An Anglican lay
preacher in England has been banned from the pulpit in his parish after
encouraging 
parishioners to oppose gay marriage – in line with the official teaching
of the Church of England.
Peter Gowlland, 78,
was accused of sowing discord among worshippers at the liberal-leaning All
Saints Church in Sanderstead, Surrey, by inviting them to sign a petition
against the Government plans to introduce same-sex weddings, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Despite being told by
his Archdeacon to “withdraw” from ministry for two months as a result, Church
authorities insisted that he had “not been suspended”.
The retired science
teacher said that a fellow lay reader told him “we don’t do that here” when he
set out a pile of leaflets promoting the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord
Carey’s Coalition For Marriage before a Sunday service last
month.
Matters came to a
head shortly during the service when he urged parishioners in his sermon to be
“bold like the apostles” and register their opposition to the redefinition of
marriage.
The Rt Revd David
Atkinson, the retired Bishop of Thetford, who was leading the worship, stepped
in to advise that the service was “not the correct time and place” to discuss
the bitterly contentious issue, according to Mr Gowlland.
The incident was not
mentioned again until just over a week later when Mr Gowlland went what he
thought would be a routine meeting with the Revd Canon Dr Barry Goodwin, the
acting Archdeacon of Croydon, to have his licence to preach
renewed.
Instead he was
accused of “bouncing” the issue on the church, which currently does not have a
full-time vicar, without consulting the other lay preachers and wardens, leading
to a “regrettable” public show of disunity.
He was asked to stand
aside although no action will be taken against the women who stood up to object
to his sermon.
Although some Church
of England figures have publicly supported gay marriage, the official position
of the Church is opposed and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have both
spoken against the proposal.
Mr Gowlland said last
night: “I have been a reader for almost 50 years and I have never heard of
anything like this.
“People get suspended
for the usual vicar and choirboy sort of thing but I’ve never heard of anyone
being suspended because people don’t like what you said or the way that you said
it.
“That’s the point of
being a preacher, you preach what you think God wants you to say, the
congregation don’t have to agree with you.
“This has been one of
the strengths of the Church of England, that it will accept and tolerate people
with different opinions.”
In a carefully worded
letter to Mr Gowlland the following day Dr Goodwin said that there was
“potential for disunity” at the church following the sermon and insisted the
problem was not with what he said but “the way” he raised the
issue.
“I asked you to
withdraw from preaching and leading worship for two months, just to let the dust
settle and in no way am I wishing or suggesting we suspend or revoke your
[licence].
“The parish is in a
vacancy and we have not been successful in finding a person to lead the team and
I am endeavouring to reduce the tensions a long vacancy
brings.”
Mr Gowlland lodged an
appeal against his suspension with the Bishop of Southwak, the Rt Revd
Christopher Chessun, but received a reply insisting that he had not been
“suspended” but simply asked to take a “cooling off period to create space for
reflection”.
Mr Gowlland said last
night that the pains taken to avoid calling his suspension a suspension were
“Orwellian”.
A spokesperson for
the Diocese of Southwark said: ”The Reader
in question has not been suspended.
“Some members of the
congregation had raised some pastoral concerns with the Archdeacon and he
discussed these with the Reader. During the meeting it became clear that there
are disagreements within the parish concerning how some matters are
handled.
“The Bishop of
Southwark has put measures in place to try to resolve the difficulties within
the parish. The issue is not about the traditional view of marriage but related
to matters of church order and authority during an
interregnum.”
Meanwhile, senior
Tories have suggested that significant losses suffered by the Conservatives in
Thursday’s council election are in part due to David Cameron’s plans to legalise
same-sex marriage.
Gerald Howarth, a
Government Minister Mr Cameron needed to “listen to some of the concerns” that
the party is not being conservative enough
on traditional issues.
“There are issues,
for example, like the proposals for gay marriage,” he told the BBC. “A lot of
Conservatives have written to me saying ‘I am a lifelong Conservative, there is
no mandate for this, why is this being proceeded with?’.
A poll carried out
towards the end of last month showed that the Conservative Party could lose up
to 30 Parliamentary seats and over 1.1 million votes if it continues with plans
to redefine marriage, according to the Daily Express.
The poll, conducted
by ComRes, shows that the party’s support for gay marriage is alienating former
Tory voters. For every disaffected Tory supporter attracted back to the party,
it loses almost three because of its stance on the
issue.