AN OPEN LETTER TO CANON JEFFREY JOHN
FROM MEMBERS OF THE MODERN CHURCHPEOPLE'S UNION
GATHERED FOR THEIR ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT
HIGH LEIGH CONFERENCE CENTRE, 15 - 18th July 2003
Dear Jeffrey,
We write to assure you of our love and prayers at this time. The hurt which has been caused to you and those closest to you in connection with your appointment to the See of Reading would be unacceptable in any civilised society, but in the life of the Christian Church it is shameful and without excuse.
We do not think it would be helpful to comment on the details of the process which led to your withdrawal from this appointment. We simply do not know the nature and extent of the pressures to which you were subject, and by whom. But this leads us to stress as a matter of urgency that the Church of England should conduct an enquiry into these events in the interests of truth and transparency, and for the avoidance of such damaging eventualities in the future. We believe that trust has been undermined within and between the various agencies which comprise our Church. Only a thorough, honest and open enquiry can rebuild trust on the basis of fact rather than fantasy, mutual respect rather than mutual recrimination.
Meanwhile, we cannot remain silent in relation to the upsurge of crude and cruel homophobia which has surfaced to an alarming extent following your appointment. Much of this has originated in non-Church contexts, and serves to underline how important it is for us to proclaim the Gospel of God's inclusive love and generous grace, in a society where ignorance, fear and ill-informed bigotry discredit and diminish us all. But far too much of it emanated from within the Church itself, and we must now acknowledge and confront the homophobia which corrupts our common life and compromises the Gospel we seek to share.
We know how much pain you have personally experienced as a result of such abuse and rejection, and we salute your dignity and graciousness which is an example to us all. We believe you would want us to play our part in redeeming the pain of your ordeal, by exposing unacceptable manifestations of homophobia in our midst, whilst remaining committed to dialogue with those whose contrary views are expressed with charity and a genuine search for truth.
By no means least, we have come to value and respect your theological integrity and teaching over the years. So you will share our dismay and alarm at the lack of theological rigour which has characterised the arguments of those who have challenged your appointment. Such shallowness and incoherence leads us to suspect pathological prejudice thinly disguised as theological principle. We have experienced the Bible we love and cherish as the living word of God, being reduced to the dead letter of fundamentalist obscurantism. We have heard the views of Anglicans in other Provinces being privileged and promoted in ways which are both patronising and intellectually dishonest. As the Modern Churchpeople's Union heeds Archbishop Rowan's request for a time to reflect on all that has happened, our reflections as a learnéd society will be particularly focused on the contribution liberal Christianity must make to realising our vision for an inclusive and Christ-like community of faith.
This letter comes to you from our Annual Conference at High Leigh entitled Globalising God. We are seeking to lift our eyes above and beyond issues of sex and sexuality, to those far more fundamental challenges which confront our world with all its rich diversity and poverty of spirit. But we know that within this global concern there are more local cares and conflicts which threaten that fullness of life which Jesus wills, and for which He prayed. Our right and proper care for homosexual people within the life of the Church, and the flourishing of their discipleship and ministry, is vitally important at this time and we commit to standing with you and them in a spirit of service and solidarity, now and in the future.
May you be richly blessed by God in the life and work which lies ahead of you; may the people of the Reading Area receive a Bishop equal to the gifts you so looked forward to sharing with them; and may the Church of God be strengthened in the ways of faith, hope and love - and re-discover that the greatest of them all is love.