Bishop Jonathan Gibbs of Rochester : “Fundamentally different conceptions amongst us”
In his address to the Rochester Diocesan Synod, Bishop Jonathan Gibbs spoke of the February General Synod debate on Living in Love and Faith. He said: “The reality is that the proposals as they stand do not command sufficient widespread support to enable the Church to move forward together. The voting figures at General Synod make this very clear, as do many of the comments I have received since the Synod debate.
Given that fact, you may well ask why in the end I was prepared to vote for the amended motion – and indeed why the majority of those bishops who contributed to our paper on the Doctrine of Marriage also did so. And my answer lies in the terms of the motion, which recognises that there is still more work to be done on matters such as the content of the prayers of love and faith, the pastoral guidance that will accompany them, and the pastoral and legal provision that will need to be made for those who choose either to use or not to use the prayers in their ministry.
Put simply, the amendment gave me grounds to believe that, despite the way things had been variously spun and portrayed, the process was still open to meaningful change that would honour the Bishops’ commitment to upholding the Church’s traditional doctrine of marriage, while also making pastoral provision for people in same-sex relationships that would affirm and celebrate gifts such as companionship, affection and mutual love and support.
Synod, I am deeply conscious of the responsibility of my role as Diocesan Bishop, both to uphold the historic teaching of the Church and to be chief pastor to all the people of this Diocese, whatever their sexuality or the views on matters of sexuality. What I will be committing myself to do over the coming months is to work with my fellow bishops, as I have consistently done, to ensure that the historic teaching of the Church of England, about marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman and as the intended context for sexual relations, is upheld. I will only be able to support the final version of the proposals if this is the case. At the same time, again as I have consistently done, I will be arguing for appropriate pastoral provision to affirm and support people who enter into committed same-sex relationships, and to celebrate the good in those relationships, in ways that do not indicate a departure from the Church’s traditional understanding of marriage but which do allow for the exercise of conscientious judgement on the part of individuals about the ordering of their lives, as was recognised in the 1991 document “Issues in the Human Sexuality” (Section 5.6).
There is a great deal more to be said and done about the content of the prayers as yet to be commended by the House of Bishops, as well as about legal issues regarding the status of the prayers and the position of clergy who choose either to use or not to use any such prayers. These are all serious issues that are far from resolved. Depending on how these questions are answered, consideration will also need to be given as to how we accommodate differences of conviction and practice within the Church of England. Whatever happens, however, I will remain committed to my twin responsibilities to uphold the historic faith of the Church of England (as promised at my ordination as a bishop) and to be the chief pastor to all the people of this diocese.
In the meantime, and recognising how difficult and uncertain things are at present, I would urge everyone to hold their nerve, to hold together and to remain committed to seeing through the LLF process in the coming months. There is still much to be said and done, and there are still many questions to be answered. I would strongly encourage those who are deeply concerned about these issues (from whatever perspective) to remain fully engaged with the process and with the life of the Diocese, in order to ensure that their voices are fully heard while we work to find a way forward that holds us together as far as possible.
In this regard, it would also assist me if clergy, lay people and PCCs would write to me outlining their concerns, to enable me to communicate these to the Archbishops, the House of Bishops and to those who are involved in shaping the way forward – though please understand that I will not be able to reply personally to everyone!
In closing, I want to make it clear that I am deeply torn by these issues. I recognise that what I have said today may well be a huge disappointment (or worse) for many of our sisters and brothers in the LGBTQIA+ communities and their supporters, and I am deeply sorry for the pain this will cause. My profoundest instinct as a pastor is to seek for a way forward that could be embraced by all. However, the divided nature of the votes at General Synod, together with the reactions of people with very diverse convictions about these issues, have led me to believe that this is simply not possible. There are fundamentally different conceptions amongst us of what God requires of his people in terms of how we live out our relationships and our sexuality. In the end, each of us has to make a choice about our own understanding of these hugely important and deeply personal issues.”
Read his full address here
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