WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD.

Church strives to lose fuddy-duddy image on sex (Jonathan Petre, Telegraph, 7/30/03)

The Church of England sought to shed its puritanical image on sexual issues yesterday in a report that could pave the way for further liberalisation.

Its Doctrine Commission admits that the Church has 'acquired a reputation for being negative about sex'. It should celebrate it as 'a wonderful gift from God'.

Pejorative language, such as the phrase 'living in sin', is absent from the report, which instead encourages 'covenanted relationships'.

The Rt Rev Stephen Sykes, the commission's chairman, says that any man and woman who make a lifelong commitment to each other are in such a relationship, whether or not they are married.

Is the Church of England allowed to be Puritanical? Posted by David Cohen at July 29, 2003 8:37 PM