The Church of England has rowed back on the prospect of introducing dedicated church blessing services for same sex couples.
After reviewing theological and legal advice, the House of Bishops has decided that while special prayers for gay couples for use in regularly scheduled services can remain, bespoke services would need a new code of practice and canon law to be rewritten before they could be permitted. That would require a substantial two-thirds majority vote at General Synod, something that it’s believed would be difficult to currently achieve.
At its meeting this week, the House of Bishops also decided to extend the ban on priests marrying same-sex partners.
A statement on the Church of England’s website said: ‘While final decisions will be made by the House in December, the bishops agreed in principle that both bespoke service and clergy same-sex marriage would need formal synodical and legislative processes to be completed before they could be permitted.
‘As a result, they also concluded there is currently no need for a new code of practice setting out special arrangements such as Delegated Episcopal Ministry.’
The statement added that while ‘there was a range of views expressed on questions of sexuality and marriage the decisions on most points were reached with near unanimity, spanning the breadth of theological tradition.’
The Archbishop of York Most Rev Stephen Cottrell who is chair of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) Programme Board, commented: "As we continue prayerfully to navigate this important work on behalf of the Church, we believe these are the right decisions following further legal and theological advice.
"However, we recognise that for some, they will be difficult and disappointing.
"I continue to pray for God’s grace and gentleness for all as we continue to discern a way through these questions."
A decision to introduce Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) for same sex couples was made by bishops in 2023.
Since then, as part of its Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, the Church has been exploring whether special 'bespoke' services using the PLF could be introduced and whether clergy could legally enter into same-sex marriages.