The Church of England shows . . . Courage? (Not so much.)

When one thinks of the Church of England, one may think of many things, glorious cathedrals, beautiful music, perhaps the megalomaniac Henry VIII. 

But one probably does not think of courage.  Instead, jokes about spineless bishops may come to mind.

So the just released paper by the CofE Church and Order Commission is remarkable.  In the midst of much pressure from inside and outside the church to give into the current zietguiest in support of gay marriage, the commission dares to affirm that marriage is of God and between a man and a woman and not other diverse combinations.

Yeah, I was about to post that and more in praise of actual courage from the Church of England on the subject of gay marriage even. 

But one must read between the lines when parsing statements from the Church of England.  And after Giles Fraser does so, he seems pleased:

Rev Dr Giles Fraser, a leading liberal cleric, said that it was clear from the document that the Church’s stance had shifted even if the official policy had not.

“What this is saying is that you can bless civil partnerships as long as you don’t say that is what you are doing," he said.

“They are winking at people like me saying ‘be creative’ – it is a classic Anglican fudge.

“In effect what it is saying is you can do it as long as you don’t say that is what you are doing – call it something different, be as imaginative as you can.

“But the truth is this is how change happens in the Church of England.”

And if Giles Fraser is pleased . . .

*sigh*  I really wanted to say something nice about the Church of England, too.

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A hat tip to Stand Firm for ruining my post.