The Bishops of the Province of Wales have recently issued a statement with their recommendations on the way forward in relation to same sex blessings and same sex marriage.
Through their listening process they have discerned three different responses:
- advocates for equal marriage argue from the inclusive love of Jesus
- others highlight faithfulness to the traditional reading of Biblical texts and cannot embrace such new understandings
- others discern a middle ground: content to offer blessings, they are not yet ready to abandon traditional teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman.
In spite of several decades of external evidence to the contrary they state that,
‘whatever people’s convictions on this matter, as your bishops we believe first that this should not be a ‘Church-dividing issue’.’
It is also important to note that they state that they ‘believe that, as a Church in Wales, we need to take seriously the Word of Scripture on all things’ and for them this particularly relates to ‘scriptural injunctions to bear with one another in love in a time of debate and disagreement.’ It would appear that for the bishops they don’t have to take Scripture seriously on the doctrine of marriage, even though two out of the three groups they have noted above are acutely conscious that both Scripture and tradition uphold a traditional doctrine of marriage.
In spite of all of this the bishops are recommending to the Governing Body that the experimental Rite of Blessing for same sex couples become an on-going practice and that the Church take the necessary steps to enable same sex marriage.
The bishops ‘recognise that deep convictions will still vary on this matter, and that, in seeking to hold the family of God together, those deep convictions of conscience will have to be respected. Any proposals will have to be drafted in such a way to ensure that no-one is forced to act against their consciences by participating in such provision.’
EFAC Global pleads with the Governing Body of the Anglican Church in Wales to:
- Reject the Bishops recommendations in order to preserve the unity of the church and to maintain fidelity to both Scripture and the Anglican formularies. It would appear that the bishops expect all of ‘the bearing with one another in love’ to be done by one part of the church.
- Request the Bishops to revise their recommendations in view of the reality that their own statement indicates that one out of the three groups they identify is totally opposed to their recommendations and another group want to uphold a traditional doctrine of marriage,
- As members of the Anglican Communion give proper consideration to the impact of the bishops’ recommendations both within the United Kingdom as well as the global church.
- If the bishops and the Governing Body are determined to press on with the recommended actions, EFAC Global calls on them, as a matter of urgency, to include provision for alternative episcopal pastoral oversight for those who they acknowledged cannot accept these actions.
Bishop Stephen Hale (Melbourne, Australia)
EFAC Global Global Secretary
info@efacglobal.com