The hopes of progressive Christians in the Church of England have suffered a big blow after years of bitter and divisive debate, with the C of E’s ruling body agreeing to halt work on LGBTQ+ equality.
At a meeting in London on Thursday, the General Synod backed a document from bishops concluding that consensus between conservative and liberal camps within the church could not be reached.
The issue will now be put in the deep freeze until a new synod is in place. Liberal and conservative factions are likely to campaign on the issue in elections later this year in the hope of breaking the deadlock in their favour.
Synod members backed a proposal by bishops on Thursday to halt all work on a process known as Living in Love and Faith (LLF) by 252 votes to 132, with 21 abstentions. The bishops’ motion acknowledged the “distress and pain many have suffered during the LLF process, especially LGBTQI+ people”.
The decision means that three years of work on allowing clergy to conduct special services to bless same sex couples in a civil marriage will end. The prohibition on clergy being married in a civil ceremony to same sex partners will stay in place.
Sarah Mullally, the archbishop of Canterbury, said that LLF had “left us wounded as individuals and a church” but that the bishops’ proposals were a “sensible way forward … that will take us to the next steps”.
In a five-hour debate, many synod members spoke of their pain, anger and feelings of betrayal at the C of E’s failure to progress on the issues. Charlie Bączyk-Bell, a London priest who has campaigned for LGBTQ+ equality, said his heart was broken.
Addressing bishops and fellow synod members, he said: “How dare you and how dare we come again to lament and recognise distress and pain while we continue to inflict it? … What kind of church is this? How has it come to this?”
Claire Robson, a priest in Newcastle, said it was now unlikely she would be able to marry her same-sex partner because of her age. “The changes we long for will be too late for many of us,” she said.
The cost of the LLF process had been £1.6m, she added, “but the cost to my life and ministry is incalculable … Hopes have been dashed and apologies rendered meaningless”.
Proposing the motion, Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, said: “This is not where I want us to be and not where we hoped we would be three years ago … I know that many of you are feeling angry and disappointed. There is a lot of pain and that pain cuts across so called ‘party lines’ or theological convictions held.”
But, he added, “knowing how divided we are on these issues, we haven’t been able to find further ways forward that honour the consciences of those who, faithfully led by their conscientious reading of scripture and their understanding of tradition and of lived human experience, arrive at different conclusions”.
The bishops and the synod were “more deeply divided than I think we knew – or admitted”, he said.
A new working group on “relationships, sexuality and gender” will be set up for “continuing work”, under the wording of the motion. This, said Vicky Brett, a lay member of the synod who spoke in the debate, fitted the definition of insanity: “do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result”.
The issue of sexuality and same-sex marriage has brought the Anglican church close to schism in recent years. After more than a decade of often rancorous debate, the synod finally concluded in early 2023 that it would not support weddings of same-sex couples in church, but would allow priests to bless gay couples within regular services.
That decision prompted church leaders in some developing countries, including South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to say they no longer recognised Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, as the head of the global church.
In July 2024, the C of E evangelical council said it would start a parallel province because of the decision to allow gay marriages to be blessed. Such blessings were “contrary to the teaching of the Bible”, it said.
Some clergy have defied the C of E hierarchy to offer stand-alone services of blessing to same-sex couples, seen by some as a de facto church wedding although without legal standing.
Campaigners for equality have said there is anecdotal evidence suggesting that LGBTQ+ Christians are leaving the C of E, feeling they are unwelcome.
