Can the Church of England afford same-sex blessings?
by Julian Mann, Christian Today:
The General Synod meeting in York next month is being overshadowed by revelations of the dire financial state of most of the Church of England’s 42 dioceses.
The staggering picture of the C of E’s financial decline in the Diocesan Finances Review Update, circulated to Synod members ahead of their July meeting, comes as the C of E’s bishops seek approval for their plan to allow standalone services of blessing for same-sex couples to go ahead on an experimental basis.
The latest proposals from the bishops, announced on June 20, are “designed to help hold the Church together amid deep disagreements over questions of sexuality”.
After Synod voted to approve services of blessing for same-sex couples in February 2023, the introduction of standalone services where couples could have dedicated celebrations in C of E parish churches has been delayed by legal arguments.
Vicars have been allowed to use the blessings in regular services since December 2023. But church lawyers have told the bishops that the standalone services require a two-thirds majority vote in Synod for permanent approval because they would represent a change in the Church’s current teaching on sexual morality.
The latest document circulated to Synod members, ‘Moving forward as one Church’, recommends allowing individual incumbents to use the standalone services at their discretion for “an intentional period of discernment of at least three years” from 2025.
But as the bishops try to get the standalone blessings launched, the Diocesan Finances Review Update, signed by Carl Hughes, chairman of the Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee, and Joanna Woolcock, director of finance transformation, National Church Institutions, reveals that C of E dioceses are now facing “underlying aggregate deficits” of more than £60 million per year.
“Most dioceses are now in a structural deficit position with 30 dioceses reporting underlying operating deficits in 2022, and 35 expecting to report a deficit in 2023 and beyond,” the paper reveals.
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