Church of England Panel Issues Report on Homosexuals
Episcopal News Service. October 25, 1979 [79309]
LONDON -- A Church of England study panel has issued a report in which it recommends toleration but not outright endorsement of homosexual behavior.
The study group of 11 men and two women, set up by the Church of England's Board for Social Responsibility, says in its report issued Oct. 19 that homosexual relationships can be justified though it said it could not recommend that the Church either totally forbid or explicitly approve homosexual practices.
The report says that bishops should not refuse to ordain a man merely because he is a homosexual, though it does reject the concept of marriage "In the light of some of the evidence we have received," the study group says, "we do not think it possible to deny that there are circumstances in which individuals may justifiably choose to enter into a homosexual relationship with the hope of enjoying a companionship and physical expression of sexual love similar to that which is to be found in marriage," between homosexuals.
However, the report says such a relationship should not be considered the moral or social equivalent of marriage. The study panel's report states that lifelong and exclusive marriage is the norm for human sexual relationships.
The report suggests: "The homosexual person who is also a Christian should consider whether the fact of his sexual orientation may perhaps be one of the signs that God is calling him to consecrate himself as a celibate, perhaps with other people, for the service of God and his fellows."
Bishop Graham Leonard of Truro, chairman of the Board for Social Responsibility, said in the report's foreward that board members had "not adopted or endorsed the contents" of the document.
Bishop John Yates of Gloucester, chairman of the study group, said the report reflected only the opinions of the persons who produced it. He said the release of the report is expected to lead to a period of widespread discussion before the Church's General Synod debates it in February, 1981.
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church, at its meeting in Denver, Colo., in September, decided that it is "not appropriate" to ordain practicing homosexuals. The three million member Episcopal Church is the American branch of the 65 million-member Anglican Communion, which has its center in the Church of England.
The 34,000-word report has an attached 3,500-word document of critical observations.