Church of Ireland set to vote on Pastoral Acceptance of Same-Sex Unions

Apr 24, 2017 by

by the Rev Dr Alan McCann, VOL:

At the General Synod of the Church of Ireland 2017 a motion to recognize same-sex unions (see motion below) will be presented, debated and voted upon. At this moment, it would be impossible to say what the outcome of that vote would be. Back in 2012 the General Synod of the Church of Ireland overwhelmingly passed a motion which clearly and unambiguously stated that marriage was between one man and one woman and that this was the normative relationship for sexual relations.

The synod could not have been any clearer on the teaching of the Church of Ireland in relation to Human Sexuality and Marriage. Five years later what has changed? We have had a ‘listening process’ in the intervening period. However, in that period the Republic of Ireland has passed legislation allowing same-sex marriage whereas the Northern Ireland assembly, through motions of concern, blocked the same legislation being passed. This leaves the Church of Ireland in an awkward situation because it is an all Ireland church.

For the past three years, the Church of Ireland has had a Select Committee looking at Human Sexuality in the context of Christian Faith. The report of that committee is included in this years book of reports to General Synod. The report is pretty bland and, as per its remit, did not make any recommendations or proposals. Dr. Kilroy and Rev. O’Rourke are both members of that committee and obviously, by their motion below, feel the committee’s report did not go far enough.

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