Church of England transgender blessings

I know! It's batty.

Colour me dim, but haven't CofE being telling us for decades that Baptism is not a Christening/naming ceremony?

Oh i see that's 10 Bishops, not priests. Even better.

It's very bold of those members of the church to speak, in the face of such pressure. I am minded to write to them and express gratitude for their support.

Yes me too, I'm actually pleasantly surprised that 10 priests have spoken out about this. (I doubt any of them were thinking from a feminist point of view).

“What would it say for the church to ‘celebrate’ gender-identity change to the spouse who feels betrayed, to the children who feel abandoned, to the parent who feels bereaved — and even to those who have undergone transition and now regret the decision?”

I am so glad someone is saying this.

Sunday Times article 'Bishops and priests line up to rebel against trans baptisms'

(extract)
One priest, Julian Mann, vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension in Oughtibridge, Sheffield, has written to the Archbishop of York to say that he would fight any disciplinary action imposed on him if he refused to conduct a service.

Ten other priests told The Sunday Times they would also refuse.

Rod Thomas, Bishop of Maidstone, urged the Church to reconsider, warning that it needed to consider the theological basis for “unconditional affirmation of trans people”.

He also said that transitioning could be a factor in family break-up and said the church had to work out what to do if someone who had transitioned subsequently sought a marriage service. The Church of England does not conduct same-sex marriages.

Julian Henderson, the Bishop of Blackburn, issued a statement on behalf of church evangelicals warning that the new service is “both highly divisive and theologically and pastorally questionable.”

Keith Sinclair, the Bishop of Birkenhead, has also intervened.

Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said: “The church should be compassionate and sensitive towards those who experience gender dysphoria, but its fundamental teaching must be based on a revealed truth and objective biology and its relation to social structure.”

Paul said the church needed to think through the implications of its decision. “What would it say for the church to ‘celebrate’ gender-identity change to the spouse who feels betrayed, to the children who feel abandoned, to the parent who feels bereaved — and even to those who have undergone transition and now regret the decision?”

He said it was a “misuse” of the baptism service to switch from “affirmation of faith to affirmation of gender identity”. (continues)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bishops-and-priests-line-up-to-rebel-against-trans-baptisms-5pnnm0c0l?shareToken=e687d175af9b298950ea09b20f57dcb0

thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3458445-Two-more-articles-in-the-Suday-Times

I'm not a member of the Church of England, but I do hope that it wall also support those who might be left behind after such a change, wives, children, family etc.

As long as they also do this then I'm all for it. The church, any church, should give their blessing to people regardless of gender, ethnicity etc etc. I'm a staunch atheist but some Christians I've known in the past said they ask themselves what Jesus would have done: I think that's a good approach.

I think the surmise of the writer Ian, that Bishops have been 'led by the hand' is correct.
The church has no business affirming trans identities through liturgy. This is a totally different thing to being welcoming.
I feel constrained by the rules and unable to speak plainly about why I would not want to 'affirm' trans identity in church or elsewhere. My perception of the truth would be objected to by those who are looking for offense.
I am just really disappointed that only conservatives can see the problem with this.
What was the Gay and Lesbian Christian Association is now One Body One Faith and is enthusiastically championing the T and Q in the manner of Stonewall.

I’m not quite up on all the ins and outs, but one possibility is that the CofE is so broad that you will find people who disagree with the official line on just about anything. So while the official position is that baptism is a one-time thing, there are some (evangelicals who would probably be more comfortable in the Baptist church) who disagree and think that adults can be rebaptised as a sign of their faith (believers’ baptism) because when they were baptised as a baby they were too young to know what they were committing to. And there are plenty of others who simply don’t know much about the church’s doctrines and don’t understand that rebaptism is a no no.

However, I don’t think most TRAs actually wanted rebaptism, but they did want a special service to mark their transition and/or a ‘correction’ of the record of their original baptism to show that they had ‘always’ been the gender and name they had transitioned into. This they haven’t been given.

Why would trans members of the chuch of England have pushed for a second baptism when that is against the theology of their church? Wouldn’t they have known that? I am sure the part of you God sees transcends all physical or mental characteristics anyway.

Sweary, yes, that does come across in the resource, I think it's excellent.

Potplant he's a friend of mine but yes, he does tend to polarise as he isn't afraid to say stuff he knows people won't agree with.

Mad there were representatives from EA at the parliamentary debate a couple of weeks ago. They are very concerned about the impact of self ID on women and girls.

In a similar vein, this is a theologian I disagree with on just about everything (notably, he is very conservative on sexuality). However, I can’t find much to disagree with here:

www.psephizo.com/sexuality-2/wisdom-and-folly-the-bishops-guidance-on-transgender-welcome/

vaginafetishist what do you think the chances are of any feminist response to transgenderism within the church? The female priests mostly seem very woke.

Yy to this, as an active feminist Christian I've seen a lot of this. I came across this the other day though which has some good stuff - but again from a more conservative (evangelical) source. Scroll towards the end - lot of stuff about women's rights, some actual research been done. Mentions things like detransitioning, interventions for children etc, mentions transgender trend. Interesting...

www.eauk.org/resources/what-we-offer/reports/transformed-understanding-transgender-in-a-changing-culture/transformed-the-resource

But the voices on the more liberal end tend to be on the woke side. I feel quite lonely in there.

Old Crone Thank you. Its good to be able to read it again.

Thanks OldCrone!

Very interesting R0

Alison Milbank's article which the TRAs got removed:
archive.is/Kx813

Always useful to be aware of Pink News coverage:

'Church of England tells clergy to respect trans people’s affirmed names'
Sofia Lotto Persio 12th December 2018,

The Church of England has issued new guidelines on celebrating the baptism of transgender people.

The document, titled “Pastoral Guidance for use in conjunction with the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in the context of gender transition,” was approved by the House of Bishops and published on December 11 on the Church of England’s website and will be incorporated into Common Worship.

The need for guidelines on the matter of gender transition was raised during the General Synod of the Church of England in July 2017, which passed a motion calling for “the preparation of liturgical materials to mark a person’s gender transition.”

The new guidelines state the Church of England’s “unconditional affirmation of trans people” and advise ministers to “respond sensitively and creatively to the person’s circumstances,” reminding the clergy to respect believers’ individual wishes on the matter of their gender identity.

“Trans people are as diverse as any other social group and ministers should avoid stereotyping. It is appropriate, however, to identify the preference of a transgender person in respect of their name and gendered (or other) pronouns. It should be noted that the term ‘transgender’ is typically preferred to transgendered,” the guidelines read.

Another point reinforces the need for the ceremony to have a “celebratory” character, respecting the person’s preferences with regards to mentions of their past.

“It is important that the occasion should have a celebratory character, and in preparation for the service, the minister will wish to meet with the candidate to understand better their personal journey. The minister should be guided by the wishes of the candidate regarding the way in which past experiences may be mentioned or reflected upon, either in the introduction to the service or if the candidate is to share their testimony,” the guidelines read.

Church of England guidelines written by trans clergy members
Among the recommended Gospel readings for the rite, one of the most important ceremonies in Christianity, stands out one passage that reinforces the idea that a person’s gender—or ethnicity, or social status—does not matter when it come to baptism.

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus,” states the Gospel reading, Galatians 3:27-4:7.

The trans clergy, Reverend Dr Tina Beardsley, Reverend Sarah Jones and Reverend Canon Dr Rachel Mann, produced the guidelines following consultation with those directly affected and their clergy.

“For me the most important thing was actually having this certificate to say that I had renewed my baptism vows and it had my chosen name on it,” Reverend Beardsley told the BBC.

The Bishop of Blackburn, Julian Henderson, Chair of the House of Bishops Delegation Committee, that oversaw work to produce the guidance, said in a statement: “This new guidance provides an opportunity, rooted in scripture, to enable trans people who have ‘come to Christ as the way, the truth and the life,’ to mark their transition in the presence of their Church family which is the body of Christ.

“We commend it for wider use.”

www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/12/12/church-of-england-clergy-transgender-affirmed-names/

apologies as Southwell is a Minster (not sure if also a Cathedral)

SwearyG
Dr Alison Milbank (Nottingham University, Southwell Cathedral)
Theology & literature (specialises in Gothic Literature I think)

She wrote an article, 'Usurping the Feminine: Frankenstein & 'Male' pregnancy' in March. It was, from memory, a very nuanced literary article based on Mary Shelley's writing.
Some TRAs incl. Guiliana went after her and also her husband, John Milbank.
The article was censored.

Have they defined transition though?

Totally agree Dragon3 . The church shouldn't be doing this.