Movement 124

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other voices, other
worlds: the SIobaI
church speaks out
on homosexuatff
Edited by Terry Brown, Darton,
Longman & Todd, 814.99
the voices
offered here
break down the
polarity of the
liberal north
atBinst the
conservative
south
Claire Chalnters is a student at
Oxford University.
Terry Brown opens his introduction with the caveat that it's'difficult to say what new
enlightenment another book will bring' in the continuing controversy on homosexuality
within the Anglican church. Nevertheless, the essays he has edited make for interesting
and often startling reading, not least for those unfamiliar with the voices of the global
church, usually muffled in mainstream coverage of the issue. All of the essays are accessible,
providing you with the information needed to understand the wider theological,
cultural and personal points they make as you read. Each of the writers offers a distinctive
viewpoint and they write from across the global South, Uganda, Cuba, lndia,
Brazil, Japan and New Zealand being among the territories represented.
The viewpoints that they offer seem an important intervention in the deep divisions
within the Anglican Communion which have been caused by differing attitudes towards
homosexuality within its broad church of theological opinion. The voices offered here
break down the polarity of the liberal North against the conservative South which has
come to characterise the schism. Although the second Anglican Encounter in the South
declared that Cod willed human sexuality be'expressed only within the life-long union
of a man and a woman in (holy) matrimony', the voices from the South which speak
out in this volume call for the inclusion of different expressions of sexuality within the
Christian community.
lndeed, as you read through the essays, it becomes increasingly clear that the 'other
voice'allowed to speak within this collection is not only that of the global South, but
that of the gay or lesbian Christian active in the life of their church. ln a nunrber of essays,
authors pause to offer their own personal experience of finding their place in the
ministry of the church as gay or lesbian believers. Thus, throughout the volume, readers
are reminded that, as one contributor points out, 'gays are active members of society ...
involved in their communities and churches', even though they may have been forced
to make a public secret of their sexuality.
As this volume ranges across a number of different societies, it gathers together nraterial
of interest to the general reader as well as the Christian reader. Read together or dipped
into, these essays offer snapshots of the global position and struggles of the gay and lesbian
community. A continuous thread between them is the influence of the colonial past.
lndeed, the reader is quickly reminded that the encounter of North and South through
colonialism continues to shape national and cultural psyches across the globe, making
visible the wider social, cultural and political forces which are at work in the debate.
The theology of the issue is also subject to much consideration. A number of different
understandings of biblical interpretation coalesce in the affirmation that its teaching
cannot be understood properly if we read only fragments or without context. Further,
authors offer up new readings which affirm inclusivity and understanding. One contributor,
who is herself the head of an Anglican theological college, argues forthe need
to move away from a theological entrenching of positions. lnstead, Christians should
develop a standpoint based on'relationality', building between people and identities.
Only in building'bridges of loyalty across ethnic, gender, sexual and other differences'
can we make sure we 'care enough about people who are different from ourselves to
stop us from using those differences to dest'oy one another.'
ln this voice we find a concept of healing, reconciliation and communion which is
very different from that the Windsor Report of 2004, the Anglican church's most recent
consideration of how to heal the division within itself. The report regretted the actions
taken by the Episcopal Church (USA) in consecrating a gay bishop, and by the diocese
of New Westminster in approving the blessing of same-sex unions, recognising those
parts of the Anglican Communion not yet ready to accept such moves and continuing
to deny the homosexual community as an integral part of the life of the faith. Thus,
as gay and lesbian Christians continue to be held on the margins of the church as the
other, Brown's volume offers a timely opportunity for the global church to speak out on
homosexuality. O
30 movement