After the meeting of the Church of England's General Synod in February 2023 ten Primates of the GSFA issued what they called the "Ash Wednesday Statement". In it they say,
"GSFA Primates will carefully work with other Primates to provide Primatial and episcopal oversight to orthodox dioceses and networks of Anglican churches who indicate their need and consult with us".
Read moreOn Thursday 12 October, a number of the House of Bishops (12 at the time of writing), issued a 'dissenting' statement in which they raised substantial concerns about the proposals being made by the House.
Read moreOn Monday, the House of Bishops published a press release, announcing that they had "agreed in principle that prayers asking for God's blessing for same-sex couples -- known as Prayers of Love and Faith -- should be commended for use."
The letter from the ordinands - the full text of which is below - has now been made public, as an encouragement to the wider Church and to allow other ordinands to add their names in support.
Read more"Second, they raise a question about the legitimacy of these proposals and the possibility that they are indicative of a departure from Church of England doctrine. A specific point they make is that the legal and theological advice that the House of Bishops has received may not support the employment of these prayers. In other words, they could be indicative of a departure from the doctrine in the Church of England. That's a massively significant concern.
Read moreThe press release (HERE) outlines their recommendations:
1. To commend a suite of Prayers of Love and Faith for use with same-sex couples in private or public worship, but not separate services.
2. To ask General Synod to begin a process to formally authorise separate special services under Canon B2 after consultation with Diocesan Synods.
3. To bring draft pastoral guidance on how this should be managed to the General Synod.
They confirmed that new draft pastoral guidance would be split in two -- the first half, setting out how the system could operate will be brought to next month's meeting of Synod -- the second half, looking at matters in the life and work of clergy and lay ministers, would happen later.
Pastoral reassurance and formal structural pastoral provision will also not be ready until after General Synod.
Read moreI still think that's right. However, it's also quite convenient to take view that mean means you don't have to change anything. February 2023 was a turning point.
Read moreMs Leger, who had taught at the school since 2017, said she was 'treated like a dangerous criminal' after she shared her belief with students that LGBT practices were sinful and that humans are born either male or female.
She was later reported to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) following reports she had upset one pupil with her views.
Read moreI have always hoped that encouraging people to tag along to church, whether through beautiful music or good pastoral care, would gradually bring them to the full-fat faith that I actually believe in; but it rarely does.
Read moreOf the 29 churches evaluated, 13 were categorised as '1: Red' (the lowest rating). These include St. Aldates Church, St. Ebbe's Church and Magdalen Road Church in the centre of Oxford. Ranking based on a 'traffic light system' comes from an 'Honest Church Toolkit' developed by the Student Christian Movement, which also includes suggestions of how to make your church 'more welcoming' of LGBTQ+ people.
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