A Faraway View on the Gay Ordination Debate…
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa1 New Zealand and Polynesia has set up a commission to summarise arguments on whether openly gay and lesbian people should be ordained as Anglican priests. Two or three “eminent persons” are being invited to work with a six-strong “church reference group” proposed by the three tikanga2. The commission is expected to report progress to General Synod in Fiji this July, and to complete its work for the 2014 General Synod. This body is charged with presenting “a summary of the biblical and theological work done by our church on the issues surrounding Christian ethics, human sexuality and the blessing and ordination of people in same-sex relationships, including missiological, doctrinal, canonical, cultural and pastoral issues…” General Synod is also asking the commission for recommendations on “the principles of Anglican ecclesiology” and “in the light of our diversity, the ecclesial possibilities for ways forward for our three-tikanga church. Such concerns apply equally to us in the Church of Ireland; and this way of proceeding may have much to teach us. However in the following article, first published in the New Zealand Church’s Anglican Taonga, retired Bishop JOHN BLUCK points out that some of the leading voices in every synod, parish and forum of the church are gay and lesbian, and that there are good reasons not to legislate on such things as right relationships and sexual orientation.
* Full article available in printed copies.
John Bluck
Bishop of Waiapu from 2002 – 2008 in the Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. He served for a time as director of communications for the WCC.