‘The assumptions in [Issues in Human Sexuality] are now contextually inappropriate and appear prejudicial and offensive to many people.’
The Church of England’s governing body “overwhelmingly” voted on Tuesday to remove the requirement for ordination candidates to agree with a 1991 teaching document that includes “outdated guidance” on sexuality, in part because the sections on homosexuality might be “offensive.”
“Although in its time it aimed to be sensitive, the tone, language, and some of the assumptions in [Issues in Human Sexuality] are now contextually inappropriate and appear prejudicial and offensive to many people, a paper introducing the item to Synod members noted,” said the Church of England in a press release. The motion was approved by nearly all Synod members.
The 1991 document titled “Issues in Human Sexuality” was produced as a teaching document that covered a range of topics related to sexuality, including commitment, marriage, celibacy, divorce, and same-sex attraction. Since its development, candidates for ordination were asked to confirm that they agree to “live within the guidelines” of the document. Following the General Synod’s vote on Tuesday, candidates for the clergy will not be asked whether they agree to conform with the document.
“Issues in Human Sexuality” states that all sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful. It adds that “homosexual practice [is] especially dishonourable,” and calls on Christians who experience same-sex attraction to be abstinent. The document also addresses the “evils of homophobia” and describes a “clear, simple and fundamental responsibility of Christians to reject and resist all forms of homophobia.”
“Homophile orientation and its expression in sexual activity do not constitute a parallel and alternative form of human sexuality as complete within the terms of the created order as the heterosexual,” states the document. It continues that such position is not “a rejection of the homophile as a person,” and it stresses that “our sexuality may vary from the norm in many ways. . . without affecting our equal worth and dignity as human beings, which rests on the fact that all of us alike are made in the image of God.”
The 48-page document states that clergy members who publicly disclose that they are “homophile in orientation” pose “no problem,” and “a community which cannot accept such an honourable candour is not worthy of the name of Christian.” The document criticizes clergy members in “active homophile partnerships.” However, rather than “interrogate” ordination candidates about their sexual practices, the Church of England states that candidates should “be prepared to abide by” Christian teachings on sexuality and it “should be left to candidates’ own consciences to act responsibly in this matter.”
The recent vote, the press announcement from the Church of England states, allows for the “outdated guidance” on sexuality to be removed but does not change the church’s doctrine or canonical requirements.
“Now it has gone. . . it opens the way for liberalisation of the church’s policy on same sex relationships and means we can stop using it as a kind of reference text,” Charles Bączyk-Bell, an Anglican priest and self-described gay man, told Reuters. On social media, he wrote “Thanks be to God for the dismissal of the grotesque Issues in Human Sexuality from the discernment and vocations process.”
In 2017, the Church of England began the “Living in Love and Faith” initiative to explore questions about “identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage,” noting societal changes in perspectives with respect to “lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex people.”
“Despite big differences over the best approach to take, the Church agrees it wants to better include, support and cherish LGBTQI+ people,” reads a Church of England website about the Living in Love and Faith project. “We hope to find a way to continue to walk together, respecting our difference and collectively embracing a radical Christian inclusion.”