The Church of England is to hold intensive discussions on homosexuality and same-sex marriage behind closed doors in an effort to overcome deep divisions and move towards a settled policy.
The July session of the synod, or general assembly, will spend two days in small groups and plenary sessions from which the media and public will be banned. Synod members will be urged to refrain from disclosing the content of discussions on social media.
The issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage has dominated the church for the past two decades. Despite the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK in 2014, the C of E refuses to perform same-sex wedding services in churches, saying that according to the Bible marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Gay clergy are also banned from marrying.
The church is in the process of “shared conversations” on the issue, involving bishops, clergy and parishioners. The synod, whose 480 elected members form the decision-making body of the C of E, is to devote almost half its major session in July to the subject.
David Porter, the C of E’s director of reconciliation, told the current session of the synod that the church faced a challenge on how to respond to cultural changes. The process of facilitated conversations is intended to allow people to hear different perspectives and to learn to “disagree well”.
“We may not agree, but we are listening to one another,” he said.
He also warned synod members that the first session on human sexuality at the summer session would coincide with the men’s final at Wimbledon. He acknowledged that many members would be disappointed to miss the tennis match but made a “plea from the heart”.
“We know the first Sunday is the Wimbledon final. It always is. But you have come to be part of a synod which will reflect on one of the biggest challenges in our missional life. So we invite you to prepare yourself for Wimbledon withdrawal,” he said.
In his presidential address at the opening of the synod, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, said he had never been more aware of pressure than at the meeting of worldwide Anglican primates last month, at which “divisions were profound, and remain so”.
The gathering voted to impose de facto sanctions – or “consequences” in the preferred lexicon of the church – on the US episcopal church which approved same-sex marriage last year.
But, in response to a question from the synod floor, Welby said that churches within the Anglican communion that backed the criminalisation of homosexuality could also face consequences at the next formal meeting of primates in 2020.
“If you look at the [January] communique … you will find that there is a very, very clear statement on the longstanding opposition of the Anglican Communion to criminalisation of LGBTI people,” he said. “One could anticipate that the primates when they meet, were someone to be advocating such, would need to consider [consequences].”
He pointed out that he had one vote out of 38, “and I couldn’t possibly attempt to anticipate what the outcome would be”.
Anglican leaders from countries such as Uganda and Kenya have been criticised for their support for the criminalisation of homosexuality.
