As we travel through Mark’s Gospel we are exploring what it means to walk the walk with Jesus and be a part of his kingdom (or kin-dom: ROOTS AAA p.26).

This week's news

This week’s religious and mainstream media have been dominated by the Church of England’s response to the Consultation on Equal Civil Marriage. It seems as if, which ever position you hold on this issue, the whole Church, and indeed faith communities in general, are walking on nails.

On both sides of the debate about equal marriage there are committed and faithful Christian women and men who genuinely believe that their position is authentic, faithful to the Gospel and a means by which the Kingdom of God can be invigorated in contemporary society. Here is the challenge to our understanding of discipleship.

The Government launched a consultation on legalising civil marriage for gay and lesbian people in March 2012. The reason that this has hit the press this week is that the consultation period ends on Thursday.

The proposal is that gay and lesbian people should have the same rights in relation to civil marriage as people in different-sex relationships. As the introduction to the consultation document says: ‘Quite simply, if commitment and marriage is a good thing we should not restrict civil marriage only to opposite-sex couples.’ There is no suggestion that churches or other faith communities would be coerced into conducting ceremonies that they did not want to. 

The arguments have been rehearsed long and hard but in this time of decision on the subject it is worth summarising them again. There are some who wish to maintain what they see as the Church’s traditional teaching on marriage as being between and man and a woman. From a Church of England perspective, the purposes of marriage are set out in the Preface to the marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship. The Church of England’s response to the consultation seeks to uphold this view.

The Roman Catholic Bishops Conference takes the same line.

The Methodist Church has issued a statement.

Others however, take a different view. Broadly this is that if marriage is a good institution for different-sex relationships should not the same benefits be available to gay and lesbian people. For a selection of quotes from this perspective see the website of Equal Marriage Rights.

Reflection

While Christians argue about this issue, many outside the Church watch with a degree of bewilderment. If TV Soaps are anything to go by, society has changed its views on the place of gay people in society, even The Archers has an on-going gay story line with Adam and Ian, who are in a Civil Partnership.

Some expressed surprise that the Conservative Party should support legislation for Equal Marriage. As David Cameron said:

‘Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don't support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I'm a Conservative.’
(David Cameron October 2011 Conservative Party conference speech)

Should the Church be swayed by this apparent change in public opinion? Or are those who favour equal marriage engaging in a wholly proper development of doctrine?

I am not expressing an opinion either way on the subject. Some will accuse me of sitting on the fence but my reason for raising the hot, contemporary issue is to understand whether or not we can live with difference in the Church. Can we walk the walk of Jesus holding strongly divergent views of some topics?

Prayer

Words may well only deepen the divide. A reflection on the highly priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 might be helpful. Lots are available on the internet.

Questions

• Is it theologically possible for committed Christians to hold different views on the subject of equal marriage for gay and lesbian people?
• Very strongly held opinions divide the Church. Those on both side of the argument believe that they have scriptural foundation for their beliefs and speak with their own integrity. Can Christians live together accepting diverse opinion, or is schism inevitable?
• Does it make any difference to a Christian response to this issue that the legislation will not force faith communities to conduct equal marriage?
• Is the mission of the Church helped or hindered by these debates?
• Are there people in your congregation who hold differing views? Does this affect the mission of the Church? Can they be enabled to work together?

Action

Invite people to move to different parts of the Church in response to questions about things that divide them, not the hot theological ones but everyday things like gender, height, hair colour, etc.

Ask each group how it feels to belong to that group. Some will only have a small number of people (red hair for example) How does it feel to be in a minority? How does it feel to be in a majority? 

What impact does this have on the way in which we follow Jesus? Do we all walk the walk together?

Are there any everyday issues that make us feel as though we are walking on nails?

Young People

Think of an issue that divides your friends. This might be to do with whether somebody is gay or straight, or it might be which football team you support.

How does it feel to be part of a big group or a small group?

What about being a Christian at school, does that make you part of a minority? How does it feel? Can you talk about your faith to your friends?

Mark Beach has been Dean of Rochester for less than a month. He blogs at http://604andallthat.blogspot.co.uk/

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