Inclusive Church
We acknowledge that this is Good News for people regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation. We believe that, in order to strengthen the Gospel's proclamation of justice to the world, and for the greater glory of God, the Church's own common life must be justly ordered.
To that end, we call on our Church to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation.
An introduction to Inclusive Church
by Giles Goddard, Chair of inclusive Church
A lonely well.
It's a hot hot day; such scrubby trees as there are desperate for water, and the only sounds you can hear are the plaintive chirps of crickets and the harsh croak of hungry crows scavenging for anything they can find. The well is deserted and lonely, outside the town - the chatter and laughter of the early morning is long departed and the harsh oppressive stillness is unbroken.
The woman, when she arrives, is tired; even though her water jar is empty she can scarcely carry it and she dreads the long trudge back into the town. The eyes upon her as she walks up the street, the ostentatious turning away of the other women who affect to despise her. It's hell, really.
So when the man comes up to her and asks her for a cup of water, she can scarcely believe it. Her first instinct is to turn away - "what are you doing, a Jew, a man, talking to me, a Samaritan woman?” But he insists; persists; talks to her. Appears to know everything about her - that she's had six husbands and the man she lives with is not her husband. Recognises that the fact that she's there, alone, in the heat of the day, is because she's been ostracised by the people of the town. But persists in speaking to her - strangely, partly in riddles and partly in clear sentences - "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you "Give me a drink” you would have asked him, and would have given you living water”. She's perplexed; she's confused; but she's also excited.
Even when his disciples turn up, and upbraid him for speaking with a woman, he takes no notice. By this time she can hardly believe it; hardly contain herself. Suddenly she rushes back into the town. The people hardly recognise her - the downtrodden and sullen woman they're used to seeing has been transformed, and she rushes from person to person saying
"Come and see a man who told me everything I've ever done.” "Come and see a man who told me everything I've ever done.”
Our starting point
It all starts with the Gospel. It all starts with Jesus. That story - the woman at the well - is only one of dozens in the Gospels which bring outsiders in, which are ways in which the marginalised, the excluded, the oppressed, the unloved, the unwanted are brought into the Reign of God. Zaccheus the tax collector. Mary Magdalene. The rough fishermen. Matthew, another tax collector. Roman centurions. Slaves and servants. The sick. People with demons. Jeffrey John's recent book, the Meaning of the Miracles, goes through all the miracles one by one and shows how each one, each one, is designed to bring in those who are outside; to make manifest an inclusive gospel.
In the week of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Tom Stoppard, the playwright, said in The Observer "For me human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight year old”. To which I return a loud Amen; for me, for inclusive church, human rights are gospel values; and it is our aim, above all, to try to make those gospel values shine out in the life of the church; to allow Jesus' clarion call to be heard loud and clear throughout the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
We should not be here
Inclusive Church shouldn't, really, be necessary. We shouldn't have to discuss the things we're here to discuss this evening. But the church is a human institution and gets things wrong; and one of the things it's got wrong, over centuries, is the failure to break down the barriers to God's welcome which have been erected, over and over again - barriers based on external factors like gender, sexuality, ethnicity and poverty which in so many ways have made the church a club for white straight boys with everyone accepted, if they are accepted at all, on sufferance.
It's our fifth birthday this weekend. IC was formed in August 2003, following Jeffrey John's resignation as Bishop of Reading. The widespread anger about the way he was treated was focused in many ways, but one was a recognition that questions of sexuality had much in common with questions of gender and other forms of exclusion - and that something had to be done to make the connections clear.
Our Statement
Judith Maltby helped write an original statement which people were invited to sign up to on a web petition.
The statement reads -
We affirm that the Church's mission, in obedience to Holy Scripture, is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every generation.
We acknowledge that this is Good News for people regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation.
We believe that, in order to strengthen the Gospel's proclamation of justice to the world, and for the greater glory of God, the Church's own common life must be justly ordered.
To that end, we call on our Church to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation
Our Growth & Development
The response was immense and we soon reached nearly 10,000 signatories. On 15th September a small group of supporters met to consider this overwhelming response, and concluded that Inclusive Church was here to stay.
Over time IC has met and developed. We are now "...a network of individuals and organisations whose make-up reflects the breadth and scope of the Church of England and beyond. We come from differing traditions and differing locations but we are united in one aim: To celebrate and maintain the traditional inclusivity and diversity of the Anglican Communion" We work closely with a large number of organisations. The partnership work which has emerged over the past few years is very valuable - we work with, among others, the Association of Black Clergy, Women and the Church, the Group for the Rescinding of the Act of Synod, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Changing Attitude, Affirming Catholicism, the Society of Catholic Priests, Accepting Evangelicals, Courage, the Modern Churchpeople's Union, Progresssive Christianity Network and Integrity (US). We are also developing links with Greenbelt and welcome other partnerships.
Central to the Gospel
Our vision is this: that inclusion is central to the Gospel, and not an optional extra. To build a better church, and for Christianity to flourish, we need to rediscover a passionate commitment to the welcome which Jesus Christ offers to all people. Inclusive Church hopes to help the Church of England move into a place of wholeness, where all are welcomed into the transformative and redemptive love of God. We celebrate the Anglican way of reading the Gospel and teaching the message of Jesus - that all are welcome in the Reign of God, all are invited to the heavenly banquet. We acknowledge that we all fall short, and that God's love calls us all to be transformed; but we believe, beyond doubt, that God calls each person into the fullness of life for which they were created, and tired and shabby forms of exclusion that we are all familiar with have no place in God's church.
Three Quotes
People talk about what the Bible said, what Jesus did. So let me finish with three quotes, two from the Bible and one from Richard Burridge, the Dean of Kings who's just written a book called "Imitating Jesus”: "Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.” Isa 54.2
"Whenever we are presented with a choice between being biblical and being inclusive, it is a false dichotomy - for to be truly biblical is to be inclusive in any community which wants to follow and imitate Jesus.”
And finally, back to where we started - John 4.25 "Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything that I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
To that end, we call on our Church to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation.
An introduction to Inclusive Church
by Giles Goddard, Chair of inclusive Church
A lonely well.
It's a hot hot day; such scrubby trees as there are desperate for water, and the only sounds you can hear are the plaintive chirps of crickets and the harsh croak of hungry crows scavenging for anything they can find. The well is deserted and lonely, outside the town - the chatter and laughter of the early morning is long departed and the harsh oppressive stillness is unbroken.
The woman, when she arrives, is tired; even though her water jar is empty she can scarcely carry it and she dreads the long trudge back into the town. The eyes upon her as she walks up the street, the ostentatious turning away of the other women who affect to despise her. It's hell, really.
So when the man comes up to her and asks her for a cup of water, she can scarcely believe it. Her first instinct is to turn away - "what are you doing, a Jew, a man, talking to me, a Samaritan woman?” But he insists; persists; talks to her. Appears to know everything about her - that she's had six husbands and the man she lives with is not her husband. Recognises that the fact that she's there, alone, in the heat of the day, is because she's been ostracised by the people of the town. But persists in speaking to her - strangely, partly in riddles and partly in clear sentences - "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you "Give me a drink” you would have asked him, and would have given you living water”. She's perplexed; she's confused; but she's also excited.
Even when his disciples turn up, and upbraid him for speaking with a woman, he takes no notice. By this time she can hardly believe it; hardly contain herself. Suddenly she rushes back into the town. The people hardly recognise her - the downtrodden and sullen woman they're used to seeing has been transformed, and she rushes from person to person saying
"Come and see a man who told me everything I've ever done.” "Come and see a man who told me everything I've ever done.”
Our starting point
It all starts with the Gospel. It all starts with Jesus. That story - the woman at the well - is only one of dozens in the Gospels which bring outsiders in, which are ways in which the marginalised, the excluded, the oppressed, the unloved, the unwanted are brought into the Reign of God. Zaccheus the tax collector. Mary Magdalene. The rough fishermen. Matthew, another tax collector. Roman centurions. Slaves and servants. The sick. People with demons. Jeffrey John's recent book, the Meaning of the Miracles, goes through all the miracles one by one and shows how each one, each one, is designed to bring in those who are outside; to make manifest an inclusive gospel.
In the week of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Tom Stoppard, the playwright, said in The Observer "For me human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight year old”. To which I return a loud Amen; for me, for inclusive church, human rights are gospel values; and it is our aim, above all, to try to make those gospel values shine out in the life of the church; to allow Jesus' clarion call to be heard loud and clear throughout the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
We should not be here
Inclusive Church shouldn't, really, be necessary. We shouldn't have to discuss the things we're here to discuss this evening. But the church is a human institution and gets things wrong; and one of the things it's got wrong, over centuries, is the failure to break down the barriers to God's welcome which have been erected, over and over again - barriers based on external factors like gender, sexuality, ethnicity and poverty which in so many ways have made the church a club for white straight boys with everyone accepted, if they are accepted at all, on sufferance.
It's our fifth birthday this weekend. IC was formed in August 2003, following Jeffrey John's resignation as Bishop of Reading. The widespread anger about the way he was treated was focused in many ways, but one was a recognition that questions of sexuality had much in common with questions of gender and other forms of exclusion - and that something had to be done to make the connections clear.
Our Statement
Judith Maltby helped write an original statement which people were invited to sign up to on a web petition.
The statement reads -
We affirm that the Church's mission, in obedience to Holy Scripture, is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every generation.
We acknowledge that this is Good News for people regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation.
We believe that, in order to strengthen the Gospel's proclamation of justice to the world, and for the greater glory of God, the Church's own common life must be justly ordered.
To that end, we call on our Church to live out the promise of the Gospel; to celebrate the diverse gifts of all members of the body of Christ; and in the ordering of our common life to open the ministries of deacon, priest and bishop to those so called to serve by God, regardless of their sex, race or sexual orientation
Our Growth & Development
The response was immense and we soon reached nearly 10,000 signatories. On 15th September a small group of supporters met to consider this overwhelming response, and concluded that Inclusive Church was here to stay.
Over time IC has met and developed. We are now "...a network of individuals and organisations whose make-up reflects the breadth and scope of the Church of England and beyond. We come from differing traditions and differing locations but we are united in one aim: To celebrate and maintain the traditional inclusivity and diversity of the Anglican Communion" We work closely with a large number of organisations. The partnership work which has emerged over the past few years is very valuable - we work with, among others, the Association of Black Clergy, Women and the Church, the Group for the Rescinding of the Act of Synod, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Changing Attitude, Affirming Catholicism, the Society of Catholic Priests, Accepting Evangelicals, Courage, the Modern Churchpeople's Union, Progresssive Christianity Network and Integrity (US). We are also developing links with Greenbelt and welcome other partnerships.
Central to the Gospel
Our vision is this: that inclusion is central to the Gospel, and not an optional extra. To build a better church, and for Christianity to flourish, we need to rediscover a passionate commitment to the welcome which Jesus Christ offers to all people. Inclusive Church hopes to help the Church of England move into a place of wholeness, where all are welcomed into the transformative and redemptive love of God. We celebrate the Anglican way of reading the Gospel and teaching the message of Jesus - that all are welcome in the Reign of God, all are invited to the heavenly banquet. We acknowledge that we all fall short, and that God's love calls us all to be transformed; but we believe, beyond doubt, that God calls each person into the fullness of life for which they were created, and tired and shabby forms of exclusion that we are all familiar with have no place in God's church.
Three Quotes
People talk about what the Bible said, what Jesus did. So let me finish with three quotes, two from the Bible and one from Richard Burridge, the Dean of Kings who's just written a book called "Imitating Jesus”: "Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.” Isa 54.2
"Whenever we are presented with a choice between being biblical and being inclusive, it is a false dichotomy - for to be truly biblical is to be inclusive in any community which wants to follow and imitate Jesus.”
And finally, back to where we started - John 4.25 "Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything that I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”