MEMBERS of the General Synod have been invited to use to affix three working groups to attract up proposals for the remaining elements of the Living in Love and Faith project (LLF).
The LLF lead bishop, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, has written to Synod members in regards to the next steps after last month’s debate.
Although the Synod moved to next business, and so decided to not vote on Bishop Snow’s motion, he sensed, he said, that there was a way forward to resolve the deadlock over the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF).
Three recent working groups were being formed to determine learn how to proceed on the three remaining open questions. The first would draft the brand new pastoral guidance on whether gay clergy shall be permitted to enter into civil same-sex marriages.
The second would draft a settlement for conservatives unable to just accept the PLF, amounting, Bishop Snow wrote, to “the minimum structural provision that’s each needed and proportionate”. And the third group would agree how the stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples could possibly be authorised or approved.
Each group of Synod members could be chaired by a bishop, as yet unnamed.
“As suggested by one speaker at Synod, these groups won’t involve just the ‘usual suspects’, but somewhat be a wide-ranging group of people that haven’t necessarily engaged extensively within the LLF process to date,” Bishop Snow wrote.
This didn’t preclude anyone who had previously been on one other LLF committee or group, however the Bishop said that he was keen to listen to from recent voices, including those that had not read or used the opposite LLF resources.
Each working group shall be expected to fulfill a minimum of thrice in the approaching months, before bringing back concrete proposals to the Synod in July.
Overseeing the work shall be a recent “programme board”, composed of Bishop Snow, the bishops convening the working groups, and senior Church of England national staff.
At the Synod, Bishop Snow conceded that he had been unable to influence any of his colleagues from the House of Bishops to step up and co-lead LLF with him.
His original co-lead bishop, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, resigned in February, expressing concern over the appointment of a recent theological adviser to the House (News, 2 February).
Any Synod member who wished to affix the groups is invited to send a brief application by email by next Wednesday. Membership of the groups could be public knowledge, Bishop Snow said, in aid of full transparency.
Two everlasting groups can even be established, as previously promised by the House of Bishops after the commendation of the PLF late last 12 months.
A pastoral consultative group, made up of bishops, supported by “consultants”, will help to reply questions arising from dioceses and bishops because the PLF are rolled out.
An independent review panel can even be arrange to listen to complaints and concerns in regards to the implementation of the PLF and pastoral guidance. The panel shall be made up of individuals “with a spread of theological positions and skilled experience”, Bishop Snow writes.
“I’m under no illusion that the challenges facing us remain significant, but I think these could be addressed through prayer and good conversations.”
