The University of Kent is an organisation that is proud of its progressive values, philosophy and record of diversity and inclusion. We are committed to the creation and support of a balanced, inclusive and diverse community.
We welcome – whether as staff, students, stakeholders or visitors – people of all backgrounds, orientations and communities. Welcome and inclusion are key to who we are. We also place great value on diversity of opinion, open, respectful debate, recognition of difference, and the central role of constructive engagement and dialogue. These, we believe, are all essential to progress in a democratic society.
The University has become aware that proposals relating to the Lambeth Conference 2020, which is due to be held at the University, raises serious issues at the heart of these values.
The Lambeth Conference is, of course, a remarkable event and has been held at the University since 1978. When the organisers of the Lambeth Conference 2020 came to the University seeking to work with us again, we were happy to engage. Bringing this gathering of spiritual leaders, from across the globe, to meet, celebrate, debate, learn and reflect, supports our vision of the kind of welcoming, inclusive, civic university we stand for and formal agreement relating to the use of University facilities was reached in August 2018.
It subsequently came to the University’s attention that, on 15 February 2019, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion made a public announcement on the Anglican Communion News Service website ‘that it would be inappropriate for same sex spouses to be invited to the conference’.
The University was concerned by this announcement, as it does not accord with our values, and determined it would seek further information and discuss the issue at its next meeting of University Council, the University’s governing body. The University has since received a large number of concerns raised by staff, students, and members of the public, about hosting the conference. While we currently understand that the Lambeth Conference may be permitted by law to rely on exemption under the Equality Act 2010 for religious organisations, we also believe there are significant ethical concerns raised. These were discussed at the meeting of University Council on 22 March 2019.
Council members were clear that exclusion of same sex spouses, on grounds of orientation, would be contrary to the values of the University. Council determined that the University shall ensure that accommodation will be available on campus for those spouses affected by this decision who wish to be in Canterbury with their partners during the conference period. The University welcomes them and affirms its belief in, and commitment to, diversity and inclusivity.
The Council also agreed that Sir David Warren, Chair of Council, and Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Kent, would seek to meet with the Lambeth Conference organisers and the Archbishop of Canterbury, to bring Council’s concerns to their attention and discuss the issues.
Sir David Warren, Chair of Council, University of Kent
Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Kent
Just sayin’:
>>Here is my prediction. Canterbury will not revoke the ban on the same-sex spouses, even while expressing deep sympathy for their plight. The bishops of the Episcopal Church and their celebrity Presiding Bishop will all show up in force. The disaffected spouses will come to Canterbury and will become the focus of much media buzz. And here I’m not sure – but I do not see how anyone can prevent the spouses from occupying the dormitories at the University of Kent, which is a weird labyrinth of rooms to begin with, like something out of The Name of the Rose.<<
If that did happen it might serve to hasten the death of the Christian Church of England and ‘a coming out’ of the Church of All Notions..
I think you are correct, Dr. Noll. But there is another difficulty this raises for the ABoC and his highly paid conference organizers….
With over a year to organize mass demonstrations, the over the top British media having found a new Crusade, and the CoE progressives already spewing racist hatred against GS bishops- the Conference will need to be virtually an armed camp of security personnel, just to prevent disruption of activities, and provide a safe environment for any Global South bishop who does attend- or for that matter, for Welby himself, and for John Sentamu, Michael Curry and other non-white bishops who might be mistaken for GS bishops at a distance? And how will Welby prevent the police (who will be on the premises in some force, one imagines) from arresting GS bishops for “homophobic” remarks when quoting Scripture?
And how much worse will this get once the British press figures out that most provinces have no women bishops, and several still maintain the Church’s traditional stance on ordination and have no women priests?
And that assumes that the folks writing to their MP are unsuccessful in the effort to have visas denied to “homophobes” invited to the conference.
This is what “good disagreement” looks like. If this conference happens at all, it will be the last Lambeth Conference held on English soil. The very presence of Global South bishops is seen as anathema by whoever this elite is that control the media and government. If nothing else is clear, it is unquestionably evident that the vast majority of Anglicans are not welcome to set foot on English soil, and that they can expect nothing but hatred, threats, and insult if they attend,
Essentially, the University is providing a way for the spouses to be there while +Canterbury pretends they’re not. The whole conference is a charade which believers should avoid.
The sad thing is that these British Isles having been so greatly blessed by the adoption of Christianity and came to a place where not only were we able to apply its values to our own nation, but as the Empire grew we went out and sought to share it with the rest of the world.
Now we see the nations who gladly embraced the Gospel story dismayed to see that the ‘mother Church of Anglicanism’ has wandered far away from her calling, and is embracing values that Scripture warned us against..
The best thing these Global South bishops could do is join with the conservative evangelical Christians remaining within the Northern Anglican community, and arrange a conference of their own..
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”, second Corinthians six, seventeen..
The conference you speak of is called the Global Anglican Future Conference. It took place most recently in 2018, which was in all likelihood a major factor in Welby’s decision to postpone the 2018 Lambeth Conference for 2 years, not wanting to compete. Of course, Lambeth Palace denies that had anything to do with the postponement.
Yes indeed, thank you for that.
I am well aware that there are godly members of Anglican clergy who struggle with what is going on in the cofE.
Whether for reasons of affection or loyalty, or economic obligations, they remain within the community.
I know some. I know their sense of calling and I respect them and their ministries. My prayer is that GafCon will go from strength to strength under our Lord’s anointing, and perhaps will provide active leadership not just for Anglicans but for other groups within the Body of Christ.
Amazing! Politically correct university of Kent calls out politically correct Archbishop of Canterbury over act of discrimination against same sex spouses..
It’s all going horribly wrong.
Horribly wrong..
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death”
Proverbs 14:12
The irony here is that Welby’s position actually has nothing to do with Gafcon or the Global South, it is rather a matter of requiring that all bishops in attendance adhere to the doctrine (the formal doctrine, not the real one) of the Church of England for the period of the conference. According to the CoE, it has no clergy (much less bishops) in relationships other than heterosexual marriage or celibacy. So, in CoE, there are “no” practicing homosexual clergy, although some might self proclaim as “oriented” that way. No gay marriage, supposedly everyone has assured their bishop that any civil partnership or other arrangement, homosexual or heterosexual, other than traditional Christian marriage, is celibate.
Therefore, Welby is being quite liberal by inviting gay bishops who are in gay marriages, but it is the doctrine of the CoE, not some demand of GS bishops, that led him to this rather bizarre situation.
By virtue of his own past ambiguities, poor Justin is in the unfortunate position of being forced to engage in a horribly public performance of a gymnastic feat known as ‘The Canterbury Splits.’ All bets are off, but the word is that a special unit at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital has been placed on standby for the period of the Lambeth Conference in 2020. A spokesman said that ‘this kind of gymnastic manoeuvre can be excruciatingly painful; we strongly advise against it.’
If the Archbishop simply said that not only the spouses but the spouses of the spouses, if indeed that use of the word spouse is espousing true biblical belief, would be not invited, true consistency would be safeguarded.
If it is a fact that the University of Kent is not doing the inviting, it is none of the university’s business.
But it is, if the Church of England leadership appears to espouse liberal values on matters sexual rather than matters moral.
If the Church of England is an “Equal Opportunities” employer -which it is.
And works with Stonewall in formulating its sex education for little children (you know, the ones that Jesus cared about),
Which it does.
So it seems to me that the University is quite right to point out the inconsistency..