The bishop coadjutor-elect of the Anglican Diocese Father Laish Boyd has accused the church of failing to be honest on the homosexuality issue, but said there are many other matters that the church is not being upfront about.
His frank disclosure came while he appeared as the special guest on the Love 97 programme “Jones and Company” yesterday, days before his consecration planned for Christ Church Cathedral in Nassau.
It also came days after American Anglican clergy and lay leaders rejected a request to stop electing gay bishops, pushing the Anglican Communion closer to a possible schism.
While pointing to the churchﾒs teaching on homosexuality, Father Boyd said, “The church is open to everyone, but the reality is the whole question of sexuality is one area in which I donﾒt think the church has been very honest.
“Now why do I say that? We know that homosexuality is a reality, that it is something that occurs in six or seven percent of the human population. It is a subject that we as a church seem to be afraid to discuss. We cannot deny that there are many, many persons who live struggling with this reality.”
When asked whether he would allow an openly gay Anglican person to be ordained a priest, he said, “That would present some difficulties. That would present some difficulties because the traditional teachings of the church on the question of sexuality has been, as it is, that homosexuality is wrong.
“We really need to be careful that we honour the traditional teachings of the church while at the same time we are prepared to be compassionate and we are prepared to affirm the gifts that everybody has. Thatﾒs all Iﾒm prepared to say at this time.”
But he said more when pressed by the showﾒs host, Wendall Jones.
“The church needs to be a place where we encourage persons to be honest with themselves and also to understand the very complex issue of human sexuality because human sexuality is not a simple issue. It is very, very complex and I think the church needs to be a place where we encourage that honest discussion so that we may help our people to be their full selves and to learn how to love and accept themselves,” Father Boyd said.
He added, “I think the church in general has a traditional teaching which is something we must hold to, but at the same time I think the church needs to be a place where there is more honesty and more honest inquiry not just on this issue, but on a whole range of other issues.”
Father Boyd pointed to other issues on which he said the church has failed to be honest. These, he said, include gender equality, and issues relating to justice in the society.
“We only need to look in the Bahamian society on any number of issues where the church really has not been very honest or has not helped people to be as honest as they ought,” Father Boyd said.
His comments on “Jones and Company” were by far his most controversial public comments since he emerged as the successor to Archbishop Drexel Gomez after an intensive round of voting at the Holy Trinity Activity Centre in February.
In March, the House of Bishops in Barbados agreed to hold the ordination and consecration of Father Boyd on June 29.
As of that date, he will provide Episcopal assistance to the diocese on a schedule fixed by the diocese, according to Archbishop Gomez.
As the bishop coadjutor-elect, Father Boyd is also expected to participate in ordinations and confirmations and attend diocesan meetings and functions.
He will be the voice for the Anglican community in the country when the Archbishop retires in 2008.
For now, the future of the Communion and its unity continue to generate discussion.
During an interview with The Bahama Journal in April, Archbishop Gomez said he still feared a split in the Anglican Communion three years after delegates of the Episcopal General Convention in the United States approved the election of V. Gene Robinson, a homosexual, as bishop of New Hampshire a few years ago.
The archbishopﾒs comments in April came after the Episcopal Church, the American arm of the Anglican denomination, released a report which was expected to form the basis of the formal response to the 2004 Windsor Report, which contains findings of the Lambeth Commission.
That Commission studied issues like ordination of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.
“What the rest of the Communion is saying to the Episcopal Church is ﾑwe donﾒt approve of [the ordination of gay clergy.] We donﾒt believe this is in keeping with the gospel and we are asking you to give a commitment not to do thisﾅif you wish to live in communion with the rest of us,” explained Archbishop Gomez, who was a member of the Lambeth Commission.
At the time, he also said, “From the recent reports I have received, I think members of the Episcopal Church will make a genuine effort to try to address the concerns. I personally believe they will not go as far as I would like them to go.”
Archbishop Gomez said that some Anglicans are doubtful that the issues could ever be resolved satisfactorily for all concerned.
During the radio programme yesterday, Mr. Jones asserted that the value system in the country is being lost.
“How do you bring people back to the value system that you grew up on?” Mr. Jones asked the co-adjutor bishop.
Father Boyd said there is always room to bring people back to “good values”.
“We cannot deny that we live in a world where there is too much materialism and where the dollar is more often than not the most important guiding principle, but if we promote and continue to proclaim the message of Christ, encourage people to change their lives and reorder their lives to make room for God in their lives, if we do that, change can come,” he said.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
