Enduring stigmatisation now illegal in secular society, gay clergy explain their motivation for remaining within the hypocritical Church of England.
Enduring stigmatisation now illegal in secular society, gay clergy explain their motivation for remaining within the hypocritical Church of England.
Christian church (general), Gay studies, Religion (general)
Based on detailed analysis of interviews with gay clergymen, and also with retired heterosexual clergymen whose ministries span the period since the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, Transcendent Vocation provides specific examples to back up the contention that the approach of the Church of England to homosexuals has increasingly been characterised by hypocrisy. It considers why gay men wish to work within an organisation that treats them with such negativity, especially now that such discrimination is illegal in secular society. The prime conclusion is that they do so because of their “Transcendent Vocation” – a conviction of having been called to the ministry by God that is so strong that it enables them to transcend all the hypocrisy and negativity that they encounter.
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Sarah Maxwell has two aims: to expose “the many forms of hypocrisy operated by the Church of England in its approach to gay clergy”; and to find out how gay clergy managed to transcend all the negativity and stigmatisation directed towards them. The title of the book is the answer to that question. Readers will feel the pain and frustration of her interviewees “from the inside”. Perhaps, more impressively, they will admire the “transcendent vocation” of those priests who continue to minister despite the disgraceful prejudice shown to them. Their testimony deserves to be listened to most by the people who are most unwilling to hear it. ~ Dr Adrian Thatcher, Church Times
This is a book that is long overdue. It will not make for comfortable reading for all who share the Christian faith. It has been written with a tender pen and as a result is a fascinating journey which takes us into the heart of those who are Gay and Christian. ~ The Revd Peter Owen Jones, Religious writer and broadcaster
In the future, this book will be a valuable compendium of primary resources for researchers, but for the general reader now, it will have a much more immediate impact: it is a careful and honest chronicle of the malevolent silliness of the Church of England’s current stance over same-sex relationships, and of the love and service which gay clergy continue to offer the Church despite everything. ~ The Revd Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch , Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford.
Another helpful ingredient in the process of showing bishops and others who need to understand where gay clergy actually are in the Church, that healthy ministry by gay clergy continues in spite of Issues as policy. ~ The Revd Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude
Dr Maxwell’s research analyses the systemic hypocrisy with which the Church of England treats its gay clergy and the widespread damage it has caused. By trying to appease a minority of extremists in the name of unity, it has scapegoated the honest, undermined its integrity and compromised its mission. The book's conclusion is an urgent call for leadership with the moral courage to tell the truth, and a new policy which respects the conscience of all. ~ The Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans
