Prayers of blessing for same-sex couples in the Church of England should be able to be used “soon” but approval for standalone services might not come for well over a year from now, a bishop has said.
Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally described this as a “time of uncertainty” for the church as she recognised while individuals are sure of their opinions on the matter the church itself remains divided.
In February the Church of England’s parliament, known as the General Synod, voted in favour of offering blessings to same-sex couples in civil partnerships and marriages after a marathon near-eight hour debate across two days.
While the blessings were welcomed by some as progress on what has long been a divisive issue, those who have campaigned for same-sex marriage within the church have said they do not go far enough, while others still feel they go too far.
Giving an update on Friday on progress made since the vote, Dame Sarah recognised that disagreement remains.
She told a media briefing ahead of a Synod meeting in November: “What we recognise is that as a church we don’t all agree on these issues. And we’ve known that all along. The House of Bishops doesn’t agree, the church doesn’t agree.”
She said she and others in the church have focused on providing “pastoral reassurance” for people as things progress, reiterating that the church’s stance on same-sex marriage has not changed “but we are making pastoral provision for those who wish to celebrate what is good within their (same-sex) relationship”.
She said: “It will be true to say that for some, not enough progress has been made, for others far too much progress maybe in a direction they can’t support has been made.
“But what we try to do is to listen, to implement the motion that was agreed at Synod but in doing that, we also realised that we not only provide pastoral guidance, but we need to provide pastoral reassurance for people.”
Next month, @synod will meet to discuss steps to implement Prayers of Love and Faith and considerations on safeguarding redress.
Read more at https://t.co/Xqg36jAiDE.
— The Church of England (@churchofengland) October 20, 2023
Giving a timeline for how things will move forward, she said that texts known as Prayers of Love and Faith could be used as part of Sunday morning and other services soon, but standalone services for same-sex couples to receive blessings are further down the line.
Earlier this month, the House of Bishops agreed in principle that the Prayers of Love and Faith should be commended for use and it is expected they could be in use shortly after the Synod’s next gathering.
She said: “What we’ve got is a two-track approach – for the suite of prayers to be used as part of existing services, so in a sense not the main focus of that service, they will be commended soon.
“But for standalone services, they will need further authorisation, which will take probably into about 2025.”
She said such standalone services must first “go through an authorisation route, which will therefore consult with diocese as well as the General Synod” and highlighted that it must be ensured that the motion not to change the doctrine of marriage is upheld.
Were prayers to be used during a regular service, Dame Sarah said she would hope for “transparency” with churches possibly choosing to give advance notice “in the same way as if they put information out about their services at the moment”.
In a sign of how divisive the issue is within the broader church, a group of Anglican church leaders from around the world ousted the Archbishop of Canterbury as their head earlier this year following the vote to allow blessings.
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) said it no longer considers Justin Welby to be “leader of the global communion”, and it had “disqualified” the Church of England from being its “mother church”.
At the time Lambeth Palace said that the “deep disagreements” among the Anglican community over sexuality and marriage are long-standing, and that reforms in one province do not affect rules in the others.
Mr Welby has previously said he “joyfully” welcomed the blessings proposals but added that he will not personally carry them out due to his “pastoral responsibility for the whole communion”.
Next month the Synod will also consider and vote on a national redress scheme for victims and survivors of church-related abuse, which came about following a commitment made by the church in its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The measure is expected to return to the Synod in July next year.
