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Church in line over plan to display Pride flag at altar over claims it politicizes place of worship and will lead to ‘moral lawlessness’
- Landmark legal case involves St Nicholas Church in Leicester
- The reverend claims the flag is to let visitors know they are “welcome and safe.”
- Opponents have accused the church of “awakening” virtue by pointing out
A historic church’s controversial plan to display a Gay Pride flag on its altar will be decided in a landmark legal case after protesters complained it was “politicizing” a place of worship.
St Nicholas’s Church in Leicester had hung the colorful flags at weekend services, but last year switched to a much larger permanent version.
Church Reverend Canon Karen Rooms says the huge Progress Pride fabric flag is simply a way of letting visitors know they are “welcome and safe.”
But opponents, including parishioners and members of the General Synod, have accused the church, parts of which date to around AD 900. C., to point out the virtue of “awakening”.
St Nicholas’ church in Leicester (above) is being accused of enabling ‘moral lawlessness’
The Church of England consistory court will now hear a test case, and campaigners warn it will “open the floodgates” to ideological imagery in other churches if given the go-ahead.
Sam Margrave of Synod, the CofE’s governing council, told The Sunday Telegraph that ‘infiltration’ was enabling ‘moral anarchy’.
Canon Rooms wrote in its presentation to the faculty that the flag “is a simple statement of welcome and safety.”
The Diocese of Leicester said: ‘All new altar frontals require permission… The application… is with the office of the Diocesan Chancellor and will be decided in due course.’
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: “The placement of a Pride flag on the altar, which symbolizes a sexual political ideology completely at odds with the gospel, must be challenged.”
Protesters in London last year speaking out against Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights ahead of the World Cup.
The dispute comes at a time when CofE is embroiled in a damaging internal debate about gender, sexuality and marriage.
The high point at St Nicholas, which is among the ten oldest churches in Britain, came in September when the Pride flags were replaced by the Progress Pride Flag, a gift from a worshiper at a nearby church.
The banner, based on the iconic 1978 rainbow flag, was developed in 2018 by non-binary American artist Daniel Quasar to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and call for a more inclusive society.
St Nicholas Church warden and transgender poet Jay Hulme said at the time: “People were crying in the pews when they saw it.”
But the church had to tear down the front of the altar a month later because it had not applied for the building permit, known as faculty, and the case was referred to the church court as protests grew.
It will be ruled by the chancellor of the diocese Lyndsey de Mestre, a lawyer at Lincoln’s Inn, London, or an MP in the coming months.
It is not yet known whether the case will be heard in public or based on written submissions.