Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has been criticised for “affirming the validity” of a 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.
In a speech made at the Lambeth conference to over 650 bishops, the leader of the global Anglican Church said: “For many churches, to change traditional teaching challenges their very existence.”
He said the 1998 declaration, which is the church’s official stance on sexuality and is known as Lambeth 1.10, was “not in doubt.”
While adding that “a large majority” of conservative Anglicans agree questioning biblical teaching was “unthinkable”, Mr Welby said he would not seek to challenge churches that conduct same-sex marriages.
He also said that churches in liberal democracies should consider updating traditional teachings or they could be “a victim of derision, contempt and even attack”.
Campaigners for LGBTQ+ equality have criticised Mr Welby’s declaration of affirmation.
Jayne Ozanne, a gay evangelical who advocates for inclusion LGBTQ+ people of faith, said: “I feel deeply angry that yet again priority has been given to saving a man-made institution over protecting LGBT+ people’s lives.
“Let us be clear that Lambeth 1.10 encourages ‘conversion therapy’. It is a stick with which many will continue to be beaten and suffer around the world.”
Reverend Richard Peers, an openly gay priest, said: “It would be very good if bishops at Lambeth Conference 2022 would acknowledge the pain caused to LGBTQ+ people by the discussions ‘about us’.
“There seems to be a real failure of empathy and kindness.”
Around 90 bishops, including eight archbishops, have since signed a statement saying they believe “LGBT+ people are a precious part of God’s creation.”
The statement adds: “We believe many LGBT+ people have historically been wounded by the church and particularly hurt by the events of the past few weeks. We wish to affirm the holiness of their love wherever it is found in committed relationships.
They added that they “look forward to the day when we all may feel truly welcomed, valued and affirmed”.
But Anglican bishops who say they represent 75 per cent of Anglicans across the globe are also pushing for all registered bishops at the Lambeth Conference to “reaffirm” Lambeth 1.10 as the “official teaching of the Anglican Communion on marriage and sexuality.”
Archbishop Justin Badi Arama from South Sudan said: “We are living at a time of great spiritual confusion and moral flux. The Church of Jesus Christ cannot afford to lose its moorings in Holy Scripture and drift with the world.
“Based on the need to establish clear doctrine on Marriage and Sexuality at this defining moment for the Anglican Communion, this conference must reaffirm the biblical teaching of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10.”
The resolution states that the Anglican Church believes in abstinence for anyone who is not in a heterosexual marriage and rejects homesexual sex as “incompatible with scripture”.
