Many questions sought to clarify the bishops\u2019 intentions in issuing the guidance, the process by which it was developed, and the permanence or provisionality of its suggestions.<\/p>\n
Some confusion in the bishops\u2019 answers arose about the intention behind the service and whether it was making any theological claims.<\/p>\n
Prudence Dailey (Oxford) asked, \u201cfor the sake of absolute clarity,\u201d whether the House of Bishops \u201cintended \u2026 that the service of affirmation of baptismal vows should be used to mark gender transition.\u201d The Bishop of Hereford, Richard Frith, said that it was \u201cnot intended at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some lack of clarity on this point continued, however, with the Bishop of Willesden later saying that the service was primarily developed to meet the needs of people who had \u201calready in this situation\u201d before joining the church, rather than those transitioning within a congregation. \u201cWe\u2019re not at the moment making any more theological assumptions about where we go after that. That\u2019s something that the [Living in Love and Faith] project is seeking to address.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dailey asked a supplementary question on whether \u201cin addition to the pastoral concerns which they quite rightly considered,\u201d the bishops had considered the significant \u201cphilosophical considerations\u201d raised by these pastoral situations.<\/p>\n
Cocksworth said the pastoral, philosophical, and theological questions raised by the guidance would be addressed by the Living in Love and Faith Project: \u201cThat is giving exactly the sort of theological and philosophical attention to the matters you raise now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a> and you can find the questions and answers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many questions sought to clarify the bishops\u2019 intentions in issuing the guidance, the process by which it was developed, and the permanence or provisionality of its suggestions. Some confusion in the bishops\u2019 answers arose about the intention behind the service…<\/span><\/p>\n