Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So mine is the Kingdom of Heaven while I continue to be pursecuted by the "rightous" Christians

Dave Sparling, Swindon, Wilts

As an Anglican myself, I find it a real shame that the Anglican communion is being so divided by homosexuality or as one headline had it: 'Gay sex splits bishops.' I personally am not gay but biologists reckon that around one in ten people are and socially and culturally it has been with us for millennia, most notably during the golden age of Athens. In other words, it is not something that is going to go away, and as far as I'm concerned, the sooner the Anglican church starts dealing with this issue in a grown-up manner, the better.

Simon R. Gladdish, Swansea, Wales

Christ may have pointed out wrong from wrong. However this does not mean that we humans think we should do likewise. Its not respectful, it's pointing the finger! We are not Christ; therefore it's not for us to judge.

Love in the purest sense is a hard act to follow and will never be attained in this life, but love our neighbour (despite shortcomings, sexual or otherwise) as best we can is what we're instructed to do.

Some Christians need to get off their high and self righteous horses!!!

Alison Clegg, Oxfordshire, UK

God's laws, and the Bible when read as a whole, are not against homosexuality. Maybe those who refuse to love their neighbour should leave instead, if they really do not feel they can rub shoulders with people they consider to be sinners?

"If you do not like God's laws, then leave the congregation."

Tina, South Wales, UK

One can respect a so called "gay" individual while still telling him what he is engaged in is wrong and takes him away from Christ. To not tell him this would show that you don't respect him. Homosexualality is a cross to bear like any other. So take up your cross and follow Christ. Telling someone they are wrong when they are wrong is very respectful. Its what Christ did. Those "traditional" Epicsopals should come back to the Roman Catholic Church.

Steve, Kansas, USA

Are you confusing love with Lust / dc London

john, NEW YORK, USA

Ya Ya, there are plenty of gay Muslims in the UK, and they often meet to have sex in covert ways because their community forces them into unhappy marriages. Isn't it better to be open about something that exists in all societies and all religions and is a threat to no-one?

Mark, Brussels,

There is something very simple here. Become Catholic . . . . maintaining Tradition since AD 33. With all due respect, the Archbishop of Canterbury has no authority and cannot stop anything; this is something that Anglicans/Episcopalians lost when they ceded from the Church. Come home to a place where the truth is preached and the Gospel and all its implications trump a liberal, progressive, radical individualistic, PC mentality.

John, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

RE: "Could Archbishop Akintola be persuaded to study Gibbon's Decline and Fall? It should need more than a three year sabbatical."

More to the point, could ++Rowan be persuaded to to study Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire? He might find important parallels between the collapse of values, behaviour and morality in the latter stages of the Roman Empire and that which is rapidly accelerating in our own society.

Bill Channon (Expat), Francestown, USA NH

John--London--UK

You say we should read our New Testament. Romans is in the New Testament.

When Christ did not condemn the woman taken in adultery, He also told her "go and sin no more." (John 8:3-11).

Also in the New Testament: John 3:16,17,18.

You seem to want an "anything goes" Gospel and God. That is not what the New Testament says. For example, Christ's words to the disciples as He would send them forth, in Matthew 10:12-15.

New Testament paasages that seem timely in light of this story are Matthew 7:15-23 and Ist Timothy 4:1-2.

And John 12:45-48 points us to Revelation 20:10-15. All in the New Testament.

Yes, I agree--read the New Testament. I would add: then follow its commands.

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, SC / USA

Oops! I meant Archbishop Peter Akinola.

It is not the Archbishop of Canterbury's sincerity that should be questioned but his judgement. If the guest list for the secret Communion service on November 29 is to be seen only by Dr Williams, what is to stop the media, posing as the world and his or her same-sex wife, turning up in unchristian droves, claiming to have been invited? It may not only be the guest list that gets shredded afterwards. Unless of course it's a stroke of genius and his spirit-filled words, harnessed to Dostoevsky's, have the power to convert even Grub Street.

Patrick , London, UK

Although I agree Dostoevsky to be a great writer, might not Rowan Williams have done better to spend these three months investigating biblical teaching on homosexuality?

The fact that he didn't, merely illustrates the truth that for much of the Church of England, the Bible holds little interest as God-inspired Scripture. Historically, this situation is fairly new, and the 39 Articles of the Anglican Communion still do state that there "was never any doubt in the Church" of the authority of the Bible.

Perhaps there would not be so much division in the Anglican Church today, were those who do not actually believe this tenet to simply leave, and form a new organisation based on the 38 articles (or however many they can actually agree with).

James Barbour, Nottingham,

All of this would be simpler if the church were to admit, or better than that enunciate, that it has certainly no authority over morality in general nor the business of sexual relations.

Morality is set by community standards. In the first place, people decide it is immoral and unlawful to kill. In the second place, after a gap of hundreds of years, this item is included in the Ten Commandments. This is to say that religion usually incorporates moral law after they have been tried out in secular life.

Clergy are going around in circles. We get it. Significant numbers of clrgy are gay, even in churches that permit marriage. What would Jesus do? Live and let live. And why not?

Terry, Montreal, Canada

we have lost the plot....there is no such thing as a gay priest/vicar, one can only be a male priest/vicar. homosexuality is a sin no different than any other sin. with this in mind it is wrong of rowan williams to want to attend this meeting under the guise of his address as outlind above in the article. instead he needs to tell all that regardless as to what sins we do ,we can be forgiven if we truly repent and turn away from them......jesus died on the cross for all of us.

gordon, cleethorpes, uk

I am a devout Anglican, and I am glad that the Archbishop is addressing this painful issue. As for my beliefs (for what they are worth) I believe homosexuality is a sin, but that does not mean that I do not want homosexuals in my church. Jesus' mission was to us sinners, not the righteous.

Les, Lavendon, UK

If you do not like God's laws, then leave the congregation. Do not try to break laws that have stood the test of two thousand years. You have a choice. Sadly though, the congregations are getting smaller and only a major catastrophe will alter that such as the major war forecast by Nostradamus against the "Anti-Christ". Which, incidentally, he said the Christians would win.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

I am astonished!! How can a leader take three months off when the church is on the verge of imploding. To do this secretly indicates that something is seriously wrong. It is damaging. Why cannot those who do not honor the historic values of the church leave and establish their own organisation? That is what will inevitably happen. The Devil is having a field day and the Archbishop does not realise it.

Pro Allan Ashworth, York,

Congratulations to the Archbishop on holding this service for gay people.

The Bible does not say homosexuality is wrong. Certainly in Leviticus we read that there were provisions against homosexuality as part of Jewish law at the time. However, this is just a historical record, not an instruction to us. And there are many other Jewish laws which are widely unused today.

There have always been gay people in all aspects of church life. The people who are breaking with tradition are those who would see gay people suddenly excluded. There are many gay Christians, some of whom belong to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM).

A Church where people can disagree is far healthier than one which dictates what people must think, and parentally casts out anyone who does not toe the line.

Even if homosexuality was sinful (which I do not believe), we are all sinners anyway. If sinners were not allowed at church, none of us would be allowed in.

Tina, South Wales, UK

There have always been gay people, consequently gay clergy, and always will. The problem is that now no-one has any privacy so a big deal is made out of it, the inevitable downside to coming out.. If everyone was more discreet and minded their own business there would be no division on this issue. There are far more important things that should worry Christians and indeed if the A of C ignored the fact that some of his clergy are gay and concentrated on Christianity and social issues, there would be far less division.. (John Sentamu has a better sense of priority and whatever he might feel personally I doubt he would consider consenting adults' private lives to be worth commenting on.)
The C of E has always been a mixture of interpretations and opinions under one umbrella and it has worked. There is no reason why it should not continue to do so. If I was a clergyperson I imagine my pastoral work would be severely impaired by the focus on my sexuality. It is so unnecessary.

L Brown, London, UK

Enough of the Anglican Communion. What purpose does it serve? Best to leave the conservative "global south" to its own devices. I don't believe the Anglican Church should maintain a historic, colonially-based "communion" at the cost of its principles. The Archbishop of Canterbury is an incredible man and, in my opinon, shouldn't allow his agenda to be hijacked by small-minded bigotry from abroad. Let's focus on the real issues facing the world rather than who does what in their own bedrooms. Move on.

Alastair McHugh, London,

Since the Anglican church only exists in the first place because Henry VIII was a randy old git who wanted to dispose of his wives on a whim and loot the monasteries, any hand-wringing over morality by the members of this organization is nothing short of farce.

-jcr

John C. Randolph, Cupertino, California, USA

Interesting that most of the comments here come from the USA. As a daughter of a CofE Vicar (now deceased, and before his death already very disillusioned with the church he had served as a very good pastor) I have very little sense of faith in the current organized church. I do believe in the Nicene Creed, but think that the church itself has lost the plot. Very sad.

Sue Shaw, Morpeth, UK

It seems that the schism oriented priests and parishioners in the US now have more bishops per parish than anywhere else. Is it the style of some African provinces to have one bishop for every parish or two? No wonder Akinola cannot understand a democratic church. He likes creating new bishops beholding to him. Afterall, he wants to be Pope but just forget to change his church affiliation.

Bob Boyd, San Diego, USA/CA

The sooner the church splits, and the fundamentalist fringe follows their Nigerian 'leader', the better.

Mike Homfray, LIVERPOOL,

I agree with Mike Rogerson's comments. This lectionary year we have received many gospel accounts with hospitality as a theme - loving, open-armed embracing of others, especially the marginalized. If anything, God's gift to us, through Jesus, would have us all come together at the table. The good news is not about judgment, and refusing to take communion together. Dr. Williams is not only a great scholar, but his idea of providing a space to listen, and provide a space to meet and consider what a gift we have in our differences - the strength of the Anglican communion - is one all of us should share and in which we should invest ourselves. I also look forward to reading Dr. Williams' work on Dostoevsky.

Charles Riffee, St. Albans, USA/WV

I am a gay man and though many people, religious and otherwise, have attempted to convince me that I should be ashamed of my sexuality, I am extremely proud of it.

I’ve read the Bible, as well as many other religious texts, and I cannot deny that the Old Testament does, in a couple of different places, condemn homosexuality as a sin. That said, I’ve yet to find any place where Jesus himself condemns homosexuality. He preaches love, compassion and respect for all men, not ‘everyone but the gays’.

That said, I feel the Archbishop’s actions are ill-conceived. Society is becoming more tolerant, people are more ready to accept, but it is clear that many within the Anglican Church are not ready to accept openly gay clergy. Do I agree with them? Of course not, but we have to accept the realities of the situation.

In another decade or two attitudes will have changed. That may be the time to force this issue. Do it now and what we will see is the Anglican Church breaking in two – and a new Church forming on a foundation of homophobia. How could that ever be considered good, either for Christians or homosexuals?

Isaac, Edinburgh,

I am a gay man and though many people, religious and otherwise, have attempted to convince me that I should be ashamed of my sexuality, I am extremely proud of it.

I’ve read the Bible, as well as many other religious texts, and I cannot deny that the Old Testament does, in a couple of different places, condemn homosexuality as a sin. That said, I’ve yet to find any place where Jesus himself condemns homosexuality. He preaches love, compassion and respect for all men, not ‘everyone but the gays’.

That said, I feel the Archbishop’s actions are ill-conceived. Society is becoming more tolerant, people are more ready to accept, but it is clear that many within the Anglican Church are not ready to accept openly gay clergy. Do I agree with them? Of course not, but we have to accept the realities of the situation.

In another decade or two attitudes will have changed. That may be the time to force this issue. Do it now and what we will see is the Anglican Church breaking in two – and a new

Isaac, Edinburgh,

Well done to the Archbishop. Of course the Church should welcome everyone. All of us are only human and are in no fit position to judge anyone else, unless we are perfect ourselves.

Yes the Bible mentions homosexuality, but only in the context of the laws at the time when it was written. Jesus does not even mention it, so it does not seem to have been one of his priorities.

Tina, South Wales, UK

I keep reading comments from commentors indicating that Christianity is simply forgiveness, compassion and understanding. I do agree that Christianity imbues these attributes, but to stop there is doing a disservice to our Lord. When Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery he forgave her and showed her forgiveness, compassion and understanding. But then He said, "Go and sin no more". He didnt say, "Go and sin some more." People either leave out this important qualifier on purpose or are not aware of it.

The liberal leaning segment of the Anglican communion displays misguided compassion with respect to homosexuality. If they really loved their brothers and sisters battling with same sex attraction they would protect them from harm through fasting, sacrificing and praying for them instead of condoning their actions. A friend doesn't let a drunken friend drive if he cares about him. Only a "friend" who is apathetic allow that to happen. Love involves sacrifice...just look at Jesus.

Rich , Peabody, USA, MA

You can be understanding, loving, kind, and gentle toward the sinner, but the truth of the matter is that the Bishop still has the missionary obligation to speak the TRUTH OF CHRIST! God forbids sodomy and the only way to receive Holy Communion is to come to repentance of one's sins, stop offending God with active paticipation in the sin, and resolve to sin no more.

Cathy, Nashua, USA

Rowan Williams need to resign,if Anglicans want to continue they need to force him out-he has brought a lot harm to the Anglican Church.He should become the head of a secular atheist congregation.

GG, Derby, UK

Isn't Rev. also a Druid? I'd think what he is doing is incompatible with his position. Who is he serving and for what purpose?

Christian, Silver Spring, MD, USA

The Windsor Report is clear in stating that pro-gay Anglicans have walked away from the Communion. It is time we had a mature talk about dividing the Church between those who hold to the catholic and apostolic faith and those who wish to follow their "progressive theology". The talking is over.

James Martel, London, UK

The Holy Communion Service for Gay Clergy and Partners is long overdue. The abuse these people have suffered recently is a crime before God. There seems to be no way to stop Archbishop Akinola from being the Merchant of Hate that he is. Why doesn't someone call for his resignation?

Carroll , Edmonton, , Canada

I am intrigued by these exchanges as I am amazed by the obsession that people of faith have with what goes on within the walls of private bedrooms. Are they interpreting "Faith, hope and love, but above all love" in the wrong way I wonder?

DC, London,

High Church & Low Church, Straight Church and ???? Church

John Ledbury, Kings Lynn, England

Could Archbishop Akintola be persuaded to study Gibbon's Decline and Fall? It should need more than a three year sabbatical.

Patrick , London, UK

Dr Rowan Williams is, publicly at least, one of the very very few religious men that I have any respect for at all. Modern, sincere and understanding, his Christianity is the only Christianity that can survive without recourse to violence in the long term. His is a forgiver, a lover and an understander and these qualities, if we are to believe many centuries of Church propaganda, are those which show a Christian to be morally and spiritually above others.

Rather than mock his position, or disagree with whatever fragmentation of the Church may or may not occur as a result, Christianity needs to be looking beyond the hold of dogma and organised religion which has, in any case, used the spirit as a tool for its own ends. Christianity is about forgiveness, compassion and understanding and I see little evidence of those qualities on this board.

Dr Williams is not hijacking a faith, but directing it from whence it should have come.

Mike Rogerson, Plymouth, England,

I think the Archbishop and the gay clergy should read their Bibles again - Romans 1:21-32. That settles the issue for me!

Sophie, Nairobi,

Herbert Thornton. As a Pagan I object to being tarred with the same brush as the PC mob. Like many Anglican Church members, many Pagans believe that homosexuality is an abomination and a sin. It is now Politically Incorrect to say so, and can lead to being convicted for expressing deep felt beliefs. Political Correctness has nothing whatsoever in common with Pagans, or for that matter Druidism either.

Beryl, WINDSOR, England

PC has no place in the Church - it never WAS necessary there.
Now that Government has extended it's Policies and control into the Church, the people are rebelling against Government - NOT the Church, as such.

But the only way the People can show it's disdain for Government interference in the Church is by disagreeing with the PC policies now within the Church.

In order that our Church does not dissolve completely, perhaps there should be separate Churches for separate Christian tenets with regard to PC issues.
Government should consider the level of anger towards them by this interference. They have lost many Voters over this...

Tez Anderson, Derby, UK

I pray for all members of the Church of England to recognise God's law and will better and have the courage to put it in their daily lives. Of course, I have to point out that sex was created by God and God alone has the right to tell us how to use it to please him and attin heaven after death. Sex is blessed by God only it if is used in marriage, that is between one man and one woman. All uses of sex outside marriage is a grave sin that puts one on the way to hell. By God's grace this is possible.

Joe Zammit, Paola, Malta

I have read such ghastly responses here that I wonder if any of those who profess to be Christians understand the first word of Jesus Christ. Such hateful views of their fellow human beings based on sexual persuasion. Schism! - bring it on. Who0 would wish to be part of such a church whose congregation is so self righteousness and excluding. Try reading the New Testament rather than clinging to the rantings of the Old Testament. And for those who think we asould believe everything in the Bible, please! Read the Origin of Species. You are truly frightening in your ignorance.

John, London, UK

Why cannot those who disagree with the historic tenets of a church simply leave and form their own? Why must they believe it is their sworn duty to destroy the happiness of a church's congregation with their anger, discontent, and divisiveness?

Bob Evans, Anaheim, California

Delighted that Rowan Williams has such control of his diary that he can take three months off to spend time with Dostoevsky.

I am confident that he will return refreshed and with renewed wisdom to bring to bear on the pressing, if overblown, squabbles of the Anglican communion.

Eugene Peterson praises the 'Unbusy Pastor' (see 'The Contemplative Pastor'). I hope that Dr Williams can remain so.

Duncan MacLaren, Edinburgh, www.dunc.info

The problem with the Anglican Church is that it is faced with more than a mere schism. It has been infiltrated by the new, and completely different, Pagan religion of Political Correctness which is trying to hijack it.

You can either be a Christian or you can be an adherent of this new Paganism complete with a clergy of Politically Correct Druids - but not both.

Rowan Williams gives the impression that he is a long time convert to Political Correctness. If that impression is accurate, he ought not to occupy the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. Nor should the new Druids be allowed to steal any Anglican Church property.

Herbert Thornton, Victoria, Canada

At a time when the Anglican Church is facing its most serious crisis in some hundreds of years, just what on earth is the Archbishop of Canterbury doing taking a 3 month holiday and sabbatical, apparently writing an "important" study of Dostoyevsky? Where is the leadership? Where is the sense that he is presiding over a ship heading for the rocks? And why, at a time when tensions and passions are running so high, does he agree to host this most divisive event? Clearly, he has no judgement, and should be removed forthwith.

James Bulloch, Ramsey, UK

I am amazed by the foolishness of all this breathless concern with recognizing the reality of homosexuals in the Church of England (as well as many, if not most, of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion).

These people have been part of the Church for centuries, if indeed not millennia, and the blessing now is that we are focusing upon committed loving relationships, and not trysts in the night (whether by heterosexuals or by homosexuals, each of which would be nominally "single" and theoretically "celibate.")

My wife and I have been in various parishes, over the past thirty years, where some parishioners were understood to be gay/lesbian, as well as where one or more members of the clergy were often expected to be just that.

Who cares? It is not a central issue of faith, but a disputed element of human sexuality and it is deeply secondary to the mission given by Christ.

Hurrah for the ABC, and for the facing of reality rather than dwelling in fantasy.

Gerard K Hannon, Huntington, New York USA

Yet another disgraceful nail in the coffin of Anglican belief. Why do these pompous bishops feel the need for populism - the churches are almost empty anyway. The real believers in what our Church stands for will finally realise that PC has pervaded the last place for spirirual comfort. Shame on the man. This is in sharp contrast to the gradual filling of the Orthodox churches here, and my word, this country has had much to survive in the last fifteen years, following on with further hardship of war and sanctions after the communist restrictions.

John Howells, Beograd, Serbia

The good Dr. Williams might profitably spend more time meditating on Romans Chapter 1. If one believes the Bible is true, this cannot be bypassed. If one believes the Bible is not true, why should one even bother to be a member of an organized religion that holds itself out to be Christian?

The Bible either says what it means and means what it says--or it doesn't. If it does, then the individual who holds himself or herself out as a Christian must follow its truths, no matter how inconvenient. If it doesn't, it is just another nice book.

The good Dr. Williams and others cannot have it both ways.

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, SC / USA

The orthodox "Anglicans" here in the US, who refuse communion with those with whom they have differences, and who have perfected the art of clandestine meetings, will surely decry this.

Frank Mullen III, Aledo, Illinois, USA

My dad, now deceased, was a long time member of the Falls Church, Episcopal, in Falls Church, Virginia, part of the conservative, American wing of the Church of England. The same parish that counted George Washington among its members at one time were all slave holders who eventually fought against Emancipation in the U.S. Civil War in the 19th Century--the bloodiest war in our history. I don't see any hope for these folks changing their mind in the current consciousness raising concerning gays and lesbians. The group is now struggling at a fever pitch to keep ownership of the valuable church property, but they are otherwise as good as gone from the Episcopal Church USA. It's a schism of major proportions, for sure. Their son, a gay man, became a Quaker.

Mark, Shepherdstown, USA

Celebrating homoerotic sex by the Christian eucharist has to a macabre and grotesque piece of theatre, a truly sectarian rite of a pagan nature.
The Archbishop needs to examine his conscience and cancel this weird ritual, hold a seminar instead.
He is basically blessing the homosexual act in a Canaanite sex celebration. It is certainly highly offensive to all Muslims.

Ya Ya, Dalston, UK