
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2023 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
As the Church of England prepares for its General Synod meeting, which begins Monday, some clergy members are calling for greater acceptance of LGBT people within the denomination.
The denomination refuses to allow civil partnerships, a marriage-like union available to same-sex couples in the U.K., to be performed in its churches, and it allows clergy to be in civil partnerships but requires them to be celibate.
An open letter signed by more than 100 London priests who say clergy should be allowed to perform civil partnerships in their churches if they so desire was published Thursday in London's Times, Pink Newsreports. "This should be a matter for the individual conscience," they wrote, as is the decision on whether to perform marriages for divorced people. The bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres, responded by saying there are more pressing issues for the church to deal with, according to London's Guardian.
Meanwhile, in an interview with BBC, the bishop of Salisbury said the church is failing gay couples. While marriage has traditionally been a male-female union, the Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam said, "What has happened now is that we have begun to see in a way, which is not there in the Bible, that there are people in same-sex relationships who are living faithfully and lovingly for life. ... We have had the experience of civil partnerships for six years now and we need to review where we are." He is "the most senior cleric to have spoken favourably about gay relationships," the Guardian reports.
U.K. prime minister David Cameron is pushing for a law to replace civil partnerships with marriage. Indicating the divisions in the Church of England, the archbishop of York recently said Cameron would be acting "like a dictator" in urging the change. Supporters of gay equality responded by protesting at his cathedral.
The four-day synod meeting will likely have a greater focus on women clergy than gay-related issues, however, the Guardian reports. The church is finalizing a move to allow women to be ordained as bishops, and conservatives want an exemption to allow congregations "to ignore the authority of a female bishop and choose to be led by a male one instead," the paper notes.
trudestress
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Lauren Boebert Caught Fondling Date’s Genitals During Family-Friendly Musical: Video
September 15 2023 11:20 PM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Unmasking George Santos: Inside ‘The Fabulist’ With Author Mark Chiusano
December 04 2023 7:12 PM
Tennessee's Controversial Sex Worker Law Discriminates Against Those With HIV: DOJ
December 04 2023 3:54 PM
​Watch 'Saturday Night Live' Give George Santos a Hilarious Congressional Farewell
December 04 2023 1:54 PM
Is Captagon the Next Big Gay Party Drug? The Terrorists Are Counting on It
December 04 2023 12:37 PM
Why Montana’s Two-Spirit People Are Challenging A State Law Defining Sex as Binary
December 04 2023 10:59 AM
Florida School Leaders Punished for Accommodating Transgender Student-Athlete
December 03 2023 1:15 PM
Trending stories
Most Recent
Recommended Stories for You
Trudy Ring
Trudy Ring, The Advocate's copy chief, has spent much of her journalistic career covering the LGBT movement. When she's not fielding questions about grammar, spelling, and LGBT history, she's sharing movie trivia or classic rock lyrics.
Trudy Ring, The Advocate's copy chief, has spent much of her journalistic career covering the LGBT movement. When she's not fielding questions about grammar, spelling, and LGBT history, she's sharing movie trivia or classic rock lyrics.