Inclusive Church is an organisation founded in 2003 that advocates for the full inclusion of all people regardless of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, in the Christian churches (especially the Church of England), including in the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons. [1] More broadly, it seeks "to raise awareness about the ways that people feel excluded by the church". [2]
Inclusive Church was founded in 2003, following the resignation of Jeffrey John, a celibate gay priest, as Bishop-designate of Reading, following controversy over his homosexuality. Its first chair was Giles Fraser, then vicar of St Mary's, Putney and later Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral. [3] The organisation's petition against John's resignation achieved nearly 10,000 signatures. [2]
In the decade after its creation, Inclusive Church's focus broadened away from sexual orientation. The organisation seeks to include all who feel excluded from churches. [2] In 2014–2015, the organisation published a series of books under the title Inclusive Church Resource, dealing with disability, mental health, sexuality, poverty, ethnicity, and gender. [4] [5]
Inclusive Church's national co-ordinator is Ruth Wilde. [6] Its board includes elected independent trustees alongside representatives from other organisations with similar aims, such as Changing Attitude, the Association of Black Clergy, Women and the Church, and Modern Church. [7] Most member churches are part of the Church of England, but there are also member churches from the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church, independent churches and churches outside the UK. [8]
In 2013, Inclusive Church started hosting an annual lecture related to the organisation's goals. The inaugural lecture was given by Martyn Percy, then principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and later Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and was entitled "Beyond Inclusion: Whose Church Is It Anyway?" [9] [10]
In 2014, the lecture was given by Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Lancaster University, and was entitled "Whatever happened to Liberal Christianity?" [9]
In January 2015, Inclusive Church, in partnership with other organisations, began a campaign focused on the General Synod of the Church of England elections taking place later that year. The campaign aimed to "work against discrimination" in the Church of England during the five-year synod term. [11] It was described by the campaign co-ordinator as "an attempt to increase the number of people on General Synod, both lay and clergy, who would take an inclusive line against discrimination on areas of gender, race and sexual orientation". [12]
The Church of England is the established Christian church in England, and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury.
LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
Since the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However, this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil, South Africa, South India, New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015, and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." "Church of England clergy have appeared to signal support for gay marriage after they rejected a bishops' report which said that only a man and woman could marry in church." The Church of England's 2019 General Synod was set to discuss a diocesan motion "to create a set of formal services and prayers to bless those who have had a same-sex marriage or civil partnership". At General Synod in 2019, the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain married and recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition provided that the spouses identified as opposite genders at the time of the marriage.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or, depending on the version of the bill, gender identity, by employers with at least 15 employees.
Affirming Catholicism, sometimes referred to as AffCath, is a movement operating in several provinces of the Anglican Communion, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. In the US, the movement is known as Affirming Anglican Catholicism (AAC). The movement represents a liberal strand of Anglo-Catholicism and is particularly noted for holding that Anglo-Catholic belief and practice is compatible with the ordination of women. It also generally supports ordination into the threefold ministry regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
The Corporate Equality Index is a report published by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as a tool to rate American businesses on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Its primary source of data are surveys but researchers cross-check business policy and their implications for LGBT workers and public records independently. The index has been published annually since 2002. Additionally, the CEI focuses on the positive associations of equality promoting policies and LGBT supporting businesses which has developed to reflect a positive correlation between the promotion of LGBT equality and successful organizations. Following the top 100 corporations that are publicly ranked under the CEI, participating organizations remain anonymous. For businesses looking to enforce and expand LGBT diverse and inclusive policies, the CEI provides a framework that allows businesses to recognize and address issues and policies that restrict equality for LGBT people in the workplace.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are among the most advanced in Europe.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Cyprus may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Cyprus since 1998, and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Albania may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, due in part to the lack of legal recognition for same-sex couples in the country and prevailing negative attitudes about LGBT people throughout society, although LGBT people in Albania are protected under comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. Both male and female same-gender sexual activities have been legal in Albania since 1995, but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-gender couples, with same-sex unions not being recognized in the country in any form.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) affirming religious groups, otherwise referred to as gay-affirming religious groups, are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBT members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBT members.
The Catholic Church considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a sin. This teaching has developed through a number of ecumenical councils and the influence of theologians, including the Church Fathers. The Catholic Church opposes the acceptance of homosexuality within Christian society.
Christian Concern is the trading name of CCFON Ltd, a not for profit advocacy group described as 'one of the most prominent evangelical organisations in the United Kingdom', reaching a mailing list of more than 43,000 people. Christian Concern seeks to introduce a more conservative Christian voice into law, the media, and government, and is linked to the Christian Legal Centre organisation.
Discussions of LGBT rights at the United Nations have included resolutions and joint statements in the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), attention to the expert-led human rights mechanisms, as well as by the UN Agencies.
The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
LGBT employment discrimination in the United States is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is encompassed by the law's prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sex. Prior to the landmark cases Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2020), employment protections for LGBT people were patchwork; several states and localities explicitly prohibit harassment and bias in employment decisions on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity, although some only cover public employees. Prior to the Bostock decision, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interpreted Title VII to cover LGBT employees; the EEOC determined that transgender employees were protected under Title VII in 2012, and extended the protection to encompass sexual orientation in 2015.
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) than the non-intersex population, with an estimated 52% identifying as non-heterosexual and 8.5% to 20% experiencing gender dysphoria. Although many intersex people are heterosexual and cisgender, this overlap and "shared experiences of harm arising from dominant societal sex and gender norms" has led to intersex people often being included under the LGBT umbrella, with the acronym sometimes expanded to LGBTI. However, some intersex activists and organisations have criticised this inclusion as distracting from intersex-specific issues such as involuntary medical interventions.
Jeremy Pemberton is a former Church of England priest who became the first to enter into a same-sex marriage in 2014. Before then, he had been an Anglican priest for over 30 years. Because same-sex marriages are not accepted by the Church, he was denied a job as a chaplain for the National Health Service by John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.