CofE advised same-sex blessings may ‘jeopardise’ its doctrine

The Church of England is in “danger” of undermining the doctrine of marriage by blessing same-sex couples, an advisory group has warned.

In ‘The Doctrine of Marriage and the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF): Texts and Contexts’, the church’s Faith and Order Commission stated that the use of special prayers to ‘celebrate and affirm’ same-sex relationships could be interpreted as “ecclesial endorsement of a couple’s relationship as a whole, including its sexual dimension”.

The prayers, which have been permitted in regular services since 2023, were also set to become part of next year’s trial of bespoke ceremonies blessing same-sex partnerships. But the House of Bishops has now agreed that this would require a two-thirds majority in the three Houses of Synod, which would be a significant barrier.

‘Impossible’

The Commission explained: “A service praying for people entering a new stage in a relationship must be, by its very nature, intrinsically ordered towards celebration, proclamation, and affirmation; ambiguity or challenge, though not excluded, cannot be its dominant mode.”

“In the setting of public worship, it is impossible to escape the reality that the use of the PLF is liable to be received, however unintentionally, as ecclesial endorsement of the relationship being blessed, particularly in the absence of an explanatory catechesis.”

In addition, the report warned that bespoke services “mimicking the form and tone of marriage liturgies” could suggest “equivalence where the Church has not formally recognised it”.

The Commission emphasised: “If liturgical practice is allowed to diverge from doctrinal principle, then the Church’s claim to be a confessing body—one that worships according to what it believes—may be placed in jeopardy.”

LGBT activists

Pro-LGBT clergy within the Church of England have reportedly already held standalone services for same-sex blessings, despite the fact they have not been sanctioned.

Writing for an organisation calling itself ‘Inclusive Evangelicals’, Canon Simon Butler admitted that he has already used Prayers of Love and Faith in two standalone services and “would welcome further enquiries”.

Revd Dr Charlie Bączyk-Bell and Canon Giles Fraser also said they would go against the bishops’ agreement and perform the blessings.