Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s media statement after he said in a podcast interview that gay sex in a committed relationship isn’t sinful is unlikely to douse the flames of controversy.
In The Rest is Politics podcast on October 20, recorded within the crypt of Archbishop Welby’s official London residence at Lambeth Palace, he told Labour’s former communications director Alastair Campbell and his co-presenter, former Conservative MP Rory Stewart: “What the Archbishop of York and I and the bishops, by a majority, not at all unanimous, and the Church is deeply split over this – where we have come to is to say that each one sexual intercourse must be inside a committed relationship, and whether it’s straight or gay.”
The controversy has been unleashed by the Archbishop’s suggestion that the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) services of blessing for same-sex couples, which the General Synod voted for in February 2023 after the six-year Living in Love and Faith consultation, are ushering in a change to the Church of England’s teaching on sexual morality.
The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) this week published a strong response to Archbishop Welby from the Rev Dr Andrew Goddard, a CEEC council member and tutor in ethics at Ridley Hall theological college in Cambridge.
Goddard argued that “the Archbishop’s interview gives the look that the Church of England, with the agreement of nearly all of bishops, now teaches that sexual relationships, including same-sex sexual relationships, are acceptable so long as the couple are in a committed relationship, either a civil partnership or a wedding”.
He continued: “In fact, the theological argument presented by the bishops (and sight of the legal advice to bishops might display that this can also be crucial for PLF’s legality) has been that any sexual relationship aside from marriage between a person and a girl is contrary to the Church’s doctrine of marriage.”
He concluded: “Such significantly erroneous statements as these from a minimum of the Archbishop of Canterbury, unless swiftly followed by an apology and correction, can only add further to the widespread erosion of trust and growing sense of disbelief, betrayal, deception, anger and despair now felt across much of the Church of England in relation to each the PLF process and our archiepiscopal leadership.”
The Lambeth Palace media statement on October 22 declares: “In his interview on the Leading (sic) podcast, the Archbishop of Canterbury was asked whether gay sex is sinful. Alastair Campbell was returning to this query having first put it to the Archbishop in 2017 during an interview for GQ magazine.
“In each interviews, Archbishop Justin spoke truthfully in regards to the incontrovertible fact that these are complex questions which have caused deep division within the church. In each interviews, he said that what seem most central to him are stable, committed and faithful relationships.
“Archbishop Justin was giving a private view that reflects the position now held by himself, the Archbishop of York and plenty of other bishops regarding sexual intimacy. He has been honest that his considering has evolved over time through much prayer and theological reflection – particularly through the Living in Love and Faith process – and he now holds this view sincerely. It reflects his commitment to continuing to welcome, love and include LGBTQ+ people more fully within the lifetime of the Church.”
The statement stressed Welby’s “absolute commitment” to those that hold a conventional view having “a full and undoubted place within the Church of England”. It claimed that his answer to Campbell “didn’t indicate a changing of teaching from the House of Bishops”.
It concluded: “This is an ongoing conversation across the Church – and Archbishop Justin hopes that the bishops, along with clergy and laity, will keep praying and reflecting on these questions.”
But this statement can only serve to deepen the divisions within the C of E and the international Anglican Communion over sexual morality. It makes clear that Archbishop Welby now not believes that sex outside of heterosexual marriage is sinful.
Before he was ordained Justin Welby belonged to Holy Trinity Brompton, the C of E’s evangelical charismatic flagship church in London’s Knightsbridge, which upholds the normal Christian sexual ethic. He reiterated on the podcast that he himself doesn’t conduct same-sex blessings due to his role within the Anglican Communion through which many provinces oppose such services.
This diplomatic decision had left the query open as as to whether the Archbishop still held the normal view personally. But he has now made clear his view that provided a homosexual couple are in a faithful, committed relationship, their sexual intercourse is morally acceptable within the eyes of God.
That is a serious declaration from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the repercussions of which are actually poised to play out within the C of E and the broader Anglican Communion.
Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.
