by Julian Mann, Christian Today
It took a brave dissenter to defy the cosy consensus at the Church of England’s General Synod over ditching the Bishops’ teaching document that officially prevented practising homosexuals from being ordained.
Debbie Buggs, a lay member for London Diocese, was the lone voice against the motion calling for candidates for ordination no longer to be required to agree to Issues in Human Sexuality.
Conservatives voted for the private member’s motion as amended because it replaces Issues, which the House of Bishops put out in 1991, with “an interim requirement of living consistently with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy (GPCC)”.
The Church of England said after Synod members meeting in York near-unanimously passed the motion on July 15: “The motion does not alter the Church’s doctrine or canonical requirements, which remain in place …
“The interim use of the GPCC ensures that expectations for clergy conduct remain clear and grounded in the Church’s wider understanding of ministry as a public and representative calling.”
Presenting the motion, Paul Waddell, a lay member for Southwark Diocese, reminded Synod that when it voted to allow services of same-sex blessings in the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) debate in February 2023, it also voted to ditch Issues.
“Nearly two and a half years ago, this Synod voted to bin off Issues in Human Sexuality, replacing it with new pastoral guidelines. Here we are, though, still waiting, still not really agreeing on what’s in and what isn’t,” he said.
He told members: “I work in surgery in operating theatres. When we want to remove something malignant, we want to do so causing the least possible damage to the rest of the human body. So, what is being proposed today is a surgical removal of Issues without affecting all the other things to which we hold in our teaching or getting bogged down in the things that we’re at loggerheads over.”