CofE delays vote on standalone services for same-sex blessings

The Church of England has pushed back plans to allow specific services for same-sex blessings.

During the House of Bishops’ first meeting of the year, it concluded that after “considered reflection on the complexity and depth of the proposed changes” it is “unlikely all elements of the proposals would be sufficiently developed in time for Synod to make a decision in July”.

The timetable will now be extended, giving further time for consultation with Diocesan Synods, meaning a formal vote is likely to take place at a later General Synod.

‘Out of touch’

Churches can already use a “selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples” in Sunday services. But last July, the General Synod voted to advance plans allowing churches to hold dedicated services that ‘celebrate and affirm’ those who have been through a same-sex civil ceremony.

The House of Bishops voted in favour of the motion, with 22 for, twelve against and five abstentions. It passed by a handful of votes in the House of Clergy and the House of Laity.

At the time, General Synod member Revd Dr Ian Paul stated: “It has now become clear and open that there are bishops who do not believe the doctrine of the Church and are determined that it should change.”

“They will drive this through no matter what the consequences. They seem to be out of touch with what many in the Church believe, and that this change is not something on which many of us can simply ‘agree to disagree’.”

Welby departs on marriage

In October, the then Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby publicly abandoned the Church’s historic teaching on sexual ethics.

While the CofE officially maintains that sexual activity should only take place within marriage, and that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, Welby reported that the ‘majority’ of bishops believe that “all sexual activity should be within a committed relationship, and whether it’s straight or gay”.

During an interview with former MP Rory Stewart and Tony Blair’s former political spokesman Alistair Campbell for their podcast ‘The Rest is Politics’, the Archbishop claimed that those in same-sex partnerships should be able to have a “service of prayer and blessing for them in their lives together”.