John B asks, , "Why go for a vote that will inevitably divide us, when we might
have been able to find a middle way?"
GiLUU *is* the middle way – it allows those who in all good conscience hold a
conservative view to continue holding that view, it makes no requirement of
Church Councils to permit same-sex marriages to occur in property they are the
Managing Trustees of if they do not wish to, it explicitly acknowledges that we
are not of one mind on this matter. The issue is that some of a conservative
mind make this issue a first order issue, an issue on which the whole truth of
our faith stands or falls, like those issues that gave rise to the Ecumenical
Creeds and to the Reformation. That is, of course, their right, but I do not
think we should necessarily be led by that view. And we should note that not
all those with “traditional views” feel this way – the recommendations proposed
have the support of people like Ashley Cooper, who wrote them, and Paul Smith,
who was heavily involved in the journey to this point. Does anyone seriously
think these are ministers of the Gospel who have suddenly moved from being
conservative evangelicals to raging progressives? Of course not! They simply
recognise that being a community of faith requires living with contradictory
convictions at times, and that means allowing space for those who take an
opposing view to live their lives faithly in ways you would not choose to
yourself.
I say again, GiLUU *is* the middle way – it makes no demand of conservatives
other than that they recognise there are other views within the Church (which
is a simple fact), and that they allow those who take a different view to be
able to live it out in ways consistent with how they understand their faith
(something we already do on other matters, including ones that some other
denominations would consider first order matters, such as the conduct and
understanding of the Lord’s Supper, or the marrying of divorcees). I can live
with those who are deeply conservative arguing that it is a first order matter
and that the whole church is imperilled if we take any kind of compromise
route, even if I disagree with them, but to suggest that GiLUU is some lurch in
a radical/liberal/progressive direction that will automatically leave
conservatives with no place to go is nonsense – and it’s not just me who thinks
that, it’s conservative evangelicals of long standing as well, such as those I
name above.