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Religious Left demands action from Justin Welby

Open letter of 19 Jan 2016 from progressive Church of England leaders calling for the archbishop to take action in support of gays and lesbians

The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby
Lambeth Palace
London SE1 7JU

January 19th 2016

Your Grace

We, as original signatories to the letter sent to you on January 7th 2016, wish to acknowledge and thank you for the personal apology that you made on behalf of the Church in Canterbury.

We recognise the significance of this statement coming as it does from you, especially at a time when tensions within the Anglican Communion are high.

We also wish to acknowledge the commitments that were announced in the Final Communique from the 2016 Primates Meeting, specifically where all the Primates within the Anglican Communion: “condemned homophobic prejudice and violence and resolved to work together to offer pastoral care and loving service irrespective of sexual orientation…The Primates reaffirmed their rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people.”

It of course will be of some comfort for LGBTI Christians to hear that the Primates recognise that: “..the Christian church and within it the Anglican Communion often acted in a way towards people on the basis of their sexual orientation that has caused deep hurt. Where this has happened they express their profound sorrow and affirm again God’s love for every human being is the same, regardless of their sexuality, and that the church should never by its actions give any other impression.”

These are significant and important words, which will engender hope that the Church might finally start to alter the way in which it conducts this debate. That said, we believe that words alone are not enough. Indeed, similar words were stated in Resolution 1.10 from the 1998 Lambeth Conference – for which we still await any meaningful action, particularly on any action towards decriminalisation.

You will therefore understand that we will want to hold the Primates to account for their commitments. We are deeply aware that words without action will undermine further the trust of our LGBTI brothers and sisters, and sadly cause yet more pain. We therefore urge you and your fellow Primates to remain true to your word and resolute in your determination to implement these statements swiftly.

With the assurance of our prayers,

Yours sincerely,

Anthony Archer, House of Laity, General Synod and Member-Elect, Dioceses Commission
Christina Baron, House of Laity, General Synod
Vicky Beeching, Theologian and LGBT Campaigner
The Revd Wyn Beynon, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd Mark Bonney, Dean of Ely
The Very Revd Mark Boyling, Dean of Carlisle
The Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exe
Susan Breen, House of Laity, General Synod
The Very Revd David Brindley, Dean of Portsmouth
The Revd Canon Simon Butler, Prolocutor for the Convocation of Canterbury
Tracey Byrne, Chief Executive, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
The Revd Bob Callaghan, National Co-ordinator, Inclusive Church
Prof Mark Chapman, Vice-Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon and House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Canon Chris Chivers, Principal, Westcott House, Cambridge
Imogen Clout, Warden of Readers, Diocese of Sheffield
The Venerable Gavin Collins, Archdeacon of the Meon and House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Julie Conalty, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, Dean of Newcastle
The Revd Canon Jeremy Davies, former Canon Precentor, Salisbury Cathedral
The Rt Revd Michael Doe, former Bishop of Swindon
The Very Revd Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield
The Revd Duncan Dormor, Dean of St John’s College, Cambridge
The Revd Andrew Dotchin, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd Dr Jonathan Draper, Dean of Exeter
Dr Martin Elcock, House of Laity, General Synod
The Rt Revd Dr Tim Ellis, former Bishop of Grantham, and Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Sheffield
The Revd Amanda Fairclough, House of Clergy, General Synod
Father Andrew Foreshew-Cain, House of Clergy, General Synod
Anne Foreman, House of Laity, General Synod and Elected Member, Business Committee
Philip French, House of Laity, General Synod
The Rt Revd David Gillett, former Bishop of Bolton and former Principal, Trinity College, Bristol
The Revd Canon Giles Goddard, Chair of Human Sexuality Group on General Synod
The Very Revd Nigel Godfrey, Dean of Man
The Revd Canon Andrew Godsall, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Timothy Goode, House of Clergy, General Synod
Lucy Gorman, Chair of Changing Attitude and House of Laity, General Synod
The Venerable Martin Gorick, Archdeacon of Oxford
The Revd Kevin Goss, House of Clergy, General Synod
Carolyn Graham, House of Laity, General Synod
The Rt Revd Dr Laurie Green, former Bishop of Bradwell
Jay Greene, House of Laity, General Synod
The Very Revd Diana Gwilliams, Dean of Guildford and Chair of Inclusive Church
Canon Malcolm Halliday, House of Laity, General Synod
Canon Robert Hammond, Convenor, Affirming Catholics in General Synod
The Revd Canon Rosie Harper, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd Nicholas Henshall, Dean of Chelmsford
Savi Hensman, Chair, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
Tim Hind, former Vice-Chair, House of Laity, General Synod
Canon Jenny Humphreys, House of Laity, General Synod
The Very Revd Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s and House of Clergy, General Synod
The Venerable Alan Jeans, Archdeacon of Sarum and House of Clergy, General Synod
Dr Rachel Jepson, House of Laity, General Synod
The Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans
The Revd Canon Joyce Jones, House of Clergy and Elected Member, Business Committee, General Synod
The Revd Canon Peter Leonard, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford
The Revd Jonathan MacNeaney, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Canon Dr Judith Maltby, Corpus Christi College, Oxford and House of Clergy, General Synod
Izzy McDonald-Booth, House of Laity, General Synod
The Revd Canon Maggie McLean, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Canon Richard Mitchell, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd David Monteith, Dean of Leicester
The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris, Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
The Revd Chris Newlands, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Venerable David Newman, Archdeacon of Loughborough
The Very Revd Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark and House of Clergy, General Synod
The Revd Bertrand Olivier, House of Clergy, General Synod
Jayne Ozanne, House of Laity, General Synod
The Venerable Ricky Panter, Archdeacon of Liverpool
The Revd Canon Jeremy Pemberton, Senior Chaplain, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
The Revd Canon Mark Pilgrim, House of Clergy, General Synod
Professor Muriel Robinson, House of Laity, General Synod
Simon Sarmiento, Chair, LGBTI Anglican Coalition
Martin Sewell, House of Laity, General Synod
The Rt Revd Humphrey Southern, Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon
The Revd Kate Stacey, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Rt Revd David Stancliffe, former Bishop of Salisbury
The Venerable Dr Tim Stratford, Archdeacon of Leicester
The Hon. Laura Sykes, Convenor, Lay Anglicana
The Revd Simon Talbott, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Very Revd Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford
Jeremy Timm, National Co-ordinator, Changing Attitude
The Revd Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, House of Clergy, General Synod
The Rt Revd Dr Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham
Professor Linda Woodhead, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University

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