Source: The Guardian
BY Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
More than 2,000 clergy and lay members of the Church of England have signed a letter calling on bishops to withdraw or change recent guidance on welcoming transgender people to the church.
Last month the church issued advice to clergy and congregations recommending an adapted affirmation of baptism service to allow transgender Christians to celebrate their new identity and name.
The guidance was criticised by a group of bishops who described it as “theologically and pastorally questionable”. One member of the archbishops’ council, the Rev Ian Paul, suggested church leaders were “allowing themselves to be hijacked by these very small special interest groups”.
Now 2,155 clergy and senior lay members of the church have demanded the guidance be revised, postponed or withdrawn, saying “the notion of gender transition is highly contested in wider society”.
Categories: Christianity, Church, The Muslim Times