Anglican Church Instructs Clergy to Address Transgender by Their Chosen Name and Pronoun
The Church of England issued today a Pastoral Guidance document that instructs Anglican clergy to unconditionally welcome and affirm transgender people into the faith while addressing them by their chosen names and pronouns as opposed to their birth names. The documents states,
The Church of England welcomes and encourages the unconditional affirmation of trans people, equally with all people, within the body of Christ, and rejoices in the diversity of that body into which all Christians have been baptized by one Spirit.
The document which will be incorporated into Common Worship continues,
If a transgender person is not already baptized, then baptism itself would be the natural liturgical context for recognizing and celebrating their identity in Christ and God’s love for them. Where such a person has already been baptized, the House of Bishops commends the rite of Affirmation of Baptismal Faith as the central feature of any service to recognize liturgically a person’s gender transition.
The Anglican Church is part of a highly shifting Evangelical denomination with one prominent homosexual priest, Sam Allberry of Living Out, who is popular in Southern Baptist circles, promoting the idea that most people’s aberrant sexual orientation will not change upon salvation or sanctification, therefore, two people of the same sex can live in physically romantic relationships together so long as they stop short of bodily penetration and still be pleasing to God.
Of course, this is unbiblical nonsense and should be repudiated by any Bible-believing Christian that holds to the central tenets of the faith, including the fact that one who is saved is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
This guidance issued by the Anglican Church serves only to give people a false hope while they continue to stand condemned before God. It states,
Everyone’s journey through life is unique. Baptism is the place where we find our true identity in Christ. As with all pastoral encounters with people negotiating major life events, ministers will wish to respond sensitively and creatively to the person’s circumstances. Trans people are as diverse as any other social group and ministers should avoid stereotyping. It is appropriate, however, to identify the preference of a transgender person in respect of their name and gendered (or other) pronouns.
The truth is, everyone’s journey is the same. We are all fallen, all born in rebellion against God, and all seek our own way instead of God’s (Proverbs 14:12). But the only way we can find true identity in Christ is to repent of our sin and believe in Him.
The Anglican Church isn’t interested in the truth.
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