Sermon preached by John Ashe at St Peter & Paul, Godalming 17/8/08

Acts 10: 9 – 16 Matthew 7: 1 - 5

Lessons from Lambeth and General Synod – Law or Love?

It has been an historic summer in the life of the C of E. The 10-yearly Lambeth Conference was immediately preceded by the General Synod, the C of E's governing body.

A number of people have asked me what difference it will all make – and so, at the risk of boring those who just wish we could be left to get on with our own lives, let me offer a few reflections.

The crucial vote at the General Synod was on the question of women bishops. The decision to have women bishops had already been taken sometime ago; what was at stake in July was how we would make provision for those who, in conscience, could not accept the ministry of a female bishop.

Their understanding of God's wishes for the church leads them to believe that only men can be priests. I know that, for the majority of you, that is hard to understand; we have enjoyed the ministry of women priests in this parish from the very first day that women were ordained in 1994 and it is hard to imagine anything else. But over the past 14 years, many around the country have not changed their view and so, while they accept that we will have women bishops, they believe that to be wrong. They want to be able to stay in the C of E by the church providing alternative male bishops whenever anyone asks for one. For example, a diocese with a female bishop would find a male bishop to conduct a confirmation service in any parish which requested it.

The question being debated was whether that provision should be enshrined in church legislation (and because we are the Established Church, our own church laws have the same binding effect as do our state laws; indeed, they have to be approved by parliament and receive the Royal Assent).

Should those who disagree be given legal protection from women bishops? Or should we rather have a simpler code of practice? – guidelines, rather than laws, to hold us together as a family.

In other words, do we want LAW or LOVE?

The Synod voted for LOVE – in the form of a code of practice.

However, as you will no doubt be aware, not everyone interpreted the decision as a vote for love! For some, it was just the opposite - a rejection of those who do not want women bishops and tantamount to saying, "We don't want you in the Church of England – go and find another church where you will be more comfortable." As someone present and voting at General Synod, I don't believe that was what was being said at all.

I think three things were being affirmed . . .

One was, yes, a clear statement that we still want it to be possible for women to be bishops.

Second was an affirmation of the breadth of the C of E. We don't all have to believe the same about everything; there is room for disagreement and we want to do all we can to include people of different persuasions. So the last thing we were saying to those who can't accept women as bishops – was "Go away!"

But the third clear message was that, having decided that it is good to have women bishops, we don't want to then say that, even though we have women bishops, they are a different sort of bishop. It is very hard to change our rules to say, on the one hand, your diocesan bishop can be female - but then, in the same rule, say that, if you don't like it, then you can ignore her and we'll find you a man! To do so would be to build discrimination into our laws and create two kinds of bishop. The C of E is currently given exemption from the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act and the majority of the General Synod believes that the time has come to remove such discrimination from our church laws, while at the same time recognising that for a significant minority of our brother and sister Christians, this is a very hard step to take.

This question of whether we should have firmer rules to protect traditionalists from new ways of interpreting the Bible was also an issue at the Lambeth Conference. This time the issue was homosexuality rather than women bishops.

Nearly a quarter of the bishops from around the world refused to attend. Instead they went to Jerusalem for a different conference where they called for firmness, asking for a Covenant to bind us together. But, many feel that a firmly written Covenant will only serve to shut out people who can't sign up to it – and, inevitably, lead to arguments about what the words in the Covenant actually mean.

Historically, the Lambeth Conference was never a decision-making body, but rather an opportunity for bishops – spread thinly all over the world – to come together for mutual support and discussion. This year, it re-discovered that purpose and passed no resolutions approving anything, or condemning anything. I believe we should be very grateful for that.

Let me offer two quotes from Lambeth and one from closer to home:-

The first from the Bishop of Amritsar, North India:-

"I came to Lambeth with many questions in my mind about the issue of human sexuality Coming from a conservative back-ground I was not even prepared to listen to any person who supported gay and lesbian people. However, Lambeth has changed my opinion. After listening to the stories of bishops from different cultural contexts I have become aware of the pain and agony people have to bear because of our attitude towards each other. The binding force in a family is love. If we love one another we learn to transcend our differences This is possible only when we are willing to listen to each other. As for me I have decided not to be hasty in judging gay and lesbian people. I wish to learn more about their life and problems. I have also decided to pray regularly for them. I wish to encourage the other members of the Anglican Communion to do the same."

And from a bishop from the Sudan:-

"We came seeking legislation and we leave realising that we have to trust."

My last quote is from the Dean of Guildford, Victor Stock, who has written a most amusing, but telling, article in the Cathedral's latest newsletter.

Just before Lambeth, some bishops from around the world visited Guildford Cathedral and posed for a group photograph. The wife of a bishop from Tanzania took off her cardigan. "Ah ha!" cried the Dean, seizing the cardigan, "this is the Anglican Woolly!" and he placed it in the centre of the photograph for, he wrote, it wonderfully illustrated our vocation to be Woolly Anglicans.

He went on:-

"Anglicans are faithful Christians who respect what other people believe, and, at the same time rejoice, in Fuzzy Edges. The circle of Anglicanism is wide enough to include anyone who tries to be faithful to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, doesn't take her or himself too seriously and recognises that God, so the Gospel teaches, enlightens every human person that comes into the world.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that the recent General Synod and the Lambeth Conference have reinforced my belief that we need a minimum of legislation and a maximum of love, together with a dash of humour, so that we accept one another in the spirit of God's love – our God who welcomes us all into his Kingdom and longs for us to experience the joys of love, both human and divine.

It is love which will get us into God's eternal Kingdom – not a book of rules.

Briefly relating this to our two readings, Peter's vision in Acts 10 reading turned him from the rejection of a whole section of the human race, people he wrote of as unclean sinners – to a willingness to love all people, irrespective of human differences. Peter learned to put into practice Jesus' command in Matthew 7: "Do not judge." May we too learn to leave the judging to God, and learn to love as God loves us.