On Wednesday morning, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, said that the proposal as it stood was “pretty historic” saying: “While I recognise that it isn’t enough for some people, and it’s also too far for others, to propose prayers of thanksgiving and dedication for same-sex couples is, I think, a huge step forward.”
The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, said on Wednesday that “there are very worthwhile things in these proposals,” despite having been in favour of more significant change (News, 3 November 2022).
“It’s important to note that hopes have been high. A lot of people will be disappointed that we’re not able to make greater progress at this time,” Dr Croft told the Church Times.
He urged people, none the less — and General Synod members in particular — to read the explanations for the Bishops’ proposals, to be published on Friday. He said that he was “disappointed that we are not travelling the whole distance that some of us wanted to travel”. What the Bishops proposed, though, was “a good step forward”, he said. “It will correct some injustices, and offer a tangible public service that wasn’t available before.”
One thing Dr Croft noted was that there had been much greater honesty among the bishops. They no longer maintained an illusion of public unity, as in the past, and this contributed to a more open process of discernment.
The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, wrote on Twitter that, while the media might present the proposal as “bad news”, “in fact, though it does not go as far as some of us would have liked, it is a huge step forward.