The Church of England and LGBT topics:
Events and developments:: 2003 to 2006

2003-SEP-19: Archbishop of Canterbury attends Evangelical meeting: Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England, led prayers at the opening of the National Evangelical Anglican Congress. The meeting included 2,000 attendees -- the largest gathering of evangelical members of the Church in 16 years. They held a vote to decide whether to invite Williams; they decided that he would be allowed to come, but only to lead prayers. Some members left to hold a separate prayer gathering. A UK newspaper, the Guardian, commented:

"Dr Williams, in post for less than a year, and possibly the most intellectual, charismatic and deeply spiritual leader the church has had in many years, is seen by many as the last and best hope to re-enthuse an increasingly indifferent and secular nation. But to some in his congregation yesterday he is little better than a heretic, a false teacher and the catalyst for the showdown they have been itching for. Even though he is regarded as theologically orthodox, he is not orthodox enough on just one subject for them. Some will not even have a man they privately call the arch-heretic in their churches."

The Guardian interviewed Roy Clements, an ex-minister of a large Baptist church in Cambridge. He said that the leaders of the Evangelical movement:

"... believe the Church of England has been so corrupted by error and moral compromise for so long that they want to complete the reformation that should have happened in the 17th century. Homosexuality is an opportunist issue. They knew they had to have something to crystallize opinion in their constituency and they identified it as the thing most likely to galvanize it. They could not do it over women's ordination because evangelicals were themselves split but I was told 15 years ago that this was the issue on which to risk schism....Evangelicals have not absorbed the idea that homosexuality is an identity, not a practice. It is not like being a murderer. They believe it is a sin. There is no question that they are out of touch with modern British culture. They are suspicious of the world and the fact that the secular world does not support them merely proves that they are right....Everyone knows there are gay clergy and gay bishops. Would they prefer it if those people remain locked in the closet? This shows how out of touch they are: people in the outside world are tired of things being hidden. They see that that has no integrity."

2003-OCT: World: Lambeth Commission formed: Rowan Williams, who is the Archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, created a 19-member Lambeth Commission to "find ways of keeping the worldwide Anglican Communion from disintegrating in the wake of the Episcopal Church's ordination of an openly gay bishop and a Canadian diocese's sanctioning of same-sex blessings." The Rt. Rev. N.T. Wright, bishop of Durham in the Church of England is a member of the Commission. He said:

"...the primary question to be answered by the Lambeth Commission is one of communion, not homosexuality....We're looking at questions of how you hold the church together when that happens. Only secondary is the question of homosexuality." ₃

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