The Church of England was likened to an “abusive partner” during an “uncomfortable” hours-long debate on Wednesday as it ruled out a push towards same-sex marriage in favour of watered-down reforms on LGBT+ issues.
The Synod – known as the church’s parliament – is considering a motion which repents the church’s failure “to be welcoming to LGBT+ people” and the harm they have faced and still experience.
After years of deliberations and consultations, bishops will keep in place the Church’s ban on clergy performing same-sex weddings, but instead will permit in-church “blessings” for same-sex couples who get a civil marriage – concessions that progressives warn will “please no one” and are too little to maintain the Church’s relevance in modern Britain.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, warned there were no “convenient or easy ways forward” given disagreements within the Church – stressing the Church of England’s obligations to the global Anglican Communion, which is dominated by African churches vehemently opposed to LGBT+ rights.
He warned that further liberalisation risked making the Church “a victim of derision, contempt or even attack for being part of what is called the ‘gay church'”.
The Bishop of Oxford Steven Croft was among those calling for the Church to go further, expressing hopes that the proposals would only be “a stepping stone on the journey to equal marriage”.
Lay minister Adam Chinery-North from Birmingham, who led a handful of protesters gathered outside Church House in Westminster, warned that the changes proposed were simply “not enough”.
“We are saying no to discrimination. We are saying no to being talked about as a problem to be solved. Now is the time for same-sex marriage in the Church of England,” he said.
Introducing the bishops’ report, Bishop of London Sarah Mullally admitted some would see the conclusions as “tantamount to discrimination” and a “betrayal” of Christian values of love, but said the bishops’ proposals would “commit the church to a journey of repentance, for our failure to welcome and love LGBTQI+ people among us”.
But LGBT+ Christian campaigner Jayne Ozanne challenged bishops for attempting to apologise given their continued refusal to permit same-sex weddings.
Ms Ozanne told the chamber: “Why yet another apology? Who does it serve? It seems to me its primary purpose is to make you feel better, even if it makes those of us it’s aimed at increasingly angry. It’s akin to an abusive partner who keeps telling the one they abuse that they love them and they are sorry and they will never do it again. That is a harmful cycle of abuse, and their inability to change their behaviour renders the apology meaningless.”
She added: “Many of us in the LGBT+ community can’t believe what you say, because we live with the consequences of what you do – and don’t do.”
An amendment urging the Church to bring forward full marriage equality brought by Ms Ozanne is likely to be voted down by bishops when the sitting resumes on Thursday.
Andrew Moughtin-Mumby, rector of St Peter’s in Southwark, likened the Church’s stance to its historical racism, adding: “We have made progress on racial justice, and yet we are about to say that people might still be considered second-class citizens.”
Synod member Ros Clarke said: “This work is, as it stands, an outrageous piece of formalised homophobia. What we have in front of us is a report that calls us to celebrate, welcome and affirm same-sex relationships, just not as much as opposite-sex relationships. It says we’ll bless people, but we won’t marry them. Without any attempt at rationale, this is quite simply discrimination.”
Parish priest Robert Lawrance said he hoped the bishops’ report would “create the conditions” to permit same-sex marriage in future, warning that the proposed blessings “risk creating a fog that will please no one” and will leave people on all sides dissatisfied.
The tense debate also saw dissent from conservatives – with many repeating the controversial belief that gay Christians are obliged to live lives of celibacy.
Bishop of Lancaster Jill Duff said she “cannot vote for the motion” because it would be a “seismic shift in Christian teaching” and discourage those living “faithful, celibate lives”.
Synod member Vaughan Roberts of Oxford, who describes himself as “same-sex attracted” but abstains from sex because he believes it is only permitted inside “the marriage of a man and a woman”, told the debate: “The message will be, you needn’t have bothered.”
There was also a blunt airing of views from opponents of LGBT+ inclusion, with Synod member Sam Margrave provoking gasps with a speech in which he claimed “queer theory has roots in the work of paedophiles”.
Meanwhile, Folli Olokose, vicar of St Mary Oatlands in Guildford, warned that the changes could prove the “nail in the coffin” of the global Anglican Communion.
Amid discontent on the issue, some MPs have raised threats of taking action without consent from the Church to remove legal restrictions that prohibit Church of England clergy from conducting same-sex weddings.
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Gay Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, who is an Anglican, told a Synod fringe event on Tuesday that he did not see much support for the “nuclear option” of removing the Church of England’s status as the nation’s established church – after broadcaster Sandi Toksvig launched a campaign calling for the expulsion of bishops from the House of Lords – but suggested “a lot” of MPs would be willing to back amendments to the Church’s exemptions in the 2013 same-sex marriage law.
Tory MP Andrew Selous, the Church’s representative in Parliament, said that while it was “not the job of Parliament” to specify Church doctrine, “I am conscious that Parliament’s patience will not be infinite, and there have already been cross-party meetings of MPs to look at a private member’s bill to require the Church to go further.”
He warned MPs to “be extremely careful what they wish for”, arguing that changes to the law would risk infringing on religious freedom.
Mr Selous added: “The present position has managed to upset many on both sides of this debate. I hear calls for allowing freedom for both sides, and I would dearly love us to find a way to achieve that without fracturing the Church of England.”
Dr Welby appealed to Synod members not to be swayed by “groups, lobbies or outsiders”, adding: “I have heard them over the last two weeks in Parliament and been told exactly what to do. I’m not doing any of it.”
It will be up to each member of the clergy to decide whether to perform blessings for gay couples, and Dr Welby has said he will not do so personally due to his international role.
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