GAY TRUTH

The recent decision of the England and Wales Court of Appeal in  Pemberton v Inwood  [2018] EWCA Civ 564 (22 March 2018) upholds what was in effect disciplinary action taken against a Church of England clergyman, the Reverend Canon Jeremy Pemberton, on account of his entering into a same-sex marriage. The decision is a sensible one which upholds the religious freedom of the Anglican church to operate in accordance with its fundamental religious beliefs. 1. Background Canon Pemberton is not a “beneficed” clergyman with the care of a parish, but is an ordained priest in the Church of England, who married a same-sex partner in April 2014, after the commencement in the UK of the  Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 . That Act contains very clear statements that the Church of England doctrine of marriage is not to be impacted by the change in “secular” law (see eg s 1(3) which explicitly preserves the operation of any Canons of church law providing...

The senior bishop of the Church of England appeared rattled and said he is unable to give a “straight answer” when asked in a recent interview with GQ magazine about the morality of homosexual sodomy. Justin Welby , the Church of England’s Archbishop of Canterbury, was asked point-blank, “Is gay sex sinful?” by GQ on Monday. “You know very well that is a question I can’t give a straight answer to,” Welby answered, then added, “Sorry, badly phrased there. I should have thought that one through.” According to GQ, Welby paused and looked “mildly embarrassed” after his response. Asked why he couldn’t answer the question, Welby responded: “Because I don’t do blanket condemnation and I haven’t got a good answer to the question. I’ll be really honest about that. I know I haven’t got a good answer to the question.” Welby then appeared to waffle more, saying vaguely positive things about homosexual relationships while acknowledging that most Christians, including most Anglicans , regard the...

Anglican prelates are in the historic precincts of Canterbury, England, as the world’s largest Protestant denomination struggles to maintain unity. Hosted by the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Justin Welby , lord archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion , the meeting of primates, as the heads of the 39 national or regional churches historically and ecclesiastically aligned with the Church of England are called, comes at a time of increasingly deep differences. On one hand there is the establishment, underpinned by both the traditional deference shown to the archbishop of Canterbury and the loyalty that inevitably comes with the influence peddling of the wealthy U.S.-based Episcopal Church . The establishment seeks to preserve the Anglican Communion as it exists now, despite the very real possibility that the already deep differences could become a schism with churches in the so-called Global South — Africa, South America and Southeast Asia — ceasing to recogn...

Justin Welby has said he struggles with the question of whether gay sex is a sin and acknowledged that the gulf between conservative and liberal Anglicans on the issue is “irreconcilable”.  The Bible is very clear regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality but the head of the Anglican Church appears to want to sit on the fence and not offend - why doesn't he declare what the scripture clearly teaches? Asked if gay sex was sinful, Welby said: “You know very well that is a question I can’t give a straight answer to. Sorry, badly phrased there. I should have thought that one through.” Pressed on why he could not answer, the archbishop said: “Because I don’t do blanket condemnation and I haven’t got a good answer to the question. I’ll be really honest about that. I know I haven’t got a good answer to the question. Inherently, within myself, the things that seem to me to be absolutely central are around faithfulness, stability of relationships and loving relationships.” Welby sa...

Church of England bishops have overwhelmingly backed a motion calling for a ban on   conversion therapy for gay Christians .  What is a homosexual Christian? Doesn't even make sense. Can we have an alcoholic or murderous Christian, perhaps an adultery Christian? How about porn star Christian? Being gay is not a sickness or a sin, the church's General Synod heard on Saturday as it debated and voted on a private member's motion (PMM). So the Bible is wrong and these people are right? Really? Christian gay rights campaigner Jayne Ozanne's motion called on the C of E to endorse a statement branding the therapy "potentially harmful" with "no place in the modern world", signed by professional bodies including the Royal College of GPs and the UK Council for Psychotherapy in January. Christian Salvation can convert everybody except the homosexual? Christian biblical counsel can help everybody but it shouldn't be used on homosexuals?...

Anglican church leaders from Africa and Asia are considering consecrating a bishop who stands for biblical truth on the sin of homosexuality - as a ‘missionary’ to the UK , without permission from the Archbishop of Canterbury . Deep divisions have arisen in the global Anglican church over LGBT issues, which has been exacerbated by the shift in culture and by some Anglican who are homosexual in defiance of scripture. In the past few years, LGBT infiltrated churches with homosexual leaders have become angry because of African archbishops who are against LGBT sin, while the Church of England is also considering adopting a more liberal non-biblical stance. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby recently vowed to go back to the drawing board on LGBT sins, promising “radical new Christian inclusion in the Church”, though details of any agreement are murky. Biblical Anglicans have been frustrated by the discussions – and that a number of Anglican Archbishops from Africa and A...

A new  study  published in the February 2015 issue of the  British Journal of Education, Society, and Behavioural Science  appears to be the largest yet on the matter of same-sex households and children’s emotional outcomes. It analyzed 512 children of same-sex parents , drawn from a pool of over 207,000 respondents who participated in the (US)   National Health Interview Survey  (NHIS) at some point between 1997 and 2013. Results reveal that, on eight out of twelve psychometric measures, the risk of clinical emotional problems , developmental problems, or use of mental health treatment services is nearly double among those with same-sex parents when contrasted with children of opposite-sex parents. The estimate of serious child emotional problems in children with same-sex parents is 17 percent, compared with 7 percent among opposite-sex parents, after adjusting for age, race, gender, and parent’s education and income. Rates of ADHD were higher as...