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Statement
to the press, I
would much rather be talking to you today about the breathtaking
excitement of following Christ, and the wonderful news of His love.
However, the present crisis in our diocese forces us to comment on the
proposed appointment of Canon Dr Jeffrey John as area Bishop of Reading. A
group of 80 clergy and 20 leading laity of the Diocese of Oxford wrote
privately to the Bishop of Oxford to express dismay over the appointment.
These included the leaders of most of the largest churches in the diocese.
We are all committed to sharing the Christian gospel and offering welcome
and pastoral support to all people, Christian and non-Christian,
heterosexual or homosexual. We are grateful for, and align ourselves with,
the recently published open letter from nine diocesan and seven suffragan
Bishops questioning this appointment. Our
representatives have met twice with the Bishop of Oxford. We have pleaded
with him to do all in his power to intervene so that the appointment does
not take place. We are now seeking a meeting with the Archbishop of
Canterbury to express the same plea. We
do not wish to rehearse again the arguments against the nomination.
Suffice it to say we make an appeal, first, to faithfulness to the plain
meaning of scripture; second, to 2000 years of Christian tradition; third,
to the divinely created order and gift of marriage. Perhaps above all we
feel that this appointment will be catastrophic in terms of the unity of
the church; not only the Church of England and the Anglican Communion
which it threatens to split asunder, but also between the Anglican Church
and other Churches worldwide. For
these reasons, we believe that if this appointment proceeds, the Bishop of
Oxford and by implication the leadership of the Diocese of Oxford will be
separating themselves from the Church of England and the Anglican
Communion. This will have grave structural, pastoral, and financial
implications, as well as provoking discussions about appropriate oversight
in the future if this plan proceeds. The gravest consequence will be to
the Anglican Church’s witness to the name of Christ in our land. May
God have mercy on us all and give those in authority godly wisdom as this
time. We
continue to pray that this appointment not go ahead. Dr
Philip Giddings, Licensed Lay Minister, |
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