Africa is the place to find Elephants, and Dominic Steele, the host of “The Pastor’s Heart” video cast and a prominent Sydney Anglican Minister, reports on what he calls the “elephant in the room” at the Gafcon 4 conference in Kigali, Rwanda. He means differing views on how the church should respond to LGBTQIA people.
“There are real issues to be talked about in regards to sexuality among those who hold to a conservative sexual ethic,” Steele says as he raises this topic – one of several reflecting on a meeting Steel believes will be regarded as a turning point in Anglican church history. “And how do we extend pastoral care in the church to Christian believers who experience same sex attraction, but who want to be encouraged to live chastely. Christian leaders in the West and our Christian leader, friends in Africa, both of whom have a high view of scripture and a conservative sexual ethic. I think it’s clear we need to have a series of big conversations around this.”
Steele’s comments come as one reflection among many in his report on the significance of the Kigali gathering that adopted an agenda of renewing, revival and resetting the Anglican Communion and throwing off the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Two events bear upon Steele’s call for conservative Christians to discuss LGBTQIA people and the church.
• The Church of England is moving towards same-sex blessings in church, with the Archbishop of Canterbury seconding a motion supporting the change in their General Synod.
• Uganda adopted an Anti-Homosexuality Act that increases and extends penalties, which the Church of Uganda, a key member of Gafcon, has welcomed while opposing the death penalty provision. The Other Cheek report is here.
The Other Cheek was part of the team supporting Steele’s live stream of the Kigali conference. Steele has gone through his hours of interviews to highlight conversations on the church’s response to the LGBTQIA people within and without conservative churches.
Vaughn Roberts, the senior pastor of St. Ebbes in Oxford, tells Steele that he is pleased that the Kigali Statement affirmed “Lambeth 1:10”, a resolution passed by a worldwide meeting of Anglican Bishops in 1998, a resolution that both opposed same-sex marriage and called for a pastoral response to LGBTQIA people. “
And the wonderful thing in this statement [by Gafcon at Kigali] is the clear affirmation of the whole of Lambeth 1 10. And a very clear calling out that every individual is made in the image of God. A calling out against the vilification and demeaning of anyone. And these are things that we need to continue to challenge one another across continents. Yeah. And, I’ve seen that beginning to happen powerfully this week [in Kigali].”
Richard Coekin, an evangelical leader from London who runs a 32-strong evangelical church network called Co-mission, also told Steele he opposed a harsh response by churches. “
“I would say that in our culture, and our country, we are very concerned to ensure that the provision of pastoral care is deepened. Because in our country, same-sex attraction is celebrated. Our [church] young people are very confused about the issue and under immense pressure in their schools. Teachers and healthcare workers [face] discrimination if they mention the Christian worldview and the Christian view of sexuality.
“It is very important that in our condemnation of sin, that we keep and, and demonstrate real love and care for sinners who want to turn from their sin and are finding it hard. And we must not be harsh in our condemnation of sin towards those who are trying to turn from sin. There needs to be a compassion and a care in our churches.”
These interviews were recorded at Kigali and should not be regarded as responses to Uganda, although the legislation was before the Ugandan parliament at the same time.
Image: Richard Coekin interviewed by Dominic Steele
And what response will there be from GAFCON? Condemnation in the strongest terms? Or will you be reluctant to criticise a like-minded Church? This is a human rights issue with potentially people’s lives at stake. Most reasonable people would understand that this is a bigger issue than your disagreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury. If GAFCON is silent on this then we can only conclude that you are ideologically aligned with authoritarianism and human rights abuses. Throckmorton’s ongoing analysis of this shows how compromised your position might become.