Wales - rolls onwards towards same-sex marriage

On the 15th April, the Governing Body of the Church in Wales will vote on a "Bill to incorporate into the Book of Common Prayer an Order of Service of Blessing following a Civil Partnership or Marriage between two people of the same-sex".

If it passes, the fractures in the Anglican Communion will further deepen.

If it is rejected, it will be a miracle.

Up until now, every stage of this process has been driven forward by those determined to see change and weighted against those who seek to uphold the traditional teaching of the Church. Time and again, the language of 'unity', 'discernment' and 'respect' has been used by those seeking change as a poor disguise for the utter contempt with which hold the concerns of faithful Anglicans in Wales and the wider Anglican Communion.

In 2019, the Rt Revd Cherry Vann was elected to be the next Bishop of Monmouth. Having secured preferment she, "publicly disclosed her civil partnership with Wendy Diamond. Rather than apologise for not having being open about her relationship, she complained about the stress of keeping it a "secret" for more than twenty years in the Church of England.

Then in 2021, the Governing Body were assured that they were only "experimenting" with a service of blessing and that no firm decisions were being made. Unsurprisingly, by 2025, the 'experiment' had been recast by the Dean of Newport as something which would be, "pastorally and missionally unthinkable to end."

Last year, the Bishops held a listening exercise supposedly to determine whether, or not, to make this 'experiment' permanent. The Most Revd Cherry Vann, who by then had been elected Primate, told the Governing Body that, "if people are going to be able to contribute what they want to contribute, they really do need to feel that they are being listened to and heard, whatever their views, and that those views are respected and held in grace."

Here are just a few of the public contributions that were made on that day:

Revd Isaac Olding - "We need pastoral provision but I don't believe blessings and marriage should be considered as that provision."

Ven Andy Grimwood - "It pains me that the Church in Wales is prepared to challenge the clear teaching of Jesus Christ."

Revd Jim Griffiths - "My fear is that same-sex blessings, or same-sex marriage, jeopardise the unity and growth of our Church. Such measures bring internal division, a division that is serious and deep... because if we're honest, this is not a matter on which we can simply agree to disagree. Sexuality is the presenting issue - the underlying issue is the authority of Scripture. Secondly it will bring external division. There is already serious division between our province and the majority of the other provinces within the Anglican communion. Continuing with same-sex blessings or introducing marriage will only deepen those divisions. Thirdly, it will bring division between our denomination and the historic teaching of the church over the last 2,000 years."

Revd Melanie Prince - "As we look back over the past four years, what I see is that good, able, dedicated clergy have left. People are hurting and the division between us and the majority of the Anglican Communion is widening by the day. And that breaks my heart."

Mrs Della Nelson - "Secondly, we are not the final authority on same-sex blessings and marriage. So, to be humble and to admit that God is the final authority. He has stated in scripture, that marriage, what marriage is and it is our responsibility in humility as the body of Christ to honor that. Yes, God is a God of love. But Scripture also says that the Lord disciplines those he loves."

Yet, having listened 'respectfully' and 'gracefully' to such sentiments, the bishops entirely ignored those with whom they disagreed and instead informed them that contrary to everything expressed above, same-sex blessings were in fact a matter on which Christians could happily agree to disagree:

"Our motivations in offering this course of action are first, to seek to be faithful to Christ, and to where God may be calling us, but also to seek to meet the aspirations of those seeking marriage; and thirdly, to unite, as far as possible, people of all convictions in a process of discernment and accommodation.

The saying “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things charity”, which is properly attributed to the sixteenth century reformer, Peter Meiderlin, reminds us of a rule of discernment. As we unite in 2025 as a Church which proclaims the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith, we as bishops offer to the Church in Wales our discernment: that we can disagree in charity and yet offer liberty on this matter, and commit ourselves to finding a consensus in discernment on the way in which the Church in Wales can affirm same-sex couples in their commitment to each other before God while respecting diversity of understanding."

As this blog has reported before, the bishops have a very simple message for the Church: same-sex blessings are a necessary stopping off point on the way to same-sex marriage - which is where God is leading those who seek to be 'faithful to Christ'. Those who disagree will only be tolerated as far as they are able to accept and respect that position.

It is hard to imagine that the debate on the 15th April will be any different.

The Select Committee have already rejected the need for consultation with the dioceses. They have also rejected fifteen of the seventeen suggested amendments to the text of the Bill and liturgy - all of which sought to reduce the 'marriage-like' aspects of the Order of Service - as the proposer, Mrs Della Nelson, explained:

"Language of union, covenant, binding, and lifelong covenantal commitment, together with symbolic actions closely associated with marriage, carries established theological and liturgical meaning within the Church’s doctrine and practice and functions publicly as signs of marriage. Their use within a rite explicitly described as not being a marriage service risks obscuring the distinction the bishops have sought to maintain and may lead couples and congregations to conclude that the Church is unclear about its teaching on marriage, or that it is, in effect, offering marriage under another name."

Her argument was unequivocally rejected. Those with one eye across the border might be interested to note that in doing so the Select Committee's opinions were in stark contrast to the recent theological reflections of the Church of England's Faith and Order Commission (FAOC). Noteably, the Select Committee rejected the idea that the exchange of rings carries, in the words of FAOC, "doctrinal weight" and showed no concern to avoid "covenantal formulae." It seems, therefore, that despite what has been said, those leading the Church in Wales are content that these services of blessing, "will function de facto as a rite of affirmation whose theological content is perceived as equivalent to marriage."

This is perhaps unsurprising. There is widespread belief that this Bill will pass - and the bishops have already said that if it does they will seek to introduce same-sex marriage in 2027. Of course, if this vote is closer than expected then it is possible the bishops will delay the next stage of their plan, which is all part and parcel of the way the Travelator works. Those with power are able to control what is discussed, when it is discussed and by whom it is discussed.

At least the Select Committee have recognised the Bill "should be deemed not non-controversial." This means the Committee's own amendments will need to be debated before the Governing Body can move on to the substantive motion. Anglican Futures will report on the debate, the resulting votes and the responses from around the Anglican Communion in the coming days.

With thanks to Chris Roberts from Unsplash for the image

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