Gay couples can receive blessing, not marriage, in Church of England: Bishops

Bishops of the Church of England said Thursday they “welcomed proposals” for same-sex couples to receive a blessing on their unions, which passed by majority votes in the church’s General Synod. Anglican clergy will not yet perform marriage ceremonies for those couples, however.

Those blessings are outlined in “Prayers of Love and Faith,” which will be issued by the group’s House of Bishops after “further refining.” The church said the bishops will also monitor the use of these prayers over the next five years.

The 36-4 vote, with two abstentions, by the bishops, came after two days of debate on a series of proposals relating to same-sex couples who have either married or entered into civil partnerships, both of which are options in the United Kingdom. A dissident proposal to emphasize the move does not symbolize a departure from Church of England doctrine was added to the measure and approved.

Clergy delegates voted 111-85 to approve the proposal, with three abstentions, while lay delegates supported the measure 103-92, with five abstaining.

The church also said it “lament[s] and repent[s] of the failure of the church to be welcoming to LGBTQI+ people and the harm that LGBTQI+ people have experienced and continue to experience in the life of the church” after acknowledging “the different deeply held convictions within the church” over same-sex relationships.

The church’s two top leaders — Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell — issued a statement applauding the move.

“For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church,” they said. At the same time, the two leaders conceded, “the church continues to have deep differences on these questions, which go to the heart of our human identity.”

They said they were “committed to respecting” those “for whom this goes too far” and would strive to respect those clergy “as this conversation continues.”

During the debate, Archbishop Cottrell said clergy could decide on their own whether to offer the blessings.

“No one has to offer these services and no one will be disadvantaged if they don’t,” he said, according to a BBC summary.

Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London who led the debate, called the vote “a moment of hope” for Anglicans.

“It is my prayer that what has been agreed today will represent a step forward for all of us within the Church — including LGBTQI+ people — as we remain committed to walking together,” she said.

The Church of England is the leading member of the global Anglican communion but has differed from two of its sister groups on the gay marriage issue. The Scottish Episcopal Church voted to conduct same-sex marriages in 2017.

The Episcopal Church in the United States approved such ceremonies in 2015 within days of the Supreme Court legalizing such marriages in its Obergefell v. Hodges decision. However, some nations in which the U.S. church operates, such as Haiti, still outlaw such marriages.

Such developments have split the global church family, where conservative Episcopalians in the United States and African Anglican leaders have protested the moves and, in some cases, boycotted the decennial Lambeth Conference assembly.