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issue of homosexuality, and interestingly sees the roots of the problem as occurring immediately after the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. Dr. Cary has attempted to take something of the middle grounds on the issue, condemning both those conservatives who are absolutely opposed to any form of acceptance or tolerance of homosexuality, and those liberals who wish to go as far as to bless the union of gay and lesbian couples.

Dr. Cary’s replacement as Archbishop of Canterbury by Dr. Roman Williams indicated that the church is prepared to be far more openly tolerant than previously on the subject of same sex relationships .Reverend Richard Kirk er welcomed the appointment, stating “Dr .Williams’ commitment to justice and dignity for all people including lesbians and gay men gives us great heart. Under his leadership homophobia will be challenged and intolerance rooted out.”

Not all members of the Anglican community were pleased by Dr .Williams’ appointment however. The most vocal opposition group being‘Reform’; an evangelical conservative group of around 500 clergy: they claim that Dr. Williams’ views are ‘non-biblical’.

The church’s new inclusive stance on same sex couples has caused tremendous difficulty in the Church of England. In 2003 conservative members of the General Synod met to discuss strategy; since most of the seats of the Synod are made up by Evangelical members of the clergy,the group was essentially planning the future direction of the church.

The schism within the church on this subject became even more apparent in late 2003 at the National Evangelical Congress. Dr Williams spoke at the congress but, despite his charismatic style, is seen as little more than a heretic by many of those present.

2003 saw more tangible evidence of the church’s position changing,‘commitment ceremonies’ began to be offered to same sex couples;initially unofficially but later more openly. 300 were conducted in2003 and over 1000 are expected in 2005. This then is tangible evidence of the Church of England’s changing views on the issue of homosexuality. We have seen that the issue began to be troublesome for the church immediately after the sexual revolution: but the church,being such a monolithic organisation, took time to react. Even today,many members of the clergy are absolutely opposed to the more inclusive attitudes of the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

The question of the church’s position on divorce and remarriage is one that has received considerable popular attention in recent months,with the marriage of Prince Charles. The church’s traditional view was that divorce was wrong, it was the breaking of a solemn vow, taken before god, and thus remarriage could not be condoned, supported recognised ay the church.

Recently this vexed issue has been resolved within the Church of England. On July 9th 2002, the General Synod of the Church of England took an historic vote on the issue; the result of the vote was twofold: firstly it was to affirm that marriage was a solemn undertaking between two people for their whole lives. Secondly, and more significantly, the church recognised that some marriages do fail, and that, under exceptional circumstanc本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。