n/a

The church needs sexual healing

By Press Office
December 1, 2013

Ekklesia associate Savitri Hensman will be appearing on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme, and then on local station Radio Berkshire, on the morning of Sunday 1 December – talking about the Pilling report on sexuality in the Church of England, and hopefully getting the chance to mention her own important Ekklesia research paper, 'Church views on sexuality: recovering the middle ground'.

"While not embracing full inclusion at present, [Pilling] marks a step forward in calling for a more welcoming attitude and recognising that there are strong theological arguments both for and against recognising same-sex partnerships," writes Savitri of the Church of England House of Bishops Working Group on human sexuality, chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling.

The message is clear: the churches need healing in their contentions over sexuality, if they are to recover a sense of perspective and respect in relation to the core message of the Gospel, that of transformatory love.

On this occasion, Savitri will be wearing her hat as vice-chair of the board of trustees for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM). Her Guardian columns can be found here (http://www.theguardian.com/profile/savitrihensman), her Greenbelt talks here (http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/media/talks/contributor:savitri-hensman/) and her Ekklesia columns and blogs here (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/news/columns/hensman) and here (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/blog/13).

* On Pilling: C of E should be more welcoming, sexuality report urges: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19550

* Church views on sexuality: recovering the middle ground: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19512

Although the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia, the article may reflect Ekklesia's values. If you use Ekklesia's news briefings please consider making a donation to sponsor Ekklesia's work here.