The Beautiful Story

Following on the heels of the Church of England’s ‘Living in Love and Faith’ (see here) is a 32-minute video from the Church of England Evangelical Council – ‘The Beautiful Story’.

According to the blurb:

‘Christians believe that the gospel is good news for all people and for all time. But since the narratives of our contemporary culture don’t always echo a biblical worldview, the church needs to be clear about how the gospel challenges and transforms human experience – including in our relationships and sexuality. The Beautiful Story is a 30 minute film that explains how a biblical vision for human sexuality is good for individuals, the church and society as a whole. It is intended to galvanise and support discussion in local churches around sexuality and relationships and to provide the case for what many call a traditional Christian viewpoint.’

Update: The CEEC has provided (here) some background on the video, along with a message to clergy and lay leaders about using it in parishes, with a promise of a shortened version of the film to come in the near future.

Living in Love and Faith

Several years in the making – and not without controversy – the Church of England has today released a set of resources on Living in Love and Faith, billed as ‘Christian teaching and learning about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage’.

The main website is here, which has more information about the project, and from where the Living in Love and Faith Learning Hub can be accessed (including access to the book, podcasts, a course with films and discussion questions, and other resources) in return for an email address.

Update: Andrew Goddard (a consultant on the Co-Ordinating Group of Living in Love and Faith) provides a very helpful introduction and overview here: ‘LLF for Dummies: 10 FAQs about the Church of England’s new teaching and learning resources on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.’

Further Update: A pdf of the full book can be downloaded here.

Church of England Evangelical Council on Human Sexuality

The Church of England Evangelical Council has produced a short-ish document – ‘Human Sexuality: Thinking It Through Biblically’ – available as a pdf here.

It seeks to offer brief responses to several questions and statements that are being raised by people in local churches, such as:

We all read Scripture from our own position – it does not speak ‘on its own’.

This is who I am. God made me this way – who am I to reject or change it?

Equality and justice demand recognition of non-heterosexual relationships.

Mission demands that we change our ‘out of date’ position.

Scripture isn’t clear on a number of issues regarding human sexuality.

Inclusivity is the Jesus way.

We must avoid schism – unity is the source of blessing.

Slaves/women/homosexuality... it’s a right and inevitable trajectory of increasing freedom and justice.