Church of England Newspaper Issue 5714 23 April 2004

Editorial: The appointment of Dr Jeffrey John

And so, as expected, Canon Jeffrey John has won promotion. His appointment as Dean of St Albans has been secured by Downing Street, thus relieving Church authorities of direct responsibility in the decision, although of course it is not as straightforward as that. Dr John, being in a celibate relationship, conforms to the Church’s teaching on same-sex relationships, even if that still causes concern to many.

Observers, including those outside the Church of England, see those concerns as out-of-date and even homophobic. God’s message of grace and forgiveness is not only for ‘straight’ people, but many traditionalists will fear that change is being promoted surreptitiously.

After Jeffrey John was forced to stand down from becoming Bishop of Reading, it was inevitable that the liberals would try to gain an iconic victory. Moving him from one cathedral to another is not as divisive as appointing him bishop, but the timing of the appointment is therefore significant and irresponsible.

The Eames Commission is not due to deliver its findings until much later in the year, and tensions are running high throughout the Communion. The fact that this appointment was made by Downing Street does not alter the Church’s teaching, and neither should it.

But the Church must be careful in the message that it sends out to both gay people and to its more traditionally minded members. To gay people the message is that they are, of course, welcome in the household of God. But centuries of teaching on morality cannot be easily discarded. Traditionalists are not therefore homophobic: they believe that the revelation of God is relevant for all people and it cannot be overturned either by politicians or by revisionist church leaders. The views of some may indeed by homophobic, but for most sensible thinking traditionalists it is a question of fidelity to the historic teaching of the faith, which is shared by all the Abrahamic religions. If there is to be a change in that teaching there will need to be rather more convincing arguments than we have heard hitherto.

But those traditionalists also have to be careful about how their views are perceived. In the current atmosphere there is little understanding of their perspective, and it is not one shared by any of the major political parties. Evading accusations of homophobia is an uphill challenge that will require the debate to be carried out in a measured and sympathetic way as this is an issue that is more than academic: it involves real people who can view our lack of grace as a reflection on the Good News of the Gospel.