The senior woman bishop of the Church of England, the Rt. Rev. Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, will celebrate at a Eucharist sponsored by the Inclusive Church as “a safe space” to LGBT worshipers.
The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, will celebrate the ceremony set up by Inclusive Church, a LGBT-affirming network of Anglicans, the group reports. It is thought to be the first time a senior diocesan bishop has led an LGBT communion and prompted concern from conservative Anglicans.
A spokeswoman for the Gloucester Diocese confirmed Treweek would preside and said: “As part of Bishop Rachel’s ministry she celebrates the Eucharist in many churches across her diocese, to worship will fellow Christians who are all loved and valued by God.”
Simon Sarmiento, spokesman for Inclusive Church, said the regular services which are already held in the Manchester and Liverpool dioceses are about “reaching out to a group that largely feels people aren’t reaching out to them”.
He told Christian Today: “These things are not under the counter or peculiar in any way. It is purely a pastoral activity. It is all about safe spaces.”
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I am glad to see the Church has changed it opinions on gay rights. I just wish they would not pretend like they are better than other church's that don't accept certain policies, (which they really are) because I mean come on, the church has been homophobic for thousands of years and then all of the sudden we have the correct answer. What really needs to happen is for LGBT church's to say yes we did it wrong for thousands of years because of a lot of underlining reasons, the homophobic churchs are really also victims of a homophobic culture that need our help to change. I reminded of my grandfather that grew up in the pre-civil rights south, He was a racists, and I always thought that hey, If I was him that might have been me.