Evangelicals ‘need prayers’ after Church in Wales votes to make same-sex blessings everlasting

The Church in Wales Governing Body has voted to make same-sex blessings everlasting following a five-year trial period through which they were allowed on a short lived basis. 

The vote during a gathering in Llandudno on Thursday is more likely to lead some Welsh Anglicans to go away the Church or seek alternative episcopal oversight. 

The motion makes the blessings everlasting by incorporating a rite for the blessing of same-sex marriages and partnerships into the Book of Common Prayer. It passed overwhelmingly.

The measure needed a two thirds majority of every of the Orders which comprise the Governing Body: bishops, clergy and laity.  All five bishops voted in favour. The clergy voted 32 – 7 in favour,  with 5 abstentions, and the laity 48 – 8 in favour, with 2 abstentions.  

The vote comes as little surprise given the Church’s recent appointment of Cherry Vann as its first openly gay Archbishop of Wales, and a majority “in favour of the view that the time is correct to supply equal marriage”, in accordance with a pastoral letter from the bishops last December.  

Archbishop Vann welcomed the consequence, saying, “I need to thank everyone for the ways through which this debate was conducted – calmly, and with mutual respect. The Bench of Bishops and I recognise that that is a problem about which individuals hold strong convictions.

“We want everybody to have the ability to carry their views with integrity whilst not losing sight of the image of God that resides in all of us. We need to construct a church that could make space for one another whatever our different perspectives.”  

The measure doesn’t allow clergy to conduct wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. The blessings can be found for couples who’ve already entered into marriage or a civil partnership elsewhere.

However plans are afoot to bring forward laws in April 2027 that can allow clergy to conduct same-sex weddings.

Amendments to Thursday’s measure were approved to guard clergy, ordinands and lay Anglicans who cannot in conscience participate in such services of blessing.

The amendments were recommend by Andy Kitchen, a member of the clergy in St Asaph Diocese, who said they were intended to safeguard the principle of conscientious objection. 

“I think together with colleagues who hold similar concerns that these additions are essential [because] they supply the mandatory assurance that the protections and provisions promised will hold the identical permanence and clarity within the lived practice of the Church in Wales because the liturgy itself,” he said. 

He added that the amendments would “offset an unintended consequence of the bill – the narrowing of the Church in Wales and diminishing of its ministry”. 

Quite a few amendments recommend by Della Nelson to remove marriage-like language, including the word ‘covenant’, from the Order of Service was rejected. 

She had said in her explanatory note: “Language of union, covenant, binding, and lifelong covenantal commitment, along with symbolic actions closely related to marriage, carries established theological and liturgical meaning throughout the Church’s doctrine and practice and functions publicly as signs of marriage. 

“Their use inside a rite explicitly described as not being a wedding service risks obscuring the excellence the bishops have sought to take care of and will lead couples and congregations to conclude that the Church is unclear about its teaching on marriage, or that it’s, in effect, offering marriage under one other name.

“The proposed amendments due to this fact seek to be certain that the rite functions clearly and truthfully as a pastoral provision of prayer and blessing, focused on guidance, faithfulness, and God’s sustaining grace, while avoiding marriage-specific language and symbolism. In doing so, they uphold the permissive character of the availability, respect conscience, preserve unity, and remain consistent with the principles set out within the bishops’ own Explanatory Memorandum.” 

Matthew Firth, an Assistant Bishop within the Free Church of England, said that evangelical Anglicans in Wales will likely be “devastated today by this departure from the religion and will likely be in search of biblical alternative episcopal oversight”.

“My door is at all times open to clergy, congregations, and ordinands. Please do be in contact,” he said. 

Archbishop Vann said soon after her appointment as Archbishop of Wales that some Anglicans had decided to go away the Church in Wales because they might not accept her leadership. 

Anglican Futures, an organisation supporting orthodox Anglicans, said “fractures within the Anglican Communion will further deepen” with the passing of this motion. 

It noted that there is no such thing as a system in place for clergy or congregations to refuse to permit their buildings for use to host same-sex blessing services, and that if asked, clergy must still pass on an interested couple to the diocesan bishop or be certain that one other member of their team or a visiting clergy person offers the service of their place. 

“Both the detail of the Bill that has passed and the best way through which it has been introduced speaks volumes and it’s unimaginable to attract every other conclusion than that just some ‘differences’ are worthy of value and honour within the Church in Wales, just some are worthy of ‘inclusion’,” Anglican Futures said.

“There are many courageous Anglicans in Wales. Some were prepared to boost their hands and voices to uphold truth at Governing Body this week, others have walked away to make sure their flocks are feeding on protected pasture within the Anglican Convocation in Europe. Both need the prayers and support of their brothers and sisters in the remaining of the Anglican world.”