Leader

A congregation responds with love

ORDINANDS preparing for Petertide might spare a few moments during their pre-ordination retreat to reflect on the one aspect of their ministry they have yet to encounter: their congregation. When the Revd Carol Stone returns to work at St Phillip's, Upper Stratton, in the autumn, she will do so only because her congregation gave its overwhelming support to her during her sex-change, or gender redesignation. Interviewed on Tuesday, Carol Stone, currently known as Peter, made it clear that the relationship between priest and congregation is all-important: "The level of care that I've been privileged to offer them for the past few years they've just paid back with dividends."
In an episcopally led, international Church, matters of theology and ethics cannot be decided by parishes alone. This is where the Revd Charles Raven, Team Vicar of St John's, in Kidderminster, has gone astray. On the other hand, parishes do have considerable leeway in ordering their own affairs in matters of worshipping tradition, outreach, and the use of parish funds, for example. But where morality and ethics are not seriously at issue, as in this case, the pastoral relationship comes to the fore. The objections raised by Reform and members of the Evangelical Alliance are mistaken. Gender dysphoria is simply a medical condition unrecognised in previous generations. The ignorance of the ancient Israelites should have no more influence upon us than the ignorance of, say, the Elizabethans.
The related argument that dysphoria sufferers should accept "God's created intent" is, by extension, a line of reasoning that rules out all medical intervention, and therefore manages to be thoughtless as well as heartless.
Reform's other point, that the Bishop of Bristol is "sanctioning scandal", is disproved by the reaction of the congregation at St Phillip's. There is no scandal among the people who know Mr Stone. Furthermore, his courageous openness has confounded any thoughts the tabloid press might have had of stoking up outrage against the small group of people who share his condition. Once again, the support of his family, his bishop, and the congregation at his church have given a lead.

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