CofE takes step towards gay marriage after vote rejects controversial report...more

Church takes step towards gay marriage after vote rejects controversial report Church of England clergy have appeared to signal support for gay marriage after they rejected a bishops’ report which said that only a man and woman could marry in church.

The report recommended that the bar on same-sex church marriages continue but that a more welcoming attitude towards homosexuals should be shown by congregations.

However, the motion was rejected by clergy at the General Synod who voted 100 to 93 against. Sources said they believed the recommendation had been rejected by the more liberal members of the clergy who thought the Church should ultimately drop its opposition to gay marriage...

David Ould: CofE Clergy Refuse to “Take Note” of “Orthodox” Bishops’ Report on Marriage ...There was a bit of an earthquake in central London today as the General Synod of the Church of England (effectively its national parliament) refused to “take note” of a report given to them by the Bishops [pdf] in conclusion to the “Shared Conversations” exercise that the Church of England has been undergoing for a number of years in order to make progress on the vexed question of same-sex marriage. The report was criticised from both poles of the debate. For the liberals, the bishops’ reaffirmation of an orthodox understanding of marriage and sexual ethics (para. 26(a) in the report). For many conservatives the bishops’ desire to allow “maximum freedom” under current guidelines (paras. 22-23) was nothing but an undermining of their statements about upholding orthodoxy; how can one uphold a Biblical sexual ethic and at the same time in any way bless same-sex unions?...

Statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury following today’s General Synod
Wednesday 15th February 2017

Statement from Archbishop Justin Welby following the General Synod’s vote “not to take note” of a Report by the House of Bishops on the report earlier today on Marriage and Same-Sex Relationships.

"No person is a problem, or an issue. People are made in the image of God. All of us, without exception, are loved and called in Christ. There are no ‘problems’, there are simply people.

How we deal with the real and profound disagreement - put so passionately and so clearly by many at the Church of England’s General Synod debate on marriage and same-sex relationships today - is the challenge we face as people who all belong to Christ.

 

To deal with that disagreement, to find ways forward, we need a radical new Christian inclusion in the Church. This must be founded in scripture, in reason, in tradition, in theology; it must be based on good, healthy, flourishing relationships, and in a proper 21st century understanding of being human and of being sexual. 

 

We need to work together - not just the bishops but the whole Church, not excluding anyone - to move forward with confidence.

 

The vote today is not the end of the story, nor was it intended to be. As bishops we will think again and go on thinking, and we will seek to do better. We could hardly fail to do so in the light of what was said this afternoon. 

 

The way forward needs to be about love, joy and celebration of our humanity; of our creation in the image of God, of our belonging to Christ - all of us, without exception, without exclusion."

Church of England gay marriage vote thrown into chaos after members 'get confused and press wrong button'