Petitions
Petition for an Inclusive Anglican
Church.
Following the threats by hardline 'Evangelicals'
to withold finance and create schism if Dr Jeffrey John were made Bishop
of Reading, (which led him to stand down), AND the same threats made and
lies told* in
an attempt to stop Canon Gene Robinson from becoming Bishop, (which did
not stop Canon Robinson), an assembly of those who look for an inclusive
Church of England was called at Putney on August 11th 2003! Over 300 people
gathered, and while many referred to themselves as liberal or catholic
Anglicans, but there were also strong evangelical voices supporting inclusivity.
*Apologies were later made by some bishops
to Canon Robinson.
The Provost of Southwark Cathedral, the Very Revd
Colin Slee, decried the atmosphere of 'name calling' in the Church and
asked for open debate about human sexuality and other contemporary concerns.
The Church was biblical in its constitution, but those who claimed the
Bible for their exclusive possession and failed to study it carefully and
contextually were not taking it seriously, he declared.
The assembly coincided with a website petition
at www.inclusivechurch.net
for those who support an inclusive church. It invites individuals, churches
and parishes who support an inclusive church to lend their names to the
petition.
The InclusiveChurch.Net petition reads as
follows:
"We affirm that the Church's mission, in obedience
to Holy Scripture, is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every generation.
We acknowledge that this is Good News for people regardless of their sex,
race or sexual orientation. We believe that, in order to strengthen the
Gospel's proclamation of justice to the world, and for the greater glory
of God, the Church's own common life must be justly ordered. To that end,
we call on our Church to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate
the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering
of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop
to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual
orientation."
Rev Dr Giles Fraser, Vicar of Putney and Lecturer
in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford stated that "The hope is that the
petition, which defines its aims in terms of the biblical mandate for mission,
will attract many thousands of signatures. We hope to have exhausted our
need to exist by February next year," he said.
Please go to www.inclusivechurch.net
and add your name if you value an inclusive church.
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