself, and that if I looked back, for sure people in the church were responsible for a whole lot of mess in my life. But people in the church were responsible for a whole lot of good too - and I have been fortunate always to have very good relationships with my bishops, who have been from very different wings of the church over the years. I am now in a diocese where both my local bishop and my diocesan are evangelical, and this letter supporting the process of inclusion of and greater respect for LGBTI+ people comes from them. It's easy to criticise (and sometimes necessary), but also important to find the good and make the most of it.

Because honestly, as a gay man in the church (and again, I speak personally, but I know that others do share this experience) I often feel that I am a foreigner in my own land. I live and work and serve alongside my straight friends, but though we all speak of Jesus, I'm aware I have an accent. There is something they see as natural which strikes me as strange, and something I long to be seen as natural which some of them won't even acknowledge. Right now it happens that I am actually at the end of a long holiday; a letter from home like this from my bishops gives me hope that there will come a time when that longer exile will end, and one day home will really feel like home.

So my first response is indeed - Thank you.

There are issues to follow up on. Evangelicals need doctrine to be proclaimed in some official way in order to know where they stand, and anglo-catholics need actual liturgies to know that truth is made real. Doctrine is not the focus of this letter; and possible future liturgies are only hinted at. So in terms of concrete change, this feels more about direction and intent and open expression of attitude and the fact that the four Oxford diocese bishops have made the choice to put their heads above the parapet together. That in itself is quite something - especially in the immediate aftermath of the very different open letter from the Bishop of Blackburn and ten others a week or so ago. Plus, the one genuinely new item here is the announcing of a chaplaincy team for LGBTI+ people and their families. Who will be involved in this and exactly how it will work area by area within the huge expanse of the Oxford diocese (remember - 1,500 clergy and lay ministers; four archdeaconries) remains to be seen, but I look forward to seeing it develop and to taking part in and supporting it.

I am sure Bishops Steven, Colin, Andrew & Alan will receive much feedback for this letter. I very much hope that most of it is positive! They deserve our prayers and our thanks - and our encouragement, prayers and love as they continue in their desire to fully welcome all people into God's kingdom.