Woke church incurs wrath of the faithful with LGBT altar flag
People wept in the pews when they saw it, says warden as CofE court gets set to rule on Pride display
ST NICHOLAS Church in Leicester is so steeped in history that a chunk of 1,900-year-old Roman wall still adjoins its churchyard. But the 4th-century Saxon church, which is among the 10 oldest in Britain, now features a very modern addition.
A rainbow Pride flag on the altar has triggered the first court battle of its kind within the so-called “church of woke”.
The institution says the LGBTthemed altar is a “profound invitation” for those excluded by the escalating row in the Church of England over sexuality, marriage and gender.
But hundreds of churchgoers within and beyond the diocese of Leicester and even clergy are trying to block it, with objection letters saying it “will bring the church into disrepute” and “close the door” to worshippers.
The showdown is now in the church court, in a landmark test case that campaigners argue will “open the floodgates” to political insignia on altars throughout the Church of England if St Nicholas prevails.
The row began in September, when St Nicholas announced that the Pride flags it hung from the altar at weekend services were replaced with “something a little more permanent” – a huge “Progress Pride flag” made of fabric.
It was gifted by a congregation member at the nearby All Saints with Holy Trinity church in Loughborough, which rewrote a Christmas carol to be inclusive.
“People were actually weeping in the pews when they saw it,” Jay Hulme, a transgender poet and St Nicholas churchwarden, said. In October, the church was forced to take the Pride altar frontal down and apply for the planning permission – known as a faculty – that it should have sought initially. With hundreds of protests flooding in from churches, it has been sent to the consistory court, the CofE’s ruling body, where the chancellor of the diocese will rule imminently on whether the Pride altar can stay.
Sam Margrave, a member of the General Synod, the CofE’s governing council who has led the campaign, fears an “infiltration” in the church of “moral anarchy, where they’re tearing down biological sex and the idea of monogamous marriage”.
“My main concern is about how our pulpit and our altar table has been hijacked by political activists – instead of preaching the gospel they’ve turned it into a church of woke,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
“People come to church to get away from the culture wars and find sanctuary. I want to welcome the gay and lesbian community but there are better ways to do it. I hope that the court will make the right decision. If the chancellor were to rule and set a precedent, then it would open the floodgates.”
He lodged an official objection as part of a 28-day consultation of interested parties by the diocese – represented by Stone King chambers – which closed last week.
Ian Paul, another Synod member who sits on the powerful Archbishops’ Council, also objected. He told The Telegraph: “The Communion table is the place where we gather together to meet with God, remember Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.
“This is not a place for political protest. It is no more appropriate than putting up the flag of a political party – and with the Progress flag, it is gender ideology. Worse than that, this flag is a sign of exclusion.”
The altar is deemed to be the most sacred part of the church where the Eucharist is consecrated and the custom is for it to be adorned with white sheets normally, or green, purple, gold or red sheets on occasions.
For St Nicholas’ part, Karen Rooms, the priest, has said that the Pride altar “is about pastoral care and a simple statement of welcome and safety”.