Should it matter that Durham might have Britain’s first gay Bishop?

After a recent piece revealed that Jeffrey John might become the next bishop of Durham. Ben Davies- Ramano questions whether sexuality should be an issue in the church .

| UPDATED

Jeffrey John is currently Britain’s most senior openly gay cleric, and has been tipped for promotion to Bishop of Durham.

Should his sexuality affect his chances of becoming the next bishop of Durham ?

In 2003, he was forced to stand down from becoming the Bishop of Reading after the revelation that he was in a committed same-sex partnership- some evangelicals argued that this made him unsuitable for the role. However, after legislation was introduced last year to protect from discrimination on the basis of sexuality, the Crown Nominations Commission, the body responsible for recommending suitable bishops to be appointed by the Prime Minister, cannot legally prevent a gay man from becoming a bishop.

Whilst gay clergy can now become bishops, there are a number of criteria they must meet. Not only must they promise to remain celibate, but they must also face interrogation about their previous sex life -and effectively repent any sexual activity. Not expressing repentance is a reason for rejection from the role.

It is hard to ignore the fact that here, that the church  has double standards in its treatment of heterosexual and gay clergy – I can’t imagine any straight clergy would have to face invasive questioning about their previous sex life.

Furthermore, it seems completely unreasonable to ask that an individual promises celibacy  when it really doesn’t impact their ability to fulfill the role of bishop well . Surely that is more down to personal attributes?

More conservative members of the church will no doubt see this highly personal interrogation as an essential part of the process ; perhaps ‘to put their minds at rest’ about having a gay Bishop. Yet it is highly disappointing that gay clergy must abide by any additional restrictions in the first place: can this really be seen as anything other than homophobia

It begs the question why someone would want to go through this process in the first place; why would an openly gay man jump through these homophobic hoops in order to be seen as suitable, despite the fact that sexuality really has no bearing on personality or the ability to perform well in a given role. If nothing else, it shows how committed Jeffrey John is to his work within the church that he would subject himself to this.

There are, of course, those who express the view that having a gay bishop goes against their traditional values, who perhaps  “don’t think it is quite right”. On the other hand, there are those who share the view that the church should embrace homosexual clergy, and their personal lives should remain private. It is almost humiliating having to disclose details of your past sex life in order to satisfy a panel, and I am certain that even if most people had to do this to get a job, they would likely write the job off.

Personal qualities and the ability to perform well as bishop are the only factors that should be considered in deciding who should become the Bishop of Durham. Holding the view that sexuality affects these characteristics in some way introduces homophobic discrimination, which really shouldn’t be an issue still in this day and age. It is terrible to think that someone may say, “he would make an excellent bishop, but it’s a shame he’s gay.”

It would be worth reporting on if it showed the forward-thinking progression of the church, however, in this case, this news seems only to highlight the potential for homophobic discrimination.

In view of all this, may the best man most suited to the role become Bishop of Durham, gay or not.