Church of England leaders urged to “repent” their treatment of gays

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have been urged to “repent” the Church of England’s discriminatory treatment of gay and lesbian members, in an open letter sent to them ahead of the Anglican Communion.

Addressed to the Rt Hon and Most Revd Justin Welby and the Rt Hon and Most Revd Dr John Sentamu, the letter has been supported by over 100 signatories from senior Anglicans, and calls for the Church to acknowledge a failure in their “duty of care to LGBTI members of the Body of Christ around the world”.

“We have not loved them as we should, and have treated them as a problem to be solved rather than as brothers and sisters in Christ to be embraced and celebrated,” it read.

“We have made them feel second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God, often abandoned and alone.”

The letter asks for the Archbishops to repent their acceptance and promotion of “discrimination on the grounds of sexuality” and “for the pain and rejection that this has caused”.

“We, the Church, need to apologise for our part in perpetuating rather than challenging ill-informed beliefs about LGBTI people, such as the slanderous view that homosexuals have a predisposition to prey on the young,” it continued.

While the letter added that Church Primates came from a variety of contexts, and from “differing ways of interpreting the Scriptures”, it also urged “prophetic” action and “Christ-like love” for “LGBTI sisters and brothers who have been ignored” and “vilified for too long”.

The BBC reports the Church of England has acknowledged the letter would be discussed during the week-long Anglican Communion, to be held in Canterbury and attended by 38 Primates from across the world.

Former director of the Accepting Evangelicals group Jayne Ozanne, who organised the letter, told the BBC a “line had been reached”.

“It was time to stand tall and actually call the Church back to its roots to reminding them about the fact that we are there to welcome and serve all,” she said.

“We have not treated the gay community as equal members. We’ve actually vilified them.”

The former Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, told the BBC he disagreed that there could be “different interpretations of scripture”.

“The Bible is clear on many things, including its teaching on human sexuality and the Church has upheld that teaching for 2,000 years,” he said.