Anglican Church votes against blessings for same-sex couples

In a statement released on Friday evening Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said 16 bishops voted against the proposal while six were in favour.

Sixty-two percent of the lay representatives to the synod (church council) voted against the proposal, while 55% of the clergy also voted against it.

The vote was taken by the church’s top legislative body, the provincial synod, following a proposal which was brought by the Diocese of Saldanha Bay – which stretches from the northern suburbs of Cape Town to the Namibian border.

Before announcing the results to the church, which includes Anglicans in Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and on the island of St Helena, Makgoba said the process had left a “palpable pain” within the church.

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