Saturday, May 23, 2015

Church of England to consider transgender naming ceremony

The Church of England is to debate plans to introduce a ceremony akin to a baptism to mark the new identities of Christians who undergo gender transition.

The Rev Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, has proposed a motion to the General Synod to debate the issue, after he was approached by a young transgender person seeking to be “re-baptised” in his new identity.

The motion, which was passed by Blackburn Diocese last month, calls on the House of Bishops to consider whether it should introduce a new service to mark the milestone in the life of a trans person. A spokesperson for the Archbishops’ Council confirmed that the motion had been received, but said it would not be debated imminently. 

Newlands urged the church to take the lead on welcoming a group that suffered high levels of discrimination. 

Read the rest here.

4 comments:

Matushka Anna said...

Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder...

lannes said...

It could be called "Baptism Light".

Nikolaus said...

It's no excuse, the Church of England has been complicit in its own demise; but it is my understanding the CofE ministers are legally obligated to baptize anyone and everyone. Ministers of the CofE are ministers of the State. They are legally bound to uphold whatever is legally permissible.

Archimandrite Gregory said...

Ho hum! Just one more hurdle to be won by liberalism: consent of children to be sexually active with adults. It is out there in the wings by the same crowd who brought about same sex unions. Lord have mercy!