The Guardian published an editorial today arguing that the Church of England should follow the example of Anglicans in Wales and Scotland, and give its blessing to gay and lesbian relationships. The editorial falls short of the goals of both Changing Attitude England and the Campaign for Equal Marriage. We want more than the granting of a blessing on our loving, faithful, stable, committed relationships. Many lesbian and gay couples, whether Anglican or Christian or not, want full equality – we want to be married in church.
Blessings and equal marriage in Wales and Scotland
The Guardian notes that 2021 provided two significant causes for celebration by LGBT+ Christians. The Methodist church allowed same-sex marriage and the Church in Wales voted to bless same-sex married couples. In June 2017 the Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church voted to amend canon law, removed the stipulation that marriage is between a man and a woman, and allowed gay couples to marry in church. The Guardian says it is “an absurdity that gay and lesbian English Anglicans should be obliged to travel to Cardiff or Edinburgh for a church blessing or wedding.” We in England cannot be married in Cardiff. Kelvin Holdsworth, the Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, tells me the cathedral has celebrated a number of weddings for people unable to marry in churches in England and indeed married one couple who couldn't get married at all in Northern Ireland.
The Living in Love and Faith process
The Guardian thinks “bitter deadlock and hurtful division in the Church of England” might be overcome allowing progress to be made this year. The current consultative stage of LLF will end in April. A yet-to-be-formed group will gather and analyse the responses. They will be published in September under the title Listening to the Whole Church. The College of Bishops will begin another discernment process and proposals will be finalised in December. The February 2023 meeting of the General Synod will consider proposals from the College and House of Bishops and, as the Guardian says, will agree on “a clear direction of travel”.
The Bishop of London, the Right Rev Sarah Mullally, chair of the Next Steps Group, has said the intention is to find “a way forward for the church in relation to human identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage”. In a recent article for the Church Times she pleaded for people not to “jump to the end” of the LLF process. She said “If we focus on what we think at the end, we may miss . . . that ‘God moment’ on the way. If we are only ever focused on the end, will we really spot the movement of the Spirit in this process?” Her desire is to enable “people to contribute to discerning what God is saying to the Church about identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage”. She wants to “get the huge middle of the Church not just engaged but then responding: letting us know, what did they experience? What did they learn from doing this with other people, sometimes across difference? One of the key things to understand is that it’s not so much what we do but how we do it that’s really important.”
Changing Attitude England’s campaign for equality
The Changing Attitude England steering group discussed at length on Monday a proposal to encourage those who support equality in relationship and ministry for LGBTIQ+ people in the Church of England to communicate their commitment to the LLF hub by the end of April.
Two routes are provided on the LLF portal allowing people to respond to the LLF process. As well as the Living in Love and Faith Survey there is a creative response that involves logging into the LLF hub and choosing an option from the Respond drop down menu.
Using either route, people will be engaging in the LLF process as described by Bishop Sarah, following her request not to jump to the end but focus on what has been experienced and learnt. This suggests it’s not what we do but how we do it that’s important.
But Changing Attitude England is convinced that the reverse is true. It’s what the Church of England under the leadership of the House of Bishops does next that’s most important. We already know what the contemporary House of Bishops does. It prevaricates and delays. That’s what it has done since the Shared Conversations. They were the means of avoiding making a decision following the Pilling Report. Living in Love and Faith is the process designed to avoid making a decision following the defeat of the House of Bishops proposals in the take note Synod debate in 2017.
Disrupt complacency
Changing Attitude England wants to disrupt the complacency of the House of Bishops by organising a ‘write in’, getting the huge middle of the Church not just engaged but responding and letting the bishops know, which is exactly what the Bishop of London has pleaded for.
The Guardian leader concluded by saying the Church of England “should be bold in reading the signs of the times rather than rely on narrow readings of scripture. The gospels convey a message of loving inclusivity; England’s established church should reflect that.”
Changing Attitude England will be publishing a guide soon encouraging the huge middle of the Church, many of whom are convinced the Church already allows same-sex couples to be married in the church. Evidence from conversations with people in the Church including LLF Advocates and others show that it comes as a surprise to participants in LLF groups that equal marriage is not already possible in the Church of England. We will encourage people to communicate back to the House of Bishops their personal convictions about love, truth, justice and equality in Christian life, underpinning the radical new Christian inclusion advocated by the Archbishops.
If you would like to support our campaign, please join the Changing Attitude England Facebook group.