http://godsfriends.org/Vol16/No1/james-alison-interview.html
I’d like to know your reaction to what happened last year to Jeffrey John. As you know, he was appointed Anglican bishop of Reading, but because he is gay (though evidently celibate), there was a huge reaction from evangelicals, and he was forced to decline.
JA: I think that what the evangelicals got right and the liberals didn’t understand is that the appointment of Jeffrey John, an openly gay man, as a bishop was a de facto change of doctrine.
I think it was desirable, but still, a de facto change of doctrine was sprung on people as though it were simply a matter of increased honesty.