Gay clergy say NHS is better employer than Church: CEN 7.11.08 p 3. July 10, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue.trackback
Twenty percent of the Church of England’s male NHS chaplains are in same-sex partnerships, the trade union Unite claims.
In a statement released on July 7, Unite said that a survey of NHS chaplains conducted by researchers at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust found that Church of England chaplains rated the NHS a fairer employer than the Church.
Many chaplains had taken posts in the NHS as “refugees” from the parish life, the study found, while others left parochial ministry over “the church’s exemption from employment law.”
The survey of all whole-time hospital and hospice “showed that over 20% of male whole-time hospital chaplains are in same sex partnerships.”
Job satisfaction for NHS chaplains was also higher than that of parish priests. “While only 25% of chaplains agreed that the Church of England had valued and respected them in their parish ministry, the figure leapt to 75% for their healthcare employers. Overall 99% of the chaplains stated that health care chaplaincy was a good experience,” Unite said.
The Rev Richard Kirker, Chief Executive, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement stated the research showed that gay clergy were “being driven away from parish ministry.”
‘The Church cannot go on ignoring the reality of a ‘diocese’ where over 20% of male staff are not only gay, but actually in same-sex partnerships. On the eve of the Lambeth Conference it is time for the Church of England to affirm the gifts and calling of gay people and to stop living in denial,” Mr. Kirker said.
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