The True Wilderness: Harry Williams’ guide to living from within the depth of experience

The True Wilderness: Harry Williams’ guide to living from within the depth of experience

I have been re-reading Harry Williams’ The True Wilderness, first published in 1965. My heart and soul yearn for the wisdom of priests, teachers and preachers who describe Christianity from the depth, wisdom and truth I am finding again in Harry Williams. He decided that what he proposed to say had to come from the depth of his own experience. He concluded that we must look for God in what we are, in the whole kaleidoscope of our personal experience. Our real enemies are inside us, he says. The enemy that we habitually obey, that tells us we must conform to other people’s expectations and the modes of living approved by the Church rather than claiming our freedom to live and love according to our heart and soul’s longing and desire. As for me, I’ve had enough avoidance of reality for LGBTIQ+ people in the Church of England, enough of the House of Bishops’ avoidance of my reality and experience as a gay man, enough of suppressing the energy and love of the divine presence within me. Welcome 2022, as a year of campaigning vigour unfolds.

Abuse of LGBTIQ+ people in Ghana and Living in Love and Faith

Abuse of LGBTIQ+ people in Ghana and Living in Love and Faith

In To Heal and Not to Hurt Rosie Harper describes the God formulated by contemporary teachings as “a tiny, religious, defensive God.” She thinks the Church of England’s weak response to survivors exposes two crucial fault lines. The first is the paucity of the vision of God. The second is behaviour that implies their faith is no faith at all. The church responds without love, care, and reparation to the very people it has itself harmed. This is serious and potentially fatal. It seems that the faith is not true. Christianity doesn’t change lives when loving God does not result in loving your neighbour.

Time to confront the crisis of a decadent Christianity

Time to confront the crisis of a decadent Christianity

In an article in last Saturday’s Guardian, Ben Okri describes how he has found it necessary to develop an attitude that he refers to as existential creativity. Okri believes we have to be strong dreamers asking unthinkable questions. Our whys ought to go to the core of what we are. Then we ought to set about remaking ourselves. The Archbishops of the Church of England claim to believe a radical (brave) new Christian inclusion is called for. For this to become a reality we, too, need to be strong dreamers asking unthinkable questions going to the core of what and who we are as people of God, called to set about remaking ourselves in the image of Jesus the Christ.

CA England call for appointment of six members of LGBTIQ+ community to the House of Bishops

CA England call for appointment of six members of LGBTIQ+ community to the House of Bishops

In a letter to the Next Steps Group Changing Attitude England proposes that as soon as possible, in order to allow a truly radically inclusive discussion of the LLF process, its outcome and its next steps, six members of the LGBTQIA+ community should be appointed to the House of Bishops and to the Next Steps Group.

The abusive toxic culture produced by the evangelical doctrine of penal substitution

The abusive toxic culture produced by the evangelical doctrine of penal substitution

The Iwerne Trust produced many of the most prominent Evangelical Christian leaders, people associated with Reformed theology in the Church of England over the past 40 years. At the heart of the Iwerne philosophy was a brand of wholehearted, sacrificial, masculine Christianity maintained by a detailed programme of supervision. Its origins lie in the toxic culture created by the founder of the Iwerne network, Eric Nash. John Smyth’s regime of abuse continues to affect the culture of today’s Church of England. The powerful theology and culture of the movement is being leveraged in contemporary debates on gender and sexuality. It is abusive.

Living in Love and Faith in crisis: the latest manifestation of abuse in the Church

Living in Love and Faith in crisis: the latest manifestation of abuse in the Church

Changing Attitude England believes a moment of crisis has been reached in the sixty year period in which the Church of England has been addressing homosexuality, lesbian and gay sexuality, trans issues and LGBTIQ+ issues. The Church is confronted with a moment when it is either able to engage fully with the presence of LGBTIQ+ people and create a healthy environment in which we are treated as adults and equals or it is unable to do so and continues to abuse us.

Living in Love and Faith: A Guide for Members of General Synod

Living in Love and Faith: A Guide for Members of General Synod

The Living in Love and Faith process has evolved from the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution 1.10 that committed the church “to listen to the experience of homosexual persons”, via, in July 2011, the House of Bishops review of its 2005 Pastoral Statement on civil partnerships. From this they set up a Working Group on Human Sexuality chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling resulting in the ‘Pilling Report’ that proposed the Shared Conversations. The outcome of 23 years of an evolving process is a report to General Synod that is no longer focused on listening to us, or on civil partnerships, or even on a radical new Christian inclusion for LGBTIQ+ people, but listening to our lament, fear and pain. Changing Attitude is determined to ensure they hear our anger, frustration, and determination to achieve justice and equality for LGBTIQ+ people within God’s unconditional love manifest in Jesus the Christ.

The inability to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy Christianity

The inability to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy Christianity

We are all implicated in the systemic abuse of people within the Church of England because we, the Church, have become infected to a greater or lesser degree by our inability to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy ideas about God, healthy and unhealthy theologies, healthy and unhealthy readings of the Bible, healthy and unhealthy practices and teachings. The Church will not begin to overcome the effects of this unhealthy, abusive culture until it is able to examine with clarity exactly what is healthy and unhealthy in today’s Christian teaching and practice.

Purposeful Sexuality – naive, dangerous ideas about LGBTIQ+ and straight identities

Purposeful Sexuality – naive, dangerous ideas about LGBTIQ+ and straight identities

Ed Shaw, a church pastor in Bristol, part of the team of the Living Out group, and a member of Living in Love and Faith Pastoral Advisory Group has recently published Purposeful Sexuality. Ed’s ideas about LGBTIQ+ people as revealed in his book demonstrate the theology and experience of people who have internalised a punitive version of God found in salvation theology. Ed is just one among thousands of people in the Church of England who either share his theology or are intimidated into accepting this false, dangerous theology by powerful conservative networks in the Church. The LLF book and course would not be necessary but for their deep influence within the Church of England, in the hierarchy and in every diocese.

Radical New Christian Inclusion - Changing Attitude England writes to the Bishop of London

Radical New Christian Inclusion - Changing Attitude England writes to the Bishop of London

Changing Attitude England has written to the Bishop of London, chair of the LLF Next Steps Group, copied to the Archbishops and each member of the Next Steps Group, replying to a letter received from her on 26 August. We pose three questions at the end of our letter. Firstly, exactly how will the final discernment and decision making process be made totally “transparent”, a commitment made to the House and College of Bishops? Secondly, given that bishop Sarah says that “Transformation ... requires a more dialogical, inclusive approach that enables people to assimilate, process and articulate ideas and convictions for themselves,” referencing Alex Clare-Young’s paper and blog about the importance of dialogical and not monological process, how will the Archbishops, the Next Steps Group and Dr Eeva John achieve this? Thirdly, we ask again the Archbishops and every member of the Next Steps Group to set out their understanding of what radical Christian inclusion is for LGBTIQ+ people.