Anglican sexual morality

[lavendersparkle]

I'm a bit confused about Anglican sexual morality. I know that there is a lot of diversity in views. I get that at one end there are some conservative evangelicals who are practically shomer negiah before marriage and avoid being alone with a member of the opposite sex they're not married or related to and at the other end there are Anglicans who think that polyamoury and one night stands with strangers are fine as long as do so in a nice way (making them tea before they leave is probably mandatory). There are also people who are celibate for life but they're hard to place because they may have all sorts of views on what sorts of things other people get up to. What I don't know is the distribution of views and behaviours. What's the median Anglican's views on what sexual behaviour is appropriate and acceptable? What sorts of things would the majority of clergy feel comfortable doing before marriage?

I've noticed that the Church of England manages to get itself into a bit of a tizwoz about what boys are or aren't allowed to do with each other without really addressing the issue of what heterosexual or bisexual or female Anglicans should get up to (or not). When are 'full genital expressions' of heterosexuality appropriate and, whilst we're at it, what the hell is a 'full genital expression' anyway?*

So wisdom of the internet, please explain to me.

*At the moment I'm imagining a cross between the Vagina Monologues and Puppetry of the Penis.

Comments

[cathedral-life.livejournal.com]

I'd probably agree that robhu's statement about the official position of the global Anglican church is correct. However, I think it crucial to point out that the degree of disension on the matter means that whilst it may be an "official" position (since Lambeth 98), it is one that continues to go through the "listening process" re. pastoral approaches.

I'm ambiguous as to my agreement with the church's position on this matter, and I think that many theologians (even those who would agree with the official position) are still struggling to articulate many clear positions on the myriad and various sexualities that now need to be commented on eg. look at the responses that the St Andrew's Day statement garnered.