Weeping for leadership

Sir, I could weep for the leadership in the Anglican Church. How can they be so naive as to expect us to believe that bishops - or anyone else - in civil partnerships will be celibate? The whole purpose of civil partnerships was to provide legitimacy for lesbian and gay relationships that were non-celibate. If this goes ahead, it will not be long before openly practising gay bishops will be appointed. And before anyone denies this, how short a time ago was it that nobody believed bishops in civil partnerships would ever be countenanced?

When are more Christians going to put their heads above the parapet and say unequivocally that Biblical teaching, both Old and New Testament, is that sexual relationships outwith heterosexual marriage, no matter what kind they are, are plainly wrong?

No amount of casuistry can change the fact that God created man and woman; that men’s bodies were not designed for anything other than relationships with women (and that acting otherwise seriously endangers health); and that lesbians and gays are not special cases but part of the whole fallen human race, all of whom face their own temptations to live otherwise than God has ordained but who, by God’s grace, can overcome through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

I believe a lot of our problems stem from the lack of knowledge of the Bible that former generations had, and a lack of a disciplined devotional life that draws daily strength from God to live according to his unchanging Word. This opens the way for a weakened church that is swayed by the culture instead of being counter-cultural, as the early church was in days when homosexuality was just as rampant as it is today. The early church was known for its purity in moral matters. Today, I’m afraid, there is very little difference between it and a godless world. May God help us to repent and start living holy lives, as he commanded. Mrs S Wilson, Tandragee, Co Armagh