Supplemented by newer liturgical compilations, the BCP remains the normative liturgy of the Church of England. It has been translated into over 150 languages. Its words have resonated through almost 450 years of English life and culture.
Amen, bishop. And the ‘normative liturgy of the Church of England’ is quite clear about the nature of the relationship between the director of Changing Attitude, Colin Coward, and his soon-to-be civil partner. The relationship is to be celebrated at a service of Holy Communion at the Wiltshire church where Mr Coward is licensed to officiate.
According to the BCP's order for Holy Communion, sin is not a trivial offence against a hypocritical, repressive and outdated moral code. It is, according to the Confession at Holy Communion, a profoundly serious matter. Our manifold sins and wickedness against Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Maker of all things, and the Judge of all men provoke most justly his wrath and indignation against us.
Does the BCP regard extramarital sex as sin? Its Solemnization of Matrimony gives a clear answer.
The service describes marriage between a man and a woman as
an honourable estate, instituted of God in the time of man's innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church.
One of the causes for which God ordained marriage was
for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ’s body.
However carefully worded the liturgy may be at the Eucharist celebrating the ‘friendship’ between Mr Coward and his civil partner to avoid any suggestion of a 'blessing', the parishioners of St John the Baptist, Devizes, can surely be in no doubt that an active homosexual relationship is being given spiritual recognition in a Church of England parish church.
Clergy entering civil partnerships are supposed to give an assurance that their relationship is celibate. According to BBC Wiltshire
Colin says he has no idea what the consequences might be should he tell the bishop (of Salisbury) he is no longer upholding his vow of celibacy.
It would of course completely negate the point of Changing Attitude if its director did give such an assurance.
The BCP’s unequivocal description of extramarital sex means that both those who attend the Eucharistic celebration of his relationship and those who refuse to condemn it are colluding in sin.
Anyone who identifies with the 'normative liturgy of the Church of England' should be in no doubt about the evil of celebrating in a parish church that which the Prayer Book calls sin at a service which it describes as a 'perpetual memory...until his coming again' of the Lord Jesus Christ’s
full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.
It is sad that so many (like +Buckingham, here)commend the wonderfulness of the BCP for its cultural value (a prayerbook is only really valuable if it is concerned, as the BCP is, with the Truth); thanks for adding a correct assessment, CC.
ReplyDeleteIt's also sad about Colin Coward, a nice man whom I used to meet occasionally, sad because of his having been sucked into what is surely a very bad situation. The Changing Attitude-kind of Christianity shows (what the militant atheists will assure us) that religion "is" a purely-human construct, in which all the beliefs and rules can simply be changed at will to fit anyone's desires, and reflect the values of the secular-materialist culture that rules us. Real Christianity is dead, in that kind of world. Very sad.
Thank you John for this helpful comment. Sad is the word. One can only pray in the words of 2 Timothy 3v9 that the 'folly of these false teachers will be plain to all'.
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