Dear Sir,
It sounds as if one must give two cheers for the Bishops’ latest report on human sexuality. At least there has been no change in the doctrine of the CofE, but one feels concern about relaxation of discipline in this area. It is a pity about the vote in Synod.
I wonder how the Bishops would have responded to the following. Back in the 1970s there was a young chap attending our church, but then he disappeared. One evening I was catching the train home from Charing Cross and I saw the young chap concerned leaning out of the window. He opened the door and obviously wanted to talk to me. As we began, a piece of paper dropped out of a book of his. It was his list of gay pubs. It turned out that he was homosexual. Other chaps at church had talked to him about this, saying that it was not possible to be a Christian and homosexual. I spent the rest of the journey home doing my utmost to convince him that, while the Bible condemns homosexual practice, there is nevertheless no condemnation of homosexual orientation (and so such orientation is no barrier to trusting in Jesus).
