Speech at General Synod for ‘legally structured provision’
Debate on Living in Love and Faith (GS 2346), a motion from The Bishop of Leicester
Speech prepared by Sarah Finch (London 355) (but not delivered) in favour of the Revd Charlie Skrine’s amendment, calling for ‘a set of commitments together with a settlement based on legally secure structural provision’.
“Before speaking about this matter of legally secure structural provision, members of Synod, I want to refer back to the time when we were debating the possibility of having women bishops – many of us here today will remember that debate – and will remember too a crucial aspect of the outcome of that debate. It was called: The Five Guiding Principles. This gave provision for Anglicans in England who, for a number of reasons, disagreed with this step.
But, this provision, The Five Guiding Principles, was not safe, it was not secure. And many of us will remember how, recently, the Bishop of Dover startled us by saying, “It ain’t working!”
Why are The Five Guiding Principles not working? I suggest that a principal reason is the lack of uniformity across the country. Because The Five Guiding Principles are applied at the discretion of the Diocesan bishop, there is no uniformity. The provision is therefore unreliable.
There are very substantial sections of the Church of England, now, where people are going to need provision, if some of the Bishop of Leicester’s commitments are turned into reality – especially number 6, the experimental use of standalone services of Prayers of Love and Faith, and number 8, exploring the process for clergy and lay ministers to enter same-sex civil marriages.
That provision, however, must be secure. It must be more rigorous than The Five Guiding Principles. It mut be ecclesiologically more robust. It must be legally robust if it is to have any chance of “WORKING” !
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