Church of England Offers Baptismal-Style Ceremony for Transgenders

The Church of England has encouraged its clergy to create baptism-style ceremonies for transgender people to welcome them into the Anglican faith

“Proving that it is constantly transforming with the times, the Church of England has announced it will now offer baptism-style ceremonies for transgender persons, people who deny their biological sex--e.g., a man who claims he is a woman--and want to be ‘re-baptized’ in their new sexual identity and new name. The Scripture teaches that God made us in His image, male and female, but the Church of England believes it can do better. The decision to offer the new ‘Affirmation of Baptismal Faith’ was decided by the House of Bishops in England on Monday, Dec. 3. In the ceremony, ‘the minister lays their hands on the candidate or candidates, addresses them by name, and prays for them,’ reported The Telegraph. The Affirmation of Baptismal Faith enables people to ‘renew the commitments made in baptism and in a public setting and provides space for those who have undergone a major transition to re-dedicate their life to Jesus Christ,’ according to the bishops. Guidance for the Affirmation states, ‘For a trans person to be addressed liturgically by the minister for the first time by their chosen name may be a powerful moment in the service.’ The guidance also clarifies that ‘clergy are being told to call men by their new female names, and women by their new male names,’ reported LifeSiteNews. Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, said that transgenderism is a ‘mental disorder’ that merits treatment, that sex change is ‘biologically impossible,’ and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder. ‘Sex change is biologically impossible,’ said McHugh. ‘People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is a civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.’”

“Church of England,” CNSNews.com, Dec. 13, 2018

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