THE decision of Jeffrey John to withdraw his acceptance of his appointment can bring no pleasure to anyone.

He has been the unwilling focus of a controversy in which it has been very clear that if ever there was any dialogue on the subject of human sexuality and the Church, such a dialogue has hardly begun.

I have been on the receiving end of a considerable postbag from both sides and what has been deeply disturbing has been the acrimonious way in which people have expressed themselves. Ignorance, bigotry and homophobia are still very much alive. No wonder gay and lesbian people feel unwelcome in the Church.

We need to remember that the Lambeth Resolution quoted in respect of this appointment also encouraged us all to listen to “the experience of homosexual persons to assure them that they are loved by God”.

This appointment has touched on a debate on which the Church is deeply divided. It has placed the Archbishop of Canterbury in an invidious position and I am aware how deeply he has agonised over it.

There are proper and legitimate arguments on all sides of the debate on human sexuality. That debate must continue.

Discernment of the will of God in these matters demands much hard work and prayer. We need to remember that we are talking about people, and that aspect which touches most deeply on the individual’s being as a person created in the divine image and likeness.

There can be no excuse for the way in which almost every aspect of Jeffrey John’s life has been subject to the most intrusive scrutiny. I want to assure him of my prayers at this time.

If anything good at all can come out of these past few weeks, I hope we might learn again the difficult business of Christian discourse, which, above all else, is not characterised by the making of statements and the issuing of pronouncements but rather by courtesy, respect and a real readiness to be truly open to the presence and voice of God.

We all need to repent — the whole Church — that we might find a better way forward in continuing by God’s mercy and God’s grace to live together and honour each other even in the times of deepest division.

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