The General Synod has agreed to welcome the Bishops\u2019 proposals to provide prayers to bless same-sex unions in church \u2014 but with a last-minute clarification that their use would not contradict the Church\u2019s current teaching on marriage.<\/p>\n
The debate on the proposals (News, 20 January), which began after lunch on Wednesday, overran by several hours, concluding at lunchtime on Thursday with a vote by houses.<\/p>\n
The result was: Bishops, 36 in favour, four against, with two abstensions; Clergy, 111 in favour, 85 against, with three abstensions; Laity, 103 in favour, 92 against, with five abstensions.<\/p>\n
The size of the vote against the blessings \u2014 after eight hours of debate and six years of discussion about sexuality and identity through the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) project \u2014 was a clear indication that the chief concern here was not to mollify those who had wanted to be able to marry same-sex couples in church rather than just bless them, as some had thought.<\/p>\n
Instead it was to keep conservative Evangelicals in a Church which, as many of them see it, was proposing to endorse extra-marital sex.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n The General Synod has agreed to welcome the Bishops\u2019 proposals to provide prayers to bless same-sex unions in church \u2014 but with a last-minute clarification that their use would not contradict the Church\u2019s current teaching on marriage https:\/\/t.co\/RtCgT2iMYb<\/a><\/p>\n — Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n