Earlier this year a Church of England leader came under widespread criticism for draping Progress Pride flags in front of the chapel altar and across the Communion table.
Many Anglicans were outraged because the flag is not a Christian emblem and its use on an altar and Communion table was an apparent violation of canon law.
An associate priest at Sunderland Minster in northeast England, Reverend Jacqui Tyson, said she was “proud to serve in a church that is open to God, and open to all.”
“I love these folk and so does God,” she added.
Reverend Tyson shared an image of the flag decorating the chapel altar and Communion table on social media.
MANY PRIESTS ARGUE THE FLAG IS NOT INCLUSIVE
Priests from other Anglican churches argue the flag is not inclusive because “it excludes all people who do not accept the false claims of transgender ideology.”
They said it “distorts and misrepresents the purpose of the Communion table.”
The Progress Pride flag is an amended version of the rainbow pride flag that includes extra colours and symbols to represent black, transgender and intersex people.
It has been criticised for promoting gender ideology and Church of England courts have previously banned its use on altars because it “is not a Christian emblem”.
“THIS IS A VIOLATION OF CANON LAW”
The Telegraph reported Sunderland Minster which is part of the Inclusive Church Network that supports permitting same-sex marriage in the Church of England, used it to decorate the table in its Bede Chapel.
Reverend Dr Ian Paul, associate minister at St Nic’s, Nottingham, told the newspaper: “This is a violation of canon law.”
“It distorts and misrepresents the purpose of the Communion table, which is inherently ‘inclusive’ in that it invites all to share in and receive the gifts of bread and wine, which remind us that Jesus died for all.”
“The Communion table as it is could not be more inclusive.”
“To suggest that it needs a flag or anything else adding to it to make it more ‘inclusive’ is a serious misunderstanding.”
“THE PROGRESS FLAG IS NOT A CHRISTIAN EMBLEM’
In February 2024, Naomi Gyane, the chancellor of the Diocese of Leicester refused permission for the Progress Pride flag to be draped over the altar at St Nicholas’s, Leicester.
“The Progress Pride flag is not a Christian emblem,” she ruled.
“Whilst I agree it is a sign of welcome for people from the LGBTQIA+ community. and although not itself political, it is a secular contemporary emblem used for many causes and contemporary discourse.”
Ms. Gyane noted that Church of England canon law says Communion tables should only be covered with a white cloth.
“THE FOCUS OF HOLY COMMUNION IS JESUS”
She added: “The focus, purpose and celebration of the Holy Communion is for all to come to Jesus and remember His sacrifice.”
A spokesman for LGB Christians, a gender-critical advocacy group, said: “We are alarmed by the illegal use in Sunderland Minster of a ‘progress flag’ serving as an altar frontal.”
“This presumably appeared without prior legal consent having been obtained.”
“This distinctly un-Christian emblem should be removed since it is illegal and utterly alien in the context of Anglican worship.”
“Above all else the Progress flag symbolises one of the greatest threats to safeguarding and an inducement to betray medical and educational good practice while also being theologically illiterate.”
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