UNITED KINGDOM, February 23, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – An Anglican priest who is same-sex attracted but celibate says the Church of England needs to “demote” sexuality from the “be-all and end-all” status secular culture has given it.
Rev. Sam Allberry stood out last week from a parade of clergy who told the Church of England’s ruling Synod they did not believe marriage was just for heterosexual couples.
Allberry challenged the bishops to not only stand up for marriage formally but to defend it from the heart. “Do you really believe in it? Is it good news for the world?” he asked.
The Synod was considering a report that reaffirmed marriage as a sacramental union of a man and a woman, but also urged the church to explore ways to affirm same-sex relationships, even with special liturgies. The bishops and laity supported the report, but the “house” of clergy rejected it because it prevented those with same-sex attraction from fulfilling themselves.
Allberry told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview that the defeat of the report presented the Church with an opportunity to bring unity to a divided community.
“What I hope will happen is that we will become clear about what we stand for and act that out,” he said.
Allberry also believes the Church needs to take on the “Western secular narrative” and knock sexuality off its pedestal.
“Our culture says sexual feelings are virtually the be-all and end-all,” he said. “They are the absolute key to who you are and therefore you cannot hope to be fulfilling who you are unless your sexuality itself is fulfilled.”
The Christian Gospel teaches something very different, Allberry told LifeSite.
“It just demotes those sexual feelings to a less prominent place,” he said. “My sense of fulfillment is not dependent on those sexual feelings being fulfilled. There’s so much more to what makes life work than sexual feelings.”
This understanding plays a big part in the message, which Allberry and two other same-sex-attracted ministers preach to same-sex-attracted Christians in their three-year-old ministry called Living Out.
“The world would say that Christ’s teaching on this issue is constraining and unhealthy. We would say the words of Jesus are always life giving, not life taking. The Christian narrative teaches us we can still flourish in obedience to Jesus Christ whilst experiencing same-sex attraction” but without acting on it.
Allberry said Protestants need to recover the “notion of celibacy” as a vocation or calling that “our Catholic friends” have understood for many centuries.
Ed Shaw, one of Allberry’s companions in Living Out, states on the website that only the current generation treats celibacy as a cause “for giggles.” Protestant Britain had its version of a celibate vocation.
“Previous generations had different attitudes. … The single-minded bachelors that used to prop up most British institutions, the devoted spinsters who spent their lives caring for elderly relatives, used to be admired not pitied,” Shaw said.
Allberry said he had come under attack within the Church for his position. Particularly painful was “the accusation that a conservative-slash-non affirming position on gay sexuality is causing gay teenagers psychological harm and even suicidal thoughts. Obviously, it’s a line of reasoning that packs a hefty emotional punch,” he admitted. “Mental health issues among LGBT youth [are] a reality.”
Allberry said he had voted for the report. Nonetheless, he saw its defeat as a “chance to step back as a church and say, ‘Well, this is the teaching of the church and has been the belief of Christians right across the world down through history. We need to work out with clarity where we stand as a denomination.’ My desire is that we double down on what we believe as Anglicans. This is the traditional Christian ethic.”
Allberry noted that both liberals and many conservatives opposed the report. “They were saying the same thing. ‘We cannot reconcile these two different understandings of human sexuality.’” He added, “I don’t believe we should reconcile on this issue.”
Rather than attempt to let the two beliefs co-exist in the church as they do now, said Allberry, the bishops should affirm church teaching on sexuality and act with integrity by enforcing it. Those who cannot support that teaching should then act with integrity and leave.
Christian teaching on sexuality is “a doctrine which works on the ground and you don’t need to be embarrassed about it. We don’t need to be coy about it,” he said. “We can apply it and live in the light of it.”
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