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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| Dean Jeffrey John, leading gay cleric, rejected as next Bishop of Southwark |
| 2010-07-09 |
| I can reveal that Dr Jeffrey John, the openly gay but celibate Dean of St Albans, has been blocked from becoming a bishop once again. He has not been chosen as the next Bishop of Southwark. Liberals will be dismayed that the Church has lost its nerve -- but there is no reason for evangelicals to celebrate, either. This is bad news whichever way you look at it: 1) The Church has missed an opportunity to show that it is inclusive of homosexuals. 2) Jeffrey John has gained a reputation as a gifted preacher and effective pastor at St Albans cathedral and would have been a popular bishop. 3) It indicates that the Crown Nominations Commission is afraid of appointing any bishops who might bring a bit of colour. 4) A dignified and talented cleric has been embarrassed again. 5) The row over homosexual clergy could have been brought to a head, but will now fester until a gay priest is finally made a bishop. It is also bad news for Rowan Williams. Although he is only one of 14 members of the Commission, liberals will be perplexed as to why he allowed John's name to be included on the shortlist if it was only to be rejected at the last minute. To be fair, he didn't know that this fact would be leaked to me, and he is said to have been livid with the Commission that it was. But, given what happened in 2003 and his apparent distress at forcing his old friend to stand down from becoming Bishop of Reading, it will surprise many that he didn't use his influence to try and sway the few undecided members who could have secured his selection. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 if you were on a list, but didn't get picked, perhaps a better response is to look at why you first made the list. Possibly you are not as fabulous! as you or your agenda-driven backers assume? Possibly, you only made the list because of your gay status? Tokenism isn't self-esteem boosting, is it? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-07-09 19:32 |