Evangelical Alliance and Oasis Trust

Last week the Evangelical Alliance discontinued the membership of Oasis Trust, headed up by Steve Chalke. After many months of prayerful discussion, the Evangelical Alliance council concluded that a relationship between an organisation and one of its members in which the member felt it could not comply with a reasonable request from council, was not … Continue Reading

Gay marriage, integrity and the church

One of the issues that has kept surfacing in the last few months, in the rapidly changing scene relating to same-sex relations, gay marriage, and the church, has been the question of integrity. Is the Church doing one thing, but saying another? Jeffrey John pointed out some time ago that much of the Church’s current … Continue Reading

A lot of nonsense about World Vision

They say that, in war, the first casualty is truth—and in the war of words about World Vision USA’s decision to change their terms of employment this certainly seems to be the case. Richard Stearns, President of World Vision USA, announced in an interview with Christianity Today that its policy restricting employment to Christians who … Continue Reading

Unhitching women from gays

The slightly odd title to this post arises from a conversation I had with a friend last week. We were (in passing) noting the tone of the public discussion since the House of Bishops’ statement on same-sex marriage, and the response to the Pilling report, and she commented: Of course, I cannot say anything—because I … Continue Reading

Creation and sexuality

I am writing a Grove booklet on the biblical texts relating to same-sex unions. This is the first draft of my section on Genesis 1 and 2. All comments welcome; they might find their way into the final text! Genesis 1 and 2 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in … Continue Reading

Why the bishops have done the right thing

At the start of 2012, the House of Bishops (comprising all the diocesan bishops of the Church of England, together with elected suffragans) commissioned a report on the current debate in the Church on human sexuality, and in particular the status of same-sex relations. Commissioned by the House of Bishops of the Church of England … Continue Reading

The Pilling Report: divisive and damaging?

The group working with Joseph Pilling reporting to the House of Bishops on the issue of same-sex relations were always going to struggle to keep anyone happy. How is it possible to say something on this issue without upsetting or offending one group or another? And if not, how on earth could anyone find a … Continue Reading

A Pastoral Response to Same-sex Civil Marriage?

This is a guest post by my friend Dr Andrew Goddard, who is Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE), Cambridge and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anglican Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. With speculation growing about the contents of the Pilling Report, to be considered by the House of Bishops next month and … Continue Reading