Tea-time gender questions
When the children come home from school these days they may have some challenging things to ask
It was a regular tea time when my five-year-old asked a question about sex and relationships that I had hoped wouldn’t have to be discussed for a few years.
Gender debate
Tony Thomas
Date posted: 1 Nov 2017
Dear en,
Last week when driving, I was listening
to a Radio 4 article that was discussing a
Parliamentary Committee and the lack of
female representation. Whilst
listening to
this discussion about the need for diversity,
I was struck by the thought that the increasing profile of gender fluidity and other
similar transgender issues seems to negate
any concept of sexual diversity? Then today
I read about a clash between feminists and
transgender supporters. Who knows what
other cultural clashes there are waiting in
the wings in this increasingly complex and
confrontational culture?
No straw men
The Revd Dr Peter Sanlon
Date posted: 1 Oct 2017
Book Review
TRANSGENDER LITURGIES:
Should the Church of England develop liturgical
materials to mark gender transition?
Read review
Vital research not allowed
EN
Date posted: 1 Nov 2017
On 23 September it was reported that a psychotherapist had a university research proposal approved and then turned down with the claim that it ‘would be politically incorrect’ to publish results concerning people reversing their ‘gender reassignment operations’.
James Caspian, a psychotherapist who has worked with transgender and transsexual people for over ten years, wanted to conduct research for a Master’s degree in counselling and psychotherapy at Bath Spa University. His research proposal was influenced by a conversation with Dr Miro Djordjevic of the Belgrade Centre for Genital Reconstructive Surgery who in 2014 conducted an unprecedented seven reversals at his clinic.
news in brief
Marriage campaigner
Coalition for Marriage (C4M), the UK’s largest pro-marriage organisation, appointed a
new Campaign Director in late September.
Thomas Pascoe, a former journalist and
manager of an
international development
project, replaced Colin Hart. Mr Pascoe has
been advising C4M on its campaign strategy
news in brief
Cameroon: famine?
Many Nigerian Christian refugees who fled to Cameroon to try and escape Boko Haram as well as internally displaced Cameroonians are now facing hunger, it was reported in August.
Many refugees fled to Cameroon, which is around 70% Christian, to escape from Boko Haram, only to find that the group expanded its operations and began attacking communities in northern Cameroon. Some displaced Christians have faced further violence from Muslim cattle herders for attempting to grow crops in the bush. Schools and hospitals in the area are also non-functioning.
news in brief
Council prays to Allah
At the opening of a Full Council Meeting in
Oldham
in the summer, Islamic prayers
were led by an Imam.
The new Mayor of Oldham is a Muslim
and the Imam-led prayer repeats the pattern
of the Mayor before last, who was also a
Muslim. The Qu’ran section read out talked
about ‘those who have gone astray, and those
who have earned [Allah’s] anger’ traditionally
interpreted
as meaning
Jews
and
Christians. Therefore the Council, were in
effect, being encouraged to not be like Jews
or Christians.
Nashville statement
It has caused a real storm on social media – read it and see what you think
The Nashville Statement is an Evangelical Christian statement of faith relating to human sexuality and gender roles.
REASONABLE TREATMENT?
en staff
Date posted: 1 Aug 2017
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) published new guidance for pharmacy professionals on 22 June.
It provides a kind of ‘reasonable accommodation’, something that many Christian pharmacists feared would be dispensed with despite the consultation process earlier in the year.
Aftershock
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Sep 2017
General Synod met in July and was generally
reckoned
shocking by
evangelicals.
Motions were passed both in relation to
liturgy for transgender people and counselling for gay people which were considered
theologically
vacuous
by many.
Evangelical amendments on both were
rejected. Most bishops said little.
I wrote an analysis for Christian Today
(google ‘Church of England Synod was so
shocking’).
Radical inclusion?
Rob Munro
Date posted: 1 Aug 2017
Superficially we did the usual things: passing obscure legal provisions.
For example, there was giving official permission not to have to wear robes at main services (which I realise you all have done faithfully up until now); the valiant effort to put something to do with mission on the agenda. We even had the obligatory ‘current affairs’ motion, this time from the Archbishops following the surprises at the General Election, generally calling for more prayer and appropriate lobbying.
Transgender Jesus?
The Christian Institute
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
A play which portrays Jesus as a transsexual has faced strong criticism, ahead of its
launch at a publicly-funded LGBT festival
in Northern Ireland, it was reported in
mid-November.
The Gospel According
to Jesus, Queen of
Heaven is part of the Outburst Queer Arts
Festival in Belfast, and is advertised with the
tagline: ‘Jesus is a transsexual woman. And it
is now she walks the earth’.
Evangelical options
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Jul 2017
Let’s consider some possible futures for Anglican evangelicals concerned about the Church of England.
Option 1: Remain and resist
This is the strategy from Lee Gatiss of Church Society, Bishop Rod Thomas and many others. In this view, the battle is not lost. As I write, the next bishops’ report on marriage and sexuality is awaited. Southwell bishop Paul Williams – who spoke at a Proclamation Trust conference a few years ago – says: ‘Whatever some would like to claim, the Church of England is and remains faithful to the teaching of Scripture on these matters…’ The new document ‘will be deeply rooted in and faithful to Scripture,’ he claims.
US: LGBT and the elderly
The Christian Institute
Date posted: 1 May 2017
Elderly
residents
of
care
homes
in
California could soon have to share rooms
with members of the opposite sex, after a
pro-LGBT Bill was proposed in March.
The controversial SB 219 Bill would allow
a transsexual person to occupy a room and use
washing facilities based on the gender of their
choosing. SB 219 was
introduced
in
the
California State Senate in February and it was
amended by a pro-LGBT senator in March.
How the tail wags the dog in Britain
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 Feb 2017
David Robertson watched the Commons transgender debate and sees a pattern of how society is being subverted
The move to normalise ‘transgender’ will bring a massive change within our culture
HOW LONG HAVE WE GOT?
Barnabas Fund / en
Date posted: 1 Mar 2017
Freedom of the press is necessary for a healthy society.
The ability to report both incidents of anti-Christian persecution and the ideology motivating such attacks is central to what organisations like en and Barnabas Fund have done for many years.
LGBT and sleeping church
Andrew Marsay
Date posted: 1 Jan 2017
Dear en,
On reading the November en, Christian
Concern’s brief report on USA sexual orientation research provided a very helpful background to reading, just a couple of pages on,
‘While
the
church
sleeps’ by Dr Lisa
Nolland, alerting the church to the extraordinary success of the LGBT’s penetration of
schools etc. in the UK.
‘New Normal’ conference
Andrew Symes
Date posted: 1 Dec 2016
Is it true that Jesus said nothing about homosexual practice? Can we be sure that the children of same sex couples suffer no disadvantages from their parents’ lifestyles and ideologies? Is ‘transgender’ mainly about individuals receiving compassion, or an altering of reality for all of us? Should Christians spend time analysing and countering the effects of the sexual revolution, or does this detract from gospel ministry?
These were some of the questions being asked at ‘The New Normal’, a conference organized by Christian Concern which took place at the Emmanuel Centre, London on 11–12 November.
ProcTrust: heart changer
Denise Gilmour
Date posted: 1 Nov 2016
The inaugural Weekend Minister’s Wives Conference organised by the Proclamation Trust, was held on 7-9 October at Ettington Chase, near Stratford-upon-Avon.
With 40 in attendance, there was a significant representation from the independent churches. The main speakers were Adrian Reynolds, Director of Ministry of the Trust, and Andrea Trevenna, associate for Women's Ministry at St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks.
USA: orientation research
Christian Concern
Date posted: 1 Nov 2016
A report, released in the autumn, presented
a careful summary and up-to-date explanation of research, from the biological, psychological and social sciences, related to
sexual orientation and gender identity.
Its intention was to address health issues
faced by LGBT populations within the US.
Some key findings in the report were:
Kids, 4, to ‘explore sexuality’
Christian Concern
Date posted: 1 May 2016
Children as young as four will be encouraged to ‘explore’ their sexuality at a primary school’s planned ‘transgender day’, according to press reports in March.
St Mary the Virgin Primary School, East Sussex, announced that they would be hosting a series of talks and workshops looking at issues around gender and in particular the acceptance of transgender people.
Word Alive buzzes
John Stevens
Date posted: 1 May 2016
The week after Easter some 4,250 people from all over the UK decamped to Prestatyn in North Wales for Word Alive.
This year the main Bible Readings were given by Vaughan Roberts from the book of Job. While the reasons for our sufferings might remain obscure and unknown, he exhorted us to put our faith and trust in God’s sovereign goodness and to look forward to the day when we will finally share in the glorious resurrection victory of the Lord Jesus.
