Petition calls for sacking of vicar who compared gays to paedophiles
A campaign has been started urging the Church of England to sack a vicar who compared homosexuality to paedophila.
The Hull vicar, Reverend Melvin Tinker, last week hit out at a decision by a canon at York Minster to bless the city’s Pride parade last weekend, suggesting that accepting gay people means also accepting paedophiles and “serial adulterers”.
Speaking to David Dunning at 104.7 Minster FM, Reveren Tinker made the comments, and refused to deny that he was likening homosexuality to paedophilia.
He was responding to a decision by Cannon Michael Smith of York Minster to come out onto the steps of the Minster and bless the Pride parade.
Now, a Change.org petition which has been so-far signed by fifty people, calls for the Archbishop of York to sack the vicar.
The campaign reads: “He is an employee of the Church of England. It is not his role or responsibility to judge people. To liken homosexuals to paedophiles is absolutely vile, disgusting and completely unacceptable. As a vicar he comes in to contact with young people, who by their very nature are vulnerable, and he is saying this from a position of authority and, by default, in God’s name. For him to remain in post would be extremely inappropriate.”
During the radio appeareance, Reverend Tinker recalled that Canon Smith had told him: “This is about equality and about the church saying that we welcome everybody.”
The reverend responded: “He wouldn’t say that about people who are doing things which are wrong? Would he say that serial adulterers should be welcome in the church? Should he say that people engaged in paedophilia should be welcome in the church?
“What he is basically saying is that in his opinion, this is a valid activity.”
Reverend Tinker is the vicar of St John in Newland in Hull, which is within the York diocese.
