No option but to ordain

http://www.churchnewspaper.com/news.php?read=on&number_key=5794&title=No%20option%20but%20to%20ordain

[The Church of England Newspaper] November 11, 2005--On Wednesday, November 2, a Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa ordained three staff of The Co-Mission Initiative, the network of Anglican church-plants in South-West London, of which I am Senior Pastor, without the permission of the Diocesan Bishop, the Rt Rev Tom Butler. These were valid but irregular ordinations. There was considerable media interest so I welcome the opportunity to explain what we did and why. After a long period of disquiet, dating from the appointment of Rowan Williams to Canterbury, the Jeffrey John saga, the consecration of Gene Robinson and the inadequate response of the Windsor Report, the House of Bishops’ Statement on Civil Partnerships was, for us, a last straw. This document plainly requires us not to question the nature of the relationships of those coming for baptism, confirmation or Holy Communion who are in registered Civil Partnerships even though many are likely to be in practising homosexual relationships. This effectively bars us from the kind of patient and loving scriptural discipleship that we regard as fundamental to Anglican ministry....