by Julian Mann, Christian Today
Hold up the front page. A majority of bishops on the General Synod gave a positive pastoral lead to the Church of England in vetoing a motion affirming “intimate” same-sex relationships.
It took the 14 bishops who voted against the motion on July 13 some courage to do so. It was obvious during the debate that the majority of Synod members in the chamber at York University supported the Private Member’s Motion.
Moved by Professor Muriel Robinson, a lay member for Lincoln Diocese, the motion as amended expressed “delight in the lives and ministries of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church of England” and stated that “committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationships” can be “entirely compatible with Christian discipleship and ministry”.
In the final vote 93 clergy supported the motion with 79 against. Among the laity 101 voted for it with 83 against. Because the motion needed to pass in all three Houses of Synod, the 14 bishops effectively vetoed it – but only just. Eleven bishops voted for it with four abstaining.
Until the C of E releases the electronic voting results from the July 2026 Synod, the names of the 14 bishops who voted against the motion and the 11 who voted for it are unknown. But the Bishop of Sheffield, Pete Wilcox, led the episcopal charge against a measure that, had it passed, would have set the established Church on the path towards changing its traditional teaching on marriage and sexual morality.
He spoke in support of an amendment to the motion stating “that the teaching of the Church of England provides that sexual intimacy properly belongs within marriage”. That amendment moved by Dr Jamie Harrison, a lay member for Durham Diocese who is on the Archbishops’ Council, was supported by the majority of bishops but was sunk by the clergy and the laity.