Church of England bishops back ‘blessing’ same-sex unions but not gay marriage

Posted on by John Sandeman

The BBC reports that a closed-door meeting of the bishops of the Church of England has decided not to support same-sex marriage. The General Synod (church parliament) meets next month to respond to a five-year study of LGBTQIA issues. But the BBC report based on interviews with several bishops says they will not allow a vote on marriage.

However, the BBC also reports two other changes that will disappoint conservatives are likely.

• The bishops will recommend that some “prayers for God’s blessing” for gay couples in civil marriages be adopted.

• A controversial church document from 1991 that says clergy in same-sex relationships must remain celibate will be scrapped. And the Church will also issue an apology for the way it has excluded LGBT+ people, BBC News was told by several bishops.

Four bishops told the BBC’s religion Editor Aleem Maqbool that Holy Matrimony was only between one man and one woman and this will not be put to a vote at the synod. But they also said the bishops will recommend the church adopt blessings for same-sex civil marriages.

The BBC reported that “one liberal bishop present at the meeting said there had been ‘”‘substantial progress’.

“‘It’s evolutionary,’ they said. ”It’s not the end of the road.’

“A conservative bishop said: ‘We’re being honest about the fact we’re not of one mind in these issues. But we’re not going to give up walking together.’

It appears that both sides have placed unity above what they want to achieve. Conservatives have not been able to maintain the church’s current teaching. Progressives have settled for blessings but will push for more change later.

There is a blocking minority of a third of the voters held by conservatives in the General Synod, with progressives holding a similar block. This means that the Bishops’ package will be designed to peel off enough votes from either wing to get their proposals through. UPDATE The Catholic magazine, the Tablet, reports that the proposals from the bishops have been shaped to only require a majority vote in the General Synod not a two thirds majority. this may affect the staus of the proposed prayers.

The issue of blessing of same-sex civil marriages led to the formation of the breakaway Diocese of the Southern Cross in Australia, and a Confessing Anglican church in New Zealand. The conservative movement Gafcon, (Global Anglican Future conference) has already set up a church network in Europe, The Anglican Network in Europe, which launched in 2021.