A New Archbishop for Wales Met with Both Love and Resistance. 

Earlier this year, The Reverend Cherry Vann was elected archbishop of Wales, becoming the church’s 15th archbishop and the first woman and the first openly gay person to serve in that role. It also makes her the first woman archbishop serving in the United Kingdom. This led to celebration and gratitude for many in the church, but certainly not for all. This was, said Dr Laurent Mbanda, chair of the Gafcon Primates Council, “another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy”. He was, alas, far from alone. 

 It’s essential, and simply Christian, to listen to other opinions with respect and empathy, especially when they come from brothers and sisters in Christ, many of whom have faced difficulties and dangers that we can only imagine. But that does not and must not prevent firm opposition and a forthright response. I urge you to read Lower Than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity by my friend Diarmaid MacCulloch for the best response to all this.  

The Bible can be as gentle as a watercolour and as powerful as a thunderstorm. It can be taken literally or taken seriously, but not always both. It’s a library written over centuries, containing poetry and metaphor as well as history and biography, and without discernment, it doesn’t always make sense. It has to be, must be, read through the prism of human experience, the filter of love, and an embrace of the human condition. 

The thing is, the Bible hardly mentions homosexuality, which is, of course, a word not coined until the late 19th century. The so-called “gotcha” verses from the Old Testament are specific to ancient customs and are often misunderstood. The Sodom story, for example, wasn’t interpreted as referring to homosexuality until the 11th century. Lot – the hero of the text – offers his virgin daughters to the mob in place of his guests, so it can’t exactly be used as a compelling morality tale! 

Ezekiel in the Hebrew Scriptures says, “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). 

The Old Testament never speaks of lesbianism, and its mentions of sex are more about procreation and the preservation of the tribe than simple romance. It also has some rather disturbing things to say about slavery in Genesis and in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, about ethnic cleansing in Deuteronomy, and even killing children in First Samuel. So, a precise guide to modern manners it’s certainly not. 

Jesus doesn’t mention the issue, and St. Paul’s comments, mainly in his letters to the Romans, are more about men using young male prostitutes in pagan initiation rites than about loving, consenting same-sex relationships. There is, however, one possible discussion of same-sex relationships in the New Testament. It’s when Jesus is approached by a centurion whose beloved male servant is dying. Will Jesus cure him? Of course, and Jesus then praises the Roman for his faith. The Greek word used to describe the relationship between the Roman and his “beloved” servant indicates something far deeper than mere platonic affection. 

Then there’s the love of David and Jonathan, Jesus refusing to judge and the pristine beauty of grace and justice that informs the Gospels. Most of all, there’s the permanent revolution of love that Jesus didn’t request but demanded. His central teaching, remember, is to love God and love our neighbours as ourselves. We’re told this in three of the four Gospels — Matthew (22:35-40), Mark (12:28-34) and Luke (10:27). It’s a transformational moment for Christians, to know that only by loving others can we properly know and love God. 

I’m a mere journalist, a very ordinary priest, and all I can do is to try in a limited way to influence the conversation and state what I am convinced is the authentic Christian argument. But I’m also someone who, until 12 years ago, would likely have opposed the election of Archbishop Vann – but now I rejoice in it. Please remember, there are no enemies in the Christian body, simply friends whom we haven’t yet met. That friendship can only develop and blossom with an open hand, not with a clenched fist.