Open Letter to Archbishop Melissa Skelton

From Dr. Priscilla Turner:

 Whitsuntide 2019.

Your Grace,

An Open Letter

Thank you for your recent letter asking me as a member of the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster to support your ministry with money.

Firstly, I commend you for your policy of permitting no same-sex ‘marriages’ to be solemnised in the Diocese of New Westminster until the Marriage Canon is changed to make this legal.

Secondly, we need to be fully aware that if the bizarre notion that people of the same sex can be married becomes embodied in a change to the Marriage Canon in our denomination, the ACoC will have departed not just from reason but from the Church Catholic. The cause will be complex, but will certainly include the fact that a majority both clerical and lay have voted out of a profound philosophical, theological and biblical naivety. People will vote at General Synod this summer, other things being equal, who believe some or all of the following falsehoods: That the Holy Scriptures are ambiguous about same-sex physical intimacy; that we may not know what were the convictions and practice of the Lord Jesus; that the phe­nomenon was different in the ancient world; that the behaviour of those with same-sex leanings is genet­ically pre-determined; that Christian love requires us to ‘bless’ same-sex ‘unions’; that people of the same sex can consummate sexually; and that all love may legitimately find an intimate physical ex­pression. As I wrote in my Brief to the national Commission: “It is important to note that none of these positions is held by serious biblical and theological professionals: for instance, even those very few scholars who hold that the Scriptures are mistaken facknowledge that they are wholly adverse to same-sex practice. For none of these positions has the case ever been made outside advocacy scholarship, for the very sound reason that such a case cannot be made, and the most positive thing that may be said of such views is that they are less than informed. That busy bishops and other leaders unequipped with the tools of the trade have not tested them is venial. What is less excusable is that our Church has not until now asked any of the tiny handful who are so equipped to contribute.” I am one of that tiny handful world­wide who are so equipped.

In the little window of opportunity which remains, all thinking and prayerful Anglicans will I pray avail themselves, both for themselves and for those who vote, of some/all items in this basic information kit:–

  1. https://www.amazon.ca/Bible-Homosexual-Practice-Texts-Hermeneutics-ebook/dp/B0071OSK6O
  2. https://www.amazon.ca/Homosexuality-Bible-Dan-Via/dp/080063618X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
  3. https://www.amazon.ca/Holy-Homosex-Priscilla-D-M-Turner/dp/1482347865
  4. https://www.amazon.ca/Love-How-Deep-Three-Souls/dp/1775106225/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1331946835&sr=8-2
  5. There is at least one highly relevant sermon in this volume: https://www.amazon.ca/We-Believe-Understanding-Nicene-Creed/dp/1775106233/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=we+believe+nicene&qid=1552265227&s=gateway&sr=8-1

And pray.

In the first magisterial book I am quoted; of the other four I am a contributor/editor/part-author/author. I own the copyright of items 3, 4 and 5. David Jenkins has done a lovely job of hosting the text of these three books. You may read and download freely, and print out for yourself from here: https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/dr-priscilla-turner/ . One can obtain paper in a 6 x 9 in. size which will work perfectly.

O Love How Deep, the second illustrated edition, exists in several formats now for purchase as follows:–
ISBN: 978-1-7751062-2-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978‐1‐7751062‐0‐3 (sc)
ISBN: 978‐1‐7751062‐1‐0 (hc)
ISBN: 978‐1‐77084‐994‐5 (e)
Apart from having illustrations, some minor slips of fact and presentation are corrected, some notes are added; in addition I no longer see the need for certain of the original fictionalisations, so names of famous schools, Oxbridge colleges, big churches and the like are defictionalised. For a list of the main surviving fictionalisations please apply to me. They are for the protection of a number of people living and dead.

The remaining titles are for sale in one format only.

These files may be distributed freely. I’m not concerned with making money from my writing.

Relevant short papers are:–

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-neighbour-yourself-luke-1027-dr-priscilla-turner-1/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141124013550-135532881-the-sheep-and-the-goats-who-are-they/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rom-1-dr-priscilla-turner/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rom-12-dr-priscilla-turner/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mt-527-32-dr-priscilla-turner/

I have been a member of this Diocese since 1971, serving frequently on Parish Council, and as Synod Delegate or Alternate, as part of Canonical Committees, and I was sent to represent my Parish on suc­cessive Advisory Committees as part of the Canonical process. I trust that in future I may be able to assist your ministry with money; but that will happen only if one of two conditions are fulfilled: if the vote at this summer’s General Synod is adverse to the proposed change to the Marriage Canon, and you will respect that within your own jurisdiction; or if your own vote was adverse to it however it goes. I recogn­ise that the latter choice will mean changing your own thinking. John Henry Newman spoke a wise word when he said “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

Yours respectfully,

Priscilla Turner

Dr. P.D.M. Turner [B.A., M.A. Cantab., M.A., D.Phil. Oxon., O.D.N.W.]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-priscilla-turner-46948139

http://PriscillaTurner.imagekind.com

Cc:   His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury
Members of the Canadian House of Bishops
The Anglican Communion Alliance
The Anglican Church in North America
The Global Anglican Future Conference
The Revd. Dr. J.I. Packer
The Revd. Mr. George Eves
The Revd. Mr. Craig Tanksley
The Rector and Wardens, Holy Trinity Vancouver
The Revd. Mr. David Kellett