Some Evangelicals in the Church of England are getting hot under their clerical collars because the Bishop of Grantham has come out as a gay man in a celibate relationship (Report, 3 September). The Evangelicals see themselves as guardians of the Church’s Reformation faith and morals, but we might wish to reflect that in 1532 the Protestant Thomas Cranmer married in defiance of clerical rules on celibacy and allowed himself to be consecrated as archbishop in the following year, keeping his marital status a secret. Clerical marriage was not legalised by parliament until 1549. The story goes that Mrs Cranmer was kept in a closet whenever there were visitors to Lambeth Palace until Archbishop Cranmer felt able to come out as married (as did Mrs Cranmer from her closet) following the death of Henry VIII. I trust that both the Bishop of Grantham and his Evangelical critics will take heart from this episcopal precedent.
Rev Paul Hunt
Senior chaplain, Emanuel school, London
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