by Martin Davie
The Church of England’s House of Bishops has now issued a statement on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process. [1]
At first sight this statement seems to mark the end of the LLF process which began back in 2017. Paragraph 34 of the statement declares:
‘Whilst the dialogue will and must continue, we also recognise that the Synodical process which began in February 2023 now needs to draw to a conclusion, albeit in a way which is imperfect, untidy and which leaves some important questions unresolved. We dare to hope that the LLF process will leave a legacy of greater inclusion of LGBTQI+ people in the life of the Church of England, together with deeper understanding of the theological issues and greater honesty about, and tolerance of, individual differences.’
Although they do not admit as much, the reality which this paragraph reflects is that the bishops (meaning the members of House of Bishops collectively) have concluded that there is no legal way forward that would make possible in the lifetime of the current Synod what the majority of the bishops would have liked to see happen, namely the introduction of stand-alone (‘bespoke’) services of blessing for same-sex couples who have entered into a civil marriage and the authorisation of the ordination of clergy in same-sex marriages.
However, this does not mean that the bishops have given up on seeing these things introduced into the life of the Church of England. Paragraph six of the statement declares: