Dear Bishop Martyn;  Thank you for your thoughtful response to the Anglican Futures article,  “What Kind of Future Awaits the Faithful?”  I am writing to explain why I cannot  accept some aspects of your premise, and why I believe the only truly viable future for faithful Anglicans in the Church of England, is for a separate orthodox province, with its own episcopal structures for pastoral oversight, training and ordination, appointment and licensing of clergy in parishes, as well as clergy disciplinary procedures.

I am an ordained member of the Church of England. I have not left the Church of England, since I am retired, and to leave would not amount to much more than virtue signalling, and a pointless gesture.  I prefer to stay, and campaign from within for orthodoxy and the Faith once delivered to the saints.

There are a number of issues over which many Christians feel strongly, but not all  are First Order or Salvation issues.  I believe that same sex relationships are not a matter of adiaphora, but are a First Order Salvation issue.  The deeper issue of course, is that the acceptance of same sex relationships  contravenes  the straightforward othodox understanding of the meaning and authority of Scripture.  There are a number  of  Bible passages which deal with homosexual behaviour.  (Genesis 19:1-11;    Leviticus 18:22,   20:13;   R9mans 1:26,27;   1Corinthians 6:9,10;    1 Timothy 1:9,10;    Jude 1:7.)  Homosexual behaviour is condemned in all of them.  The 1 Corinthians passage asserts that those who practise homosexuality will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  If someone blesses  a a homosexual relationship, it involves saying effectively that God approves of that relationship, which Scripture says is not true. Furthermore,  if the relationship is not repented of, the couple involved are in danger of being excluded from the kingdom of heaven.

The apostle  Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:3,4  writes about the danger of accepting a ‘different gospel’   with a ‘different Jesus’. The Jesus of the Bible does not approve of homosexual relationships.

This is why I cannot accept that same sex blessing can be part of any Christian Church, because it compromises the very heart of the gospel message.  I do not accept that it is logically possible to live with this kind of plural truth, any more than it is possible to say that red can be green, or green red. Jesus said, let your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything else comes from evil.  Matthew 5:37.

I do not want to be at loggerheads with anyone.  Over the years I have had many friends who do not share my Christian faith, and I respect them all;  but that does not mean I should accept them as Christians in good standing.   If Christians withdraw from the world, how can we fulfil our Lord’s command to make disciples?  

Yours sincerely,   Brian Shersby