A Sad Day

Sunday 14th July 2024

They are ungodly people, 
who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality 
and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude, verse 4 (NIV)

A Sad Day
General Synod met last weekend, when Living in Love and Faith was once again on the agenda, and a motion was passed:
• to approve stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex relationships (which will not begin before February 2025),
• to plan for the delegation of some episcopal ministry for those who do not feel supported by their diocesan bishop,
• to agree a timetable of decision about clergy being able to enter same-sex marriages (where the decision could be made in February 2025).

This motion was passed in all three ‘houses’ (bishops, clergy and laity), although it should be noted that the majority of those voting for the motion was very slim (56% of bishops, 52% of clergy and 51% of laity).  This is a small mandate for change.  

It may seem that ‘progress’ is slow, but the direction of travel is clear.  And it may seem that the provision of delegation is good, but it does not go far enough.  As it stands, it is at the discretion of the diocesan bishop, when it needs to be legally required and permanent if it is to be secure.

And we cannot escape the fact that it is the bishops, who are meant to protect the church from error, who have been leading the change: “To hear that the power that Bishops hold as ordinaries is non-negotiable where the doctrine of the church is negotiable is a hard thing to hear from our Bishops” (Helen Lamb of Oxford diocese and a member of The Alliance*).

And all along, it is those who are same-sex attracted and yet committed to following the Bible’s teaching on sex and marriage who are left out in the cold.  As one speaker movingly asked at General Synod, will there continue to be a place for people like her in the Church of England?

Lord, have mercy.

Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)