General Synod will not be taking up Elton John’s belief that if Jesus were alive today he would back gay marriage.
The Christological musings of pop singer Elton John are unlikely to influence the doctrines of the Church of England, delegates to the first day of the Church of England’s General Synod meeting in York learned.
Last month the flamboyant singer who has entered into a same-sex marriage under English civil law attacked the Church of England’s opposition to the innovation. Its strictures against gay weddings were “old and stupid things,” John said.
“If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was, and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen” the musician told Sky News on 29 June 2014. He added that “he was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about.”
In response to a question about John’s comments, the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt. Rev. Pete Broadbent – speaking on behalf of the House of Bishops of the General Synod – stated: “The House has no present plans to draw on the services of Sir Elton John as theological adviser.”
Whether Jesus was himself a “Christian person” or if he was “alive today” was not addressed in the Synod debate.
In a 30 June 2014 discussion of John’s comments on with BBC Radio Wales, Christian Concern’s Andrew Marsh lambasted the singer’s remarks “Sad to say, these are remarkably ignorant and staggeringly arrogant comments, presuming to dictate to Jesus Christ what he should think when the reality is He has spoken quite clearly on this subject.”
Christian Concerns views on the morality of homosexual practice are not universally upheld within the Church of England. The church has begun a process of dialogue over the topic of human sexuality, with activists predicting the church will come round to support gay blessings within six years.
