Episcopal and gay
With same-sex marriage in the spotlight, where does it stay across the Anglican Communion?
A same-sex couple receives a blessing in the Church in Wales in November 2021. Photo source: Church in Wales
[Episcopal News Service – Canterbury, England] As the Lambeth Conference gets underway here, the status of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Anglican Communion has unexpectedly taken center stage. Though the controversial statement saying the Anglican Communion “as a whole” rejects same-sex marriage has now been removed from one of the proposed “Lambeth Calls,” it has heightened the differences among the provinces on the issue.
Some bishops have spoken of a 1998 Lambeth resolution rejecting same-sex marriage as the “official teaching” of the Anglican Communion. However, the Anglican Communion is not one church but a team of distinct churches, known as provinces, and does not have a codified set of “official teaching[s]” beyond the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, except perhaps the Lambeth Quadrilateral. The Lambeth Conference is not a legislative body, and its resolutions (or, in this case, “calls”) have no binding authority.
Whatever happens at this 15th Lambeth C
Q&A: Episcopal priest Wesley Hill shares what it’s like as a celibate male lover Christian in a fully LGBTQ+-affirming church
The Rev. Wesley Hill. Photo: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Editor’s note: The story has been edited to accurately reflect The Episcopal Church’s position on same-sex relationships.
[Episcopal News Service] To some, the Rev. Wesley Hill might embody contradiction: an openly gay man who is opposed to same-sex marriage and advocates celibacy for gay Christians, serving in a church that is fully inclusive of Gay people. But Hill is part of an emerging network of LGBTQ+ Christians who share his beliefs – a loosely defined people nicknamed “Side B” that he helped foster.
Hill, 40, is an associate professor of New Testament studies at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and a priest serving at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2010, his book “Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality,” articulated an uncommon, nuanced approach to Christian sexuality that diverged from the much louder voices on the right and left. In that and other writings, he has argued that the
Stances of Faiths on Gay Issues: Episcopal Church
BACKGROUND
Among its statements of belief, the Episcopal Church includes, “In Jesus, we find that the nature of God is love, and through baptism, we share in his victory over sin and death.” They further emphasize, “We compete to love our neighbors as ourselves and respect the dignity of every person.”
With 2 million members, the U.S.-based Episcopal Church is just one branch of a worldwide Anglican Communion of 85 million. The church operates under the direction of two legislative bodies: the House of Deputies, with lay and clergy representatives from across the church, and the House of Bishops, which includes all bishops of the church. Together they generate doctrinal, administrative and budgetary decisions at a General Convention that convenes every three years. An Executive Council of clergy and lay leaders manages the business of the church in the intervening period, and are elected at each General Convention, with a Presiding Bishop elected every nine years. Changes to the church constitution and to canon law are enacted only through a majority vote in both houses. The Constitution and Canons of the Epi
1962: October Homosexuality, along with alcoholism, is studied by the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It is referred to as a “standard weakness.” [1]
1963: August Rev. David B. Wayne of the Church of the Epiphany in New York City preaches that homosexuals “must be accepted fully into the fellowship of the church” while they also must seek counseling or psychological treatment. [2]
1964: November A proposed revision to a New York State law that would decriminalize “sexual deviation” (i.e., homosexuality and adultery) is praised by Episcopalians and denounced by Roman Catholics. The revision is later dropped by the NY state Legislature. [3]
1966: October Speaking at Duke Regulation School, Episcopal Auxiliary Bishop of California, Rev. James A. Pike claims that laws “aimed at controlling homosexuality, sexual practices between man and wife and abortions…must be changed.” He claims that such matters are “nobody’s business but the individuals concerned.” [4]
1967: November During a symposium on homosexuality sponsored by the Episcopal Dioceses of New York, Connecticut, Extended Island, and Newark, ninety Episcopalian priests agree that the chur