IN MID-JANUARY the BBC reported ‘Church of England bishops refuse to back gay marriage’. This headline was based on a leak of General Synod papers ahead of their scheduled release, and was written to gain maximum attention. 

In the absence of the Synod papers being in the public domain, this triggered much social media speculation and hand wringing, with many LGBTQIA+ Anglicans once again feeling deserted by their church. Nic Tall, a founding member of our Open Table Taunton community, explains:

UPDATE DECEMBER 2023: General Synod met for an extraordinary meeting last month, which largely focused on Living in Love and Faith (LLF), its long running project looking at identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Nic Tall explains the outcome of this meeting here.

For me, as a member of the General Synod and someone who had been working closely both inside the Synod and externally with various campaign groups, it created a difficult atmosphere in which to prepare for the General Synod meeting in February due to discuss whatever the bishops were due to bring and to vote accordingly.

The Church of England confirmed that the leak to the press was absolutely not the House of Bishops’ intention, and it made much harder the delivery of a nuanced package of proposals which they had spent months crafting. When the Synod papers were published a few days after the initial press furore, we could see for the first time what would be under discussion, rather than just internet speculation.

The actual proposals before the Synod were: to issue an apology to LGBTQI+ people, declare God’s love and acceptance of every person, commend further learning together, and most critically welcome the House of Bishop’s decisions to issue new pastoral guidance, commend prayers for the affirmation of same sex relationships and agree to review the prayers in five years time. 

At this point I need to be a bit geeky and explain how different parts of the Church of England work.

The General Synod is the national assembly of the Church of England.  It has just over 450 members, most of them elected, drawn from the bishops, clergy and laity of the church.  It’s main job is to pass legislation - rules which guide the life of the church. These can be anything from the canonical definition of marriage through to the processes for replacing gas-fired boilers!  Synod can also offer advice, giving an opinion on something in the hope that its opinion will carry weight (for example, General Synod called on the UK Government to ban conversion therapy in July 2017. We still wait for them to do so).

Usually when Synod passes legislation, it is required to pass with at least a two-thirds majority. This high bar would be necessary for authorising new liturgy, such as a new marriage service, or asking Parliament to amend the Marriage Act, which currently prevents C of E clergy from officiating over same sex marriages.  When we offer advice we just need a simple majority at 50%.  Often these votes are taken by Houses, which means that it would need to meet the required majority (either 2/3rds or 50%) in the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and also the House of Laity.  So you could have something supported by absolutely all of the bishops and clergy, but if slightly over 1/3rd of the Laity voted against it then it would not pass overall. 

I told you it would be a bit geeky!

For this debate the House of Bishops was not asking the Synod to approve changes to rules, but to offer advice in the form of a wide-ranging debate and feedback on proposals that they intend to bring in their own right. The bishops can do certain things without Synod’s approval, in this case issuing pastoral guidance and commending liturgy for optional use by clergy. The pastoral guidance on same-sex relationships has for the last 30 years been a document titled Issues in Human Sexuality. It is a much maligned document, clearly of its time, and with much language and thought that does not reflect the Church of England in 2023. It has led to LGBTQIA+ people who put themselves forward to be priests undergoing intrusive questioning regarding their private lives which straight people have not had to experience. Issues has also formed the basis of denying clergy who have married a same-sex partner from receiving licences to minister, and some bishops have applied this embargo on volunteer lay ministers such as Readers. The fact that Issues is being replaced is something to celebrate. In its place will come new pastoral guidance, the content of which will be developed in time for the next meeting of the Synod in July.

The papers published for General Synod to review included draft forms of the set of liturgies for affirming same-sex relationships, under the title Prayers of Love and Faith.  There were many in the LGBTQIA+ community who pushed back against these prayers, as they did not offer the full equality of a marriage service in church, and some of the language around blessing seemed to lack clarity as to exactly who or what was being blessed. This should be seen in the context of the House of Bishops being constrained in what it can offer under the church’s rules. Commending liturgy means providing something which is for optional use and which the bishops confirm is not contrary to existing doctrine, and that includes the traditional doctrine of marriage. So, while the bishops are proceeding under their own steam and within their own powers, this is as far as they can take things. It may not be full equality, but it is what they can guarantee to deliver in the context of a church that is not of one mind.

From the outside, the proposals look like a small step forward, and still fall far short of the civil provisions for LGBTQIA+ people to live their lives equally. But from inside the church, this is a big step in the right direction. The content of the new pastoral guidance has yet to be written, but the hope is that it will allow clergy to enter into same-sex civil marriages and still hold a licence to minister. This will make a significant change to the culture of the church, with services affirming LGBTQIA+ relationships and clergy openly in same sex marriages modelling inclusion with the official approval of the church. I hope this will help to change attitudes and pave the way for further change in the future. So, while what has been agreed is not the final point of the journey, it is a significant step.

Having been inside the Assembly Hall in Church House for the debate, which lasted eight hours, I can confirm just how exhausting the experience was. Synod members proposed more than 20 amendments to try and change the House of Bishops’ proposals, most of them conservative, and all but one failed to be passed. Voting was very close, sometimes by a margin of one or two votes in one of the Houses. The final motion was supported by 57%, opposed by 41% with 2% abstaining. It confirmed that the necessary two-thirds majority which would have been needed to fully implement same-sex marriage is not present in the current Synod, but being able to support the proposed changes was still a real achievement. The BBC headline straight after the vote switched from a negative to a positive: ‘Church of England backs plans to bless gay couples’.

The next step will be to see what pastoral guidance and final liturgies the House of Bishops publishes before the next meeting of the Synod in July. I expect there will continue to be pushback from conservatives but, in the light of the February vote, there can be no turning back. The only amendment which passed made explicit something that was already implicit within the motion, that the final version of Prayers of Love and Faith should not be contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England. Some will use this to argue that any concessions towards supporting same-sex marriage, even a civil marriage outside the church, should not be permitted. However, the bishops brought their proposals acknowledging that they were operating within the existing doctrines of the church, and will need to justify any further refinements as remaining within that doctrine.

Throughout the process, those of us in General Synod knew that many around the country were praying for us and our work, and that was a great comfort. Please continue to hold the work of the bishops, the Synod and the Church of England in your prayers, as there has been much achieved so far but we are aware of just how much more there is still to do. 

If possible, please consider writing to your local bishop to encourage them to keep going. They will be receiving much correspondence from those opposed to any change and outraged that any concessions are being made to include LGBTQIA+ people. Our bishops could do with some friendly letters and emails thanking them for all they have done so far, and asking that they deliver on much more inclusive pastoral guidance and affirming liturgies for same-sex relationships.