Prayers of Love and Faith - The latest from the Church of England’s General Synod
Nic Tall, member of the Church of England General Synod House of Laity for the Diocese of Bath and Wells, pictured speaking at Synod in July 2022.
GENERAL SYNOD, the Church of England's governing body, 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.
During the three-day meeting at Church House in London, Synod members from the Houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity engaged in around nine hours of debate on proposals agreed at Synod’s meeting in February to enable clergy and churches who choose to do so to use Prayers of Love and Faith to bless same-sex relationships. Nic Tall, a founding member of our Open Table Taunton community, explains:
“So, after much time devoted in Synod to moving LLF forward, by narrow majorities it continues on track.”
It felt strange to be back in London going over old ground - many will remember there was a landmark debate on LLF in February 2023, which resulted in a vote in favour of the church moving forward in several areas. At that point we would not have expected to have been back for yet another long debate, and yet again having some very close votes on key points. So, what happened at General Synod in November?
The November debate followed months of work to implement the February 2023 vote, which included two key points. First was the decision that the House of Bishops would commend some liturgy giving thanks for or blessing LGBTQIA+ relationships, for example following a civil marriage in a registry office. The second was that the bishops would issue new pastoral guidance on sexuality, including such issues as whether clergy could marry a same-sex partner and continue working as a priest. Following those decisions there has been turbulence arising from some conservatives who felt that any greater accommodation of LGBTQIA+ people and their relationships was crossing an important line for them, and much debate ensued as to exactly what should be implemented following the February vote and what provision should be in place for those who in conscience could not support those changes.
So, the November Synod took place within an atmosphere of resistance from some who felt that the February vote had taken things too far, and frustration from others who wanted to see the modest progress agreed finally put into practice. One motion in the debate, while acknowledging that this has process has been difficult for all involved, encouraged the House of Bishops to keep going in the direction set in February. That direction was to provide prayers which could be used in an existing service, a bit like when a baptism happens on a Sunday morning and is not the focus of the service. It would also begin a consultation process on a liturgy for stand-alone services, where the relationship of the couple was the focus of the service and could happen at any time, like a wedding ceremony. This process would include consultation with diocesan synods and yet another debate in General Synod in 2025. Crucially, there would be no scope to try out the proposed stand-alone service while we waited for the debate on this liturgy in 2025.
Amendments were brought to shape the motion, predominantly by conservatives who were either seeking to delay progress even further or to gain significant concessions for those who were not wishing to use the new liturgies. None of the conservative amendments passed a vote, but one progressive amendment did, by a narrow margin. The Bishop of Oxford’s amendment asked bishops to reconsider allowing the stand-alone service of blessing on an experimental basis in preparation for the 2025 debate on permitting their ongoing use. The passing of this amendment opens the way for stand-alone services to be available in our churches as soon as the House of Bishops can make arrangements, probably in the Spring of 2024. The main motion also passed, again by narrow margins, keeping the progress of the LLF project on track and resisting conservative attempts to derail the whole thing.
So, what happens next? First, the prayers which can be used as part of an existing service will be commended by the House of Bishops, probably in December 2023. Then the guidelines about the stand-alone services and how they can be used during the trial period will be issued, probably around February 2024. The long-awaited pastoral guidance, including whether clergy will be allowed to be a same-sex civil marriage, is also expected to be published around February, although the timeline here is less certain.
There also remains discussion on the measures needed to reassure those of whatever opinion that their consciences will be respected, whether they use the new prayers or not. There was already some exploration of this in the papers before Synod, including the need for parishes to opt in to using the prayers, requiring both the priest and PCC to agree before they could be used. There is a guarantee that no priest should be required to carry out a service with which they disagree. Some conservative clergy feel that this is not enough, and the debate remains open as to what they would require and whether the wider church would be willing to accommodate their wishes. So, after much time devoted in Synod to moving LLF forward, by narrow majorities it continues on track.
