GROUPS working on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process met in Leicester last weekend to debate next steps within the introduction of stand-alone services, and the supply of episcopal oversight for the sevices’ opponents.
A call about whether clergy will likely be permitted to enter same-sex civil marriages, nevertheless, has not yet been made by the House of Bishops, despite votes within the College and House a yr ago in favour of this variation.
In a video shown to St Albans diocesan synod and subsequently posted on YouTube this month, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, says that stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples will likely be available to be used “before too long”.
The query of stand-alone services “has proved contentious”, he says, however the House of Bishops and the General Synod have agreed that they might be introduced “with an understanding that they don’t constitute a change in our doctrine of marriage.”
Opponents of such services will give you the option to “request spiritual and pastoral oversight from one other bishop”, Bishop Snow says within the video, though the detail of this provision “continues to be to be determined”.
On the query of permitting clergy to enter same-sex civil marriages, a booklet on “next steps”, attributable to be published on Friday, says that “bishops are proposing that further theological work is carried out in the approaching months on this matter, for decision by the House of Bishops in early January 2025. This will then be presented on the February 2025 General Synod.”
Three LLF working groups, made up of lay and clergy members, met in Leicester for a two-night residential meeting. A fourth working group, comprising nine bishops and chaired by Bishop Snow, is working on a Bishops’ Statement, setting out areas of agreement on the problems, which is anticipated to incorporate a position on whether clergy might be in same-sex marriages.
The groups gathered on Thursday evening last week — two days after the Archbishop of Canterbury had announced his decision to resign (News, 15 November).
Concerns have been raised that the Archbishop’s departure might put pressure on the agenda at meetings of the House of Bishops, reducing the time available for making necessary decisions about LLF. A Church House spokesperson said, nevertheless: “The Archbishop’s decision to step down doesn’t alter the commitment or capability of the House of Bishops to proceed their vital work on LLF.”
According to a timetable in a General Synod paper published before its meeting last July, and reaffirmed by Church House this week, the House of Bishops is anticipated to determine in January whether to remove restrictions on clergy getting into same-sex civil marriage. This is premised on the completion of labor by the theological advisers to the House of Bishops and members of the Faith and Order Commission.
The Church Times reported last yr that each the College of Bishops, which comprises all serving bishops within the C of E, and the House had voted in favour of permitting clergy to enter into same-sex marriages (News, 27 October 2023).
These indicative votes — carried by 72 to 26 within the College, and 18 to fifteen within the House — followed the circulation of draft pastoral guidance in September last yr.
The draft was produced by the Principal of Ridley Hall, the Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley, in her then post of Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops. A version seen by the Church Times reveals the proposed wording on the “expectations of the lives of clergy and licensed lay ministers”.
“Sexual ethics are just one aspect of our life on the planet, and it will be important to take care of the entire person, and the form of their life as an entire. Nevertheless, according to guarantees made within the ordinal, the expectation is that an ordained minister understands and is committed to making sure that in the event that they enter (or are already in) a detailed intimate relationship, this ought to be everlasting, stable, faithful and exclusive,” the proposed guidance says.
