When my alarm goes off at 7 am, Radio 4 gives the news, and then a look at the Sunday newspapers. I was startled at hearing that the Telegraph is reporting that The Very Rev’d Jeffrey John, Dean of St. Albans is on the shortlist to become the next Bishop of Southwark.
Here is the article. My commentary is at the end.
An openly-homosexual cleric has been nominated to become a senior bishop, in a move that threatens to provoke a damaging split in the Church of England.
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Published: 9:00PM BST 03 Jul 2010
The nomination of Dr Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans, threatens to provoke a damaging split in the Church of England
A confidential meeting, chaired by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has approved Dr Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans, to be on the shortlist to be the next Bishop of Southwark.
He is understood to be the favoured candidate.
Dr John is a hugely divisive figure in the church after he was forced to stand down from becoming the Bishop of Reading in 2003 after it emerged he was in a homosexual, but celibate, relationship.
Promoting him to one of the most senior offices in the Church would trigger a civil war between liberals and conservatives and exacerbate existing divisions within the Anglican Communion.
Members of the Crown Nominations Commission, the body responsible for selecting bishops, will vote this week on whether Dr John’s name should now be put forward to the Prime Minister for final approval.
David Cameron has been made aware that Dr John is on the shortlist for the post and is understood to be supportive of such an appointment. Once the preferred candidate is rubber-stamped by Mr Cameron it is passed to the Queen for final approval.
In 2003, evangelical parishes warned they would withhold payments to central Church coffers if Dr John was consecrated as Bishop of Reading, before Dr Williams ultimately forced him to resign.
It is known that the Queen was “deeply concerned” by the rift.
Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, who also sits on the commission, will face fierce criticism from the conservative wing of the Church if they allow Dr John to become a bishop.
Yet, at the commission’s last meeting, where Dr John was put on the initial shortlist of candidates for the Southwark job, neither archbishop blocked his name.
Liberals make up a majority of the commission and he is considered by many to be the outstanding candidate after a successful period in charge of St Albans cathedral.
The appointment of Dr John, who entered a civil partnership with his long term partner the Rev Grant Holmes in 2006, would mark a major victory for the pro-gay lobby in the Church of England, which has been disappointed at the lack of progress under Dr Williams.
Conservatives, on the other hand, would be incensed at the promotion of a cleric who has strongly argued for a more liberal attitude towards sexuality and is in a long-standing, though celibate, homosexual relationship.
Senior bishops led the opposition to his appointment in 2003, while African archbishops claimed that it would tear apart the Anglican Communion if an openly gay cleric was made bishop in the Church of England, considered to be the mother church.
The Communion has already begun to unravel following the appointment of openly gay and openly lesbian bishops in the US Episcopal Church.
This could shatter Dr Williams’ hopes of maintaining the fragile unity which currently exists in the Church.
While it would also upset evangelicals in the diocese of Southwark, the overwhelming majority of clergy in the diocese are believed to be very keen to have Dr John as their bishop.
He is well known in the diocese from his time serving as a canon at the cathedral before he moved to St Albans.
Regarded as an outstanding preacher and a champion of a more liberal reading of the Bible, he is considered to have enhanced his reputation at St Albans cathedral, which has seen its congregation grow under his leadership.
David Cameron is also expected to be favourable to the appointment as it would reflect the Conservative Party’s drive to shake off its “nasty party” image.
In an interview last year with Attitude, a gay magazine, the prime minister criticised the Church of England over failing to be more accepting in its attitudes to homosexuality.
“But I think the Church has to do some of the things that the Conservative Party has been through
