By Victor Ochieng
The Church of England is considering the possible inclusion of a service that allows transgender persons to be re-baptized under their newly-acquired identity and names. Reports indicate that Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, recently suggested the idea to the General Synod after a girl who now identifies as a boy allegedly approached him, wishing to be baptized again under her male name.
Newlands apparently told the transgender child that being baptized once is enough, but the girl replied, “But I was baptized as a girl, under a different name.”
Perplexed, Newlands told that child to let him think about it. “So we did, and then we created a service, which was an affirmation of baptismal vows where we could introduce him to God with his new name and his new identity,” he said.
Soon afterwards, Newlands proceeded to submit a motion to be considered by the church.
The motion read, “That this Synod, recognizing the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person’s gender transition.”
The parochial church council, the Deanery Synod and the Blackburn Diocese approved the motion. It is scheduled to be debated by the General Synod. But since there are many other topics lined up for consideration, it may take some time before the issue is eventually discussed.
“I wanted to bring it to the General Synod as a commitment that bishops will take seriously, and for them to take the next step of getting a liturgy which parish priests can use for people who do the transition where they can be affirmed in the church,” Newlands said.
However, Andrew Symes of the Anglican Mainstream was of a different opinion, saying that the proposal is in contradiction of Christian beliefs.
“To recognize all people is something the church should be doing, but to have a service of blessing for someone to change their gender is a new idea,” Symes said. “The Christian faith has always taught that people are created male and female.”
Symes went on to say, “We are aware there are a number of people who want to change from one gender to another, and that’s a new thing for the church to deal with. It would be something that would go against the teachings of the church up till now.”
The Church of England has argued over female ordination until last year. Some stated that restricting church leadership to men alone isn’t any different from the Islamic Sharia law. For the first time in its history, the denomination ordained their first female bishop in January, amid opposition.
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