8 hours ago
Church of Ireland bishop criticises invite for gay US preacher to speak at Pride service in Dublin
A
Church of Ireland
bishop has criticised the decision of Dublin's
Christ Church Cathedral
to invite an American lesbian bishop to be guest preacher at its annual
Pride
service last Friday. Bonnie Perry is a bishop in Michigan.
Bishop of Down and Dromore, David McClay, said the invitation to Bishop Perry 'very clearly signifies a departure from the historic faith, the teaching and the discipline of the Church of Ireland'.
Church members were 'concerned and confused' by the invitation", he said.
'We are part of a worldwide Anglican communion where many are coming to know Christ every day. The church is growing in those nations which hold to biblical orthodoxy in doctrine and lifestyle,' Bishop McClay said.
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He said the church is in decline in parts of the West that embrace the 'liberal culture of society', but this downward trend is not matched in places where the church 'remains faithful to its calling'.
'When some in the West forsake this gospel and move away from what the church teaches, we are saddened and we grieve, but we pray that in humility we will remain faithful, and that they will repent and return to the scriptures and to the gospel we love,' Bishop McClay said.
'We consider it pure joy, however, to align ourselves with Anglicans across the world who hold to the teachings of the Bible as we have received it.'
In her sermon at Christ Church, Bishop Perry recalled how, for decades, society and the institutional church had told LGBTQ+ people they were not good enough and their lives were wrong and their love was less.
'The church has said that who we are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, non–binary – the categories keep evolving much like the universe," she said. 'For decades, the structures of power have said no to us and they have said: 'Stop speaking. Be silent. Don't tell us. Do not speak your truth'.
'And I say to you . . . as someone who is made in God's image and likeness, as a bishop in a Christian church, as an out, proud, partnered lesbian, I say to you, speak your truth. We are made in God's image and likeness and fully embraced by Christ just as we are.'
She said members of the LGBTQ+ community are 'good enough'.
'We are called to tell the stories of who and how we are and how God lives and moves and has God's being in our lives. For as we tell our stories, others will see God in our lives and they will know that they too are beloved of God,' she said.
