In effect, + Steven's amendment torpedoed a carefully staged proposal by the HoB, including that 'prayers of blessing' for gay relationship could not be used as a 'stand-alone' service, separate from a main Sunday service, as the perception and experience of those attending would be that the service was a 'wedding' in all but name, and therefore, the CofE would have changed its Doctrine on Marriage. I agree with the HofB that that would be the perception.
Read more"If the bishops continue with the implementation of their proposals, we believe this will have a devastating impact on churches across the country and beyond. It will tear local parish congregations apart, damage the relationship between large numbers of clergy and their bishops and cause churches across the dioceses to feel as though their shepherds have abandoned them. It may also serve a final blow to the unity of the Anglican Communion.
Read moreNot a bit of it.
Read moreNine months on, no such blessings have been given amid a dispute between conservative and liberal factions of the Church that is not expected to be settled until 2025. Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, said the debate was "stretching us to breaking point" and "many of us have arrived at this Synod feeling weary, fearful, confused and even angry about it all".
Read moreThis is deeply flawed. You cannot reconcile two completely different understandings of Christianity; one that preaches hell and damnation to anyone who has sex outside holy matrimony and the other that seeks to honour love wherever it is found.
Read moreAN HONEST RESPONSE
The articulation of a theological rationale for the proposals is very welcome. It deserves more consideration than there is time to give it between the publication of the documents on 20 October and the General Synod meeting on 13-15 November. But, having previously called for a theological rationale, it seems only fair that I give an initial response prior. I still don't think the proposed prayers will achieve what they intend, and I'll explain why below.
Read moreThis is not hyperbole. I'm not sure how else to describe a scheme which drives away fully a third of your congregation and results in a collapse of giving by a third, which cost £1.2 million to implement and has resulted in the deficits of the churches involved shooting up from £56,000 per year to £295,666.
Read moreI will not rehearse the various legal, theological, biblical and moral argument - you can find more of these at Anglican Mainstream and Anglican Futures.
Here, I would like to take my reader across the English border, to see how a similar situation has unfolded in the beautiful country of Wales. Though there are differences, the similarities are profound.
Sobering news from the 'progressive' Church in Wales
Read moreAfter the meeting of the Church of England's General Synod in February 2023 ten Primates of the GSFA issued what they called the "Ash Wednesday Statement". In it they say,
"GSFA Primates will carefully work with other Primates to provide Primatial and episcopal oversight to orthodox dioceses and networks of Anglican churches who indicate their need and consult with us".
Read moreOn Thursday 12 October, a number of the House of Bishops (12 at the time of writing), issued a 'dissenting' statement in which they raised substantial concerns about the proposals being made by the House.
Read more