The Church of England's bishops have failed to reach an agreement over gay marriage blessings.
Ninety College of Bishops met yesterday to discuss proposals put forward in the Pilling report in November, which suggested that Anglican priests should be free to "mark the formation of a permanent same-sex relationship in a public service" if they wish to do so and if they have the agreement of their parochial church council.
However, in a joint statement the College of Bishops have rejected the proposals, instead saying they are committed to 'good disagreement' over the issue, with no change to the Church of England's teaching on marriage "proposed or envisaged."
Revd Colin Coward of Changing Attitudes told Premier's News Hour he's disappointed, but will continue to campaign for equality:
Despite, it's failure to agree a policy over gay marriage blessings, the College of Bishops says it has asked the Archbishops to form a working group on the issue by May. They are hoping it will allow the issue to move forward within a 'safe' environment where they can be 'honest' about their own 'views and feelings'. However, Mail on Sunday journalist and Christian author, Peter Hitchens told Premier why he thinks they should actually be concentrating on other issues:
The House of Bishops said they will be meeting again next month to consider its approach when same sex marriage becomes lawful in England in March.