Laura Oliver (Blackburn) complained that her perspective, as an LGBTQ person who held onto traditional teaching on marriage and sex, had been too often absent from the LLF process. \u201cMy efforts to live a life as a treasured child of God, rejoicing in a life of singleness as modelled by Jesus himself, have been undermined and diminished,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Ros Clarke (Lichfield) attempted to amend the motion to make the House of Bishops apologise for not heeding legal advice. Until there was some \u201cconfession and repentance\u201d, she said, the hierarchy could not lead the Church into \u201cforgiveness and reconciliation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others questioned why the Church was about to embark on another round of divisive discussions on sexuality via the new working groups, when this might produce the \u201csame bitter fruit\u201d as the LLF project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Revd Mike Smith (Chester) said that LLF had to be stopped before it was reborn under a new acronym which would resume the \u201cinterminable escalator\u201d and further poison relationships within the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the bishops were mostly united in their determination to both turn the page on LLF, and to continue conversations under new auspices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n