THERE was limited appetite within the General Synod this week for an additional long debate on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF). The lead bishop for the method, like other Synod members on all sides of the controversy, saw the good thing about an early finish.
Speaking to the press after the Synod’s Tuesday-morning vote to maneuver to next business (see separate story), the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, none the less saw a “clear mandate that the direction of travel is true”.
The next step was for among the details to be worked out before the Synod met again in July, he said — and that may involve “shuttle diplomacy” between those of opposing views.
This process wouldn’t yield a completely worked-out plan, he said, but, “if we’ve not less than got the broad outline of it, I believe that may allow us to maneuver forward.”
In the course of the controversy — an hour and a half on Monday evening, and an additional hour on Tuesday morning — there have been glimmers of possible cohesion on among the important questions.
As in previous debates, many of the amendments tabled by members who oppose the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples were voted down, including one recommend by Ed Shaw (Bristol) which sought a general recognition that conservatives couldn’t merely “comply with disagree” on the problems.
Asked why he resisted the amendment, Bishop Snow said after the controversy that it was a “statement of fact” that there have been a “significant number of individuals” who were of the view that it was not possible to comply with disagree on the problems of LLF.
He couldn’t support the amendment, nevertheless, because to accomplish that would have risked “enshrining” the concept there was “no way through this”, he said.
Although dissatisfied that his amendment had been interpreted as “anti-reconciliation”, and defeated in all three Houses, Mr Shaw was cautiously optimistic.
“There’s a level of moving in the best direction,” he said after the controversy. Although the main points of any settlement were still contested, there was an increasing sense that “it would still occur.”
Geoff Crawford/Church TimesEd Shaw (Bristol)
He said that he understood the reluctance to concede any sort of structural change over the problem of church blessings for same-sex couples, but suggested that it was obligatory for the conversation to maneuver on to same-sex marriage in church, which was what liberals within the Church ultimately wanted.
Sam Wilson (Chester), who’s in favour of introducing same-sex marriage within the Church of England, also expressed optimism within the aftermath of the controversy, suggesting that the strength of support for the motion to maneuver to next business “showed how much Synod desires to get beyond binary selections that make everyone feel defeated and defensive”.
The improved tone of the controversy was widely remarked on, each on the ground of the Synod and afterwards. “I believe it was generous, I believe it was gracious; so, really helpful,” Bishop Snow told the media.
The message that he picked up on his visits to parishes in his diocese was that there was an “overwhelming sense” that “we’ve just got to search out a option to agree, after which get on with serving the nation.”
James Wilson (Manchester) agreed that a big selection of voices needed to be heard, including not only those of groups that advocated on this issue, but in addition “rank-and-file” members of congregations.
Most churches didn’t have a unanimous view, and, while he recognised that there was “room for some kind of pastoral support” for many who objected to the introduction of the Prayers of Love and Faith, there was a danger that “structural differentiation will pull congregations apart,” he said.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Mr Wilson echoed the view that the tone of the controversy had improved since November: it had been “more positive and constructive”, with a “greater desire to achieve across the aisle”.
Immediately after the controversy, it was announced that two of the C of E organisations advocating greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ people were merging to form a latest group: Together for the Church of England.
The move implies that the General Synod Gender and Sexuality Group (GSGSG) and the Movement for Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church (MOSAIC) unite, and a press release said that the brand new organisation would work in partnership with Inclusive Church, Inclusive Evangelicals, the Campaign for Equal Marriage, and Women and the Church (WATCH).
The stated goals of the brand new organisation are to “unite those searching for to remove all discrimination within the Church of England, especially where it’s embodied within the formal and legal structures of the Church”, and to “work for a Church of England wherein people of differing convictions live together in unity”.
The chair of the brand new organisation, the Revd Neil Patterson, said that members of the group “look ahead to working closely with the Bishop of Leicester and our conservative friends to hunt a way forward which respects the true differences of conviction between us”.
In a press release after the controversy had finished, the national director of the Church of England Evangelical Council, Canon John Dunnett, also indicated a willingness to work with Bishop Snow, although he specified that the route ahead should involve “a legal and structural settlement without theological compromise”.
He continued: “Between now and July, we can be calling on churches and their leaders to articulate their support for this. Many feel that the material of the Church of England is tearing because of this of the Living in Love and Faith process, and that structural differentiation is the one way of maintaining any degree of unity.”
