What is the official Church of England statement on homosexual lay people and homosexual priests? Anyone help?

Question

I need this to help with my A-level ethics work so would be really helpful if someone could answer for me, or tell me where I can find the answer!! Thanks you :)

Answer 1

Good luck.

Read this....if this is clear to you, then you've got a better crystal-ball than I've got:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/listening/reports/england.cfm

Answer 2

I have read the contents of the link to which Father K referred.
My interpretation is something of the following, for which I would be grateful to others to point out any glaring mistakes.
The Church of England endorses and re-states its commitment to the sacrament of marriage as the ideal way of life. (Legal definition of marriage being the union of a man and a woman).
Whilst the Church follows the Bible teaching that homosexual acts are not to be encouraged at all, it nevertheless is an advocate for the fair and just treatment of gays in society. Gays should not be isolated, disapproved of, and certainly not discriminated against. Homosexuals who live single and chaste lives (in common with Heterosexuals who are single and chaste) are full and welcome members of Christ's Church.
It was interesting to note that in the 1950's, even though homosexuality was frowned upon with great fervour, the Church advocated the decriminalisation of those unjust laws regarding male homosexuality. I came to the conclusion that Anglican priests could be homosexual in orientation but required to live single and chaste lives (or chaste lives as part of civil partnership).

Answer 3

Lambeth Conference 1998: Resolution 1.10 Human Sexuality
1. commends to the Church the subsection report on human sexuality; 2 in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage; 3 recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ; 4 while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex;
5 cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions;
6 requests the Primates and the ACC to establish a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion and to share statements and resources among us; 7 notes the significance of the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Human Sexuality and the concerns expressed in resolutions IV.26, V.1, V.10, V.23 and V.35 on the authority of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality and asks the Primates and the ACC to include them in their monitoring process.
There have been systematic attempts to undermine this statement since that time culminating in the motion put forward by the Rev Mary Gilbert of the Lichfield Diocese who asked Synod to “respect the patterns of holy living which lesbians and gay Christians aspire” and “welcome and affirm lesbian and gay Christians, lay and ordained, valuing their contribution at every level of the Church”. (Synod meeting last February 2007).