[Home]  [Search]  [E-mail]

Diocese

I believe that the announcement of Canon Jeffrey John's withdrawal from his nomination to become Bishop of Reading is a sad day for the Church of England, a very sad day for the Oxford diocese and a tragedy for a superbly gifted priest and scholar. He has become the victim of appalling prejudice and abuse which has its main proponents within the Church of England and about whom the Church at large should be deeply penitent. The Church has to address the manner in which this relatively small group has sought to undermine the authority of the Archbishop and thereby the Church as a whole.

In early June, because he has a high doctrine of his duty to the Church, Canon Jeffrey John told me that he would withdraw if he was asked to withdraw. He would not voluntarily withdraw on his own initiative. However carefully phrased the official statements may be, I cannot believe that he has withdrawn in any other way.

He is absolutely vindicated in all that we have been saying about his honesty and integrity. He was asked to do the job and he said yes, now it would appear that he has been asked to withdraw and he has again said yes. What more powerful statement of the high doctrine of obedience that he holds towards the Archbishop could there be than this? It stands in stark contrast to the manifest campaign we have been witnessing for the past few weeks from those opposed to his appointment, clearly aimed at undermining the Archbishop's authority and who will be unlikely to stop at this because they will now be encouraged. Evil prospers when good people do nothing. The Archbishop needs all the support that he can get from open, honest and courageous Christians.

Our role now must be to make it as clear as possible to those of an open mind, and those who approach scripture with intelligence and understanding, that there ARE churches that welcome them, and will continue to do so. Southwark Cathedral will continue to be a place where the entire spectrum of God's people is welcome. I am sure there are many other churches where the news of Canon Jeffrey John's withdrawal will have been greeted as a devastating blow to their hopes for progress and inclusiveness. The sad irony is that we, at Southwark, will continue to benefit from Jeffrey John's ministry as our Canon Theologian when we would have lost him to the greater Church, I cannot say I am sorry that we will still have him because we value him enormously. His work as a theologian will continue unimpeded by the distractions and compromises of the episcopate.

Let us be clear the withdrawal of Canon John's nomination will not only hurt those who are gay. This news will hurt thousands of Christian people who are not gay but believe strongly in God's love and redemption for all his children equally. It is irrelevant to God's love whether people are male or female, slave or free, black or white, gay or heterosexual. We are addressing spiritual apartheid. In the peace marches earlier this year the slogan "Not in my name" was used to great effect. Let me say very clearly that this action is certainly not in my name and I am bound to say I find it very very hard to see how it can conceivably be seen to be in God's name.

Canon Jeffrey John has been subjected to a campaign of persecution, not by the press, but by a minority of Christians in this country who have used the press's natural interest to further their own agenda. They have also used the cultural gulf that exists between a few, not all, developing countries and western churches to call in reinforcements to blackmail the Anglican Communion with threats of schism because they know they do not actually have a clear mandate beyond their narrow congregations in this country. They make a noise out of all proportion to their size, use monetary wealth as a tool, and are being allowed to set the agenda in a manner which is deleterious to the Church at large.

It was the missionaries of the older churches who first took Christian faith to what we now call developing countries and encouraged their independence as churches and nations. What the Church has failed to do is maintain a continuing and adequate dialogue such that we have recently witnessed reactions from abroad which mirror the outlook of those nineteenth century missionaries and has never moved from there with the changes in our understanding that have come from biblical scholarship, psychology, sociology and simple straightforward experience. It is a cultural gulf more than a theological one, it is a matter which the Anglican Communion must face with honesty and courage because it will not go away. Jeffrey John's withdrawal only leaves a nastier and more difficult battle to be fought again one day whereas his consecration as a Bishop would have opened the door to a better and more profound understanding and would have presented a strong message of inclusiveness and redemption to many people who will now feel estranged once again.

I can only say that I ask people to pray for Jeffrey John, for the Archbishop as he seeks to establish his authority in the face of determined opposition and for those whose narrow view of salvation leaves many people outside who should be inside the Church.

AMEN.

Back to top of page