Something to Celebrate is a title with a certain resonance. ‘Celebrate’ is a word which neatly bridges the gap between the sacred and the profane. It is vaguely churchy…and yet it sounds quite fun. But what precisely, in the title of the controversial BSR report, does ‘celebrate’ mean?
An anonymous lady from Birmingham gives us a clue. ‘I believe strongly in committed monogamous relationships’, she wrote in a ‘submission’ to the Board, ‘whether they are gay or straight…The Church…makes it so hard for those who are seen to be different to celebrate their everyday lives’.
Did some over-eager researcher, I wonder, tip her the wink, or did she stumble single-handedly on the Great Theme of the Report? In any case the meaning of ‘celebrate’ is thereby made crystal clear.
Celebrating is what people do after a great deal of Affirming has persuaded them that repentance and metanoia are incompatible with their lifestyle.