Following the publication of the independent lessons learnt review into the Church of England’s handling of allegations against the late Revd Trevor Devamanikkam, and the response of those criticised, the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, having taken appropriate advice, yesterday required Lord Sentamu, Honorary Assistant Bishop in Newcastle Diocese, to step back from active ministry until both the findings and his response can be explored further.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is fully supportive of this decision. The Diocese of Newcastle remains committed to the highest standards of safeguarding which seeks always to place victims and survivors at the heart of this vital work.
If you or anyone you are in contact with are affected by the publication of this report and want to talk to someone independently, please call the Safe Spaces helpline on 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk
The full text of the statement issued yesterday by Lord Sentamu is available here.
Statement from Alexander Kubeyinje, Church of England’s national safeguarding director following publication of lessons learnt review into the late Revd Trevor Devamanikkam
What happened in this case makes for incredibly harrowing reading and I apologise for the hurt and harm caused to the survivor. The review was to highlight failures and how the Church can and must learn from its past mistakes.
If we are to be true to our words that we want change then there is a responsibility that senior leaders would want and need assurances that lessons are learnt.
I support the Bishop of Newcastle’s decision completely as responding well to victims and survivors is a core part of the Church’s safeguarding and this review is part of this, we have a duty to and must do better.
Lord Sentamu said he had told the review what he told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) when it considered the matter – “namely that the action following a disclosure to the bishop of Sheffield was his and his alone in line with established safeguarding procedures and guidelines”.
He added: “I acted within the agreed procedures, rules and practice guidance on safeguarding, set by the House of Bishops and the Clergy Discipline Measure. Safeguarding is very important but it does not trump Church Law (which is part of the Common Law of England).
“And the law is not susceptible to be used as an excuse for exercising the role given to an archbishop. Church Law sets the boundaries for diocesan bishops and archbishops.”
The Bishop of Oxford has written to his clergy. The text of that letter is available here.
Update: The full text of Lord Sentamu’s statement is now available, as a PDF.
The Bishop of Exeter has announced he is to retire on 30 September 2023 after more than nine years in the role.
The Rt. Rev’d Robert Atwell was installed as bishop at Exeter Cathedral in July 2014.
He is currently convenor of the Bishops in the South-West region, chair of the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission and the lead bishop for Rural Affairs.
He has been a member of the House of Lords since November 2021…
The Church of England has issued the press release below about future General Synod dates, an outline of the business for July, and an update on Living in Love and Faith implementation groups. The text of the Outline of Business for July is copied below the fold.
General Synod dates and update on Living in Love and Faith implementation groups
09/05/2023
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, as Presidents of the General Synod of the Church of England, have agreed to proceed with a November meeting of Synod this year.
The group of sessions will be held in London from Monday November 13 to Wednesday November 15, the Synod Business Committee has confirmed.
The committee has also published the Outline of Business for the next meeting of Synod, which will take place in York from Friday July 7 to Tuesday July 11.
The July meeting will include a substantial item on the proposals, which emerged from the Living in Love and Faith process, to enable same-sex couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationship such as a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church to give thanks, offer prayers of dedication to God and to receive God’s blessing.
Following a landmark debate at Synod in February, a series of implementation groups have been set up to take the proposals forward including refining a set of draft texts known as Prayers of Love and Faith; working on new pastoral guidance for the Church of England and examining what pastoral reassurance will be required to ensure freedom of conscience for clergy and laity.
It is anticipated that the November group of sessions could provide an opportunity for Synod to consider any aspects of that work not completed by July.
The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and the Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, the co-chairs of the steering group overseeing the implementation groups, said: “The working groups set up by the College of Bishops to take forward the decision of General Synod on a way forward for the Church of England on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage have been working at pace and are making good progress.
“We hope that work to refine the texts of Prayers of Love and Faith, together with aspects of the work of the Pastoral Guidance and Pastoral Reassurance groups, will be in place before the meeting of Synod in York in July.
“We will be bringing a report to Synod updating in more detail on the progress that has been made.
“Recognising the complexity of the matters being considered, we anticipate that time could be made available at the November meeting of Synod for any further work required.”
Notes to editors
Synod meets in February and July each year and in November at least once in every five years, usually.
The most recent November group of sessions was in 2021, the inaugural meeting of the current Synod.
Potential dates for November meetings of Synod are agreed by the Business Committee in advance with the other Synod dates and the presidents then determine each year whether or not to proceed with a November meeting that year.
The Business Committee has also advised members that next year’s first group of sessions will be between Friday 23 February 2024 and Tuesday 27 February 2024.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have issued the following statement today.
Independent Safeguarding Board: Statement by the Archbishops
02/05/2023
“As Meg Munn starts her role as Acting Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Board, we affirm our confidence in her and her ability to lead the Board’s important work. Working with the two existing Board members, Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves, she has agreed to bring forward options on the scope and terms of reference of a fully independent safeguarding board by the autumn of this year. The process will involve widespread consultation especially with survivors and with others in the Church.
In addition, the Board have been asked to develop proposals for a process to appoint a permanent independent Chair and additional Board members.
“Meg brings her experience of scrutiny of the Church’s safeguarding work in her role as Independent Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel since 2018. She also brings her previous experience as a senior safeguarding professional in local authorities and as a government minister and Member of Parliament. We look forward to welcoming all three members of the Board to the Archbishops’ Council next week.”
on Tuesday, 2 May 2023 at 11.19 am by Peter Owen
categorised as Church of England, News
The LLF documents that I linked to last week, and which were subsequently taken down from the Church of England website, have reappeared (in each case as version 2). I cannot see any differences in the contents of the old and new versions.
There is an accompanying press release which is copied below.
Update from the Living in Love and Faith implementation working groups
02/05/2023
A series of working groups taking forward proposals for the Church of England on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage are up and running.
At its February meeting in London, the Church of England’s General Synod, considered proposals from the bishops which would enable same-sex couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationship such as a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church to give thanks, offer prayers of dedication to God and to receive God’s blessing.
As well as a landmark debate on a motion (below), Synod members also met in smaller groups to consider and comment on a set of draft texts known as Prayers of Love and Faith, and to offer their views on proposed pastoral guidance.
At its meeting in March, the College of Bishops agreed to set up three working groups to implement Synod’s decision, tasked with:
Drafting new pastoral guidance
Further refining the texts of Prayers of Love and Faith in the light of feedback from Synod
Examining what pastoral reassurance will be required to ensure freedom of conscience for clergy and laity.
The full membership of the groups, drawn from across the Church of England, is below and the draft terms of reference for the groups can be found on the Living in Love and Faith section of the Church of England website.
Their work will be co-ordinated by a steering group co-chaired by the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and the Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen.
The groups met together in London recently and have been meeting individually regularly. (more…)
Update Simon Kershaw’s compilation of texts now includes 2023 and its published commentary.
Update On the morning of the coronation Buckingham Palace published its own edition of the Coronation service, with the revised Homage of the People.
The Church of England published The Authorised Liturgy for the Coronation Rite of His Majesty King Charles III late yesterday. The full text is on this webpage. In addition there are these pdf files.
My colleague Simon Kershaw has published the texts of each previous coronation since 1689, which readers may find helpful for comparison with this year’s text. He has also written several articles on coronations here.
We have published several news reports recently, that relate to the Independent Safeguarding Board, here, and also here, and earlier over here. These provide some context for a letter from David Lamming published in the Church Times this week under the heading Church Interference with the ISBthat summarises the current difficulties:
Sir, — The Annual Report 2022-23 of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB), written by the two members, Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves, and published on 24 April, blows away any remaining claim that the ISB is independent, stating on page 19 that it “currently exists within the structure of the National Church Institutions with oversight from the Archbishops’ Council”.
That servile relationship with the Archbishops’ Council is highlighted by the fact that Meg Munn has been imposed on the ISB as acting chair, in clear breach of the ISB’s terms of reference, which state that the Archbishops’ Council “ratifies” board appointments and that each member is appointed following a process that includes “public advertisement of vacancies” and “the use of expert recruiters to ensure a wide field”. Added to this is the obvious conflict of interest in appointing a person who also chairs the National Safeguarding Panel.
It is especially disturbing to note, according to the report in the Sunday Telegraph on 23 April, that neither board members nor abuse victims were consulted over the appointment of Ms Munn, and that the members were “instructed not to engage with victims on matters of ‘independence and the arrival of the chair'”. Given, too, the expressed lack of confidence in her by many survivors of abuse, Ms Munn must surely now state that she will not take up the role of acting chair, and the Secretary-General, William Nye, must give a full account of how her appointment came to be made.
In February, General Synod members were denied the opportunity to debate the ISB (News, 2 February; 6 February). Patently, such a debate must take place at York in July, when those responsible for the current débâcle can be held to account.
on Saturday, 29 April 2023 at 8.01 pm by Peter Owen
categorised as Church of England
Update Tuesday 2 May As commenters have noted these documents have been taken down from the website. New versions and a press release were issued today and are linked in my post above. Please take subsequent comments there.
——
The following two documents have appeared on the Church of England website in the last few days. They are internally dated 27 and 29 April 2023 respectively. I cannot find any reference to them on the Living in Love and Faith section of the website.
The Independent Safeguarding Board has today issued the following statement.
Statement: Percy -v- Independent Safeguarding Board Case Resolved
The Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) is pleased to announce a settlement in the case brought against it by Professor Martyn Percy, the former Dean of Christ Church Oxford.
Professor Percy brought the claim following his request to the Archbishops’ Council and Diocese of Oxford that there should be an independent review of the alleged weaponization of safeguarding by individuals and agencies within Church of England perpetrated against him. The Archbishops’ Council and Oxford Diocese decided to commission the ISB to conduct this review. However, Professor Percy challenged the restricted terms of the draft terms of reference set out by those commissioning the review and the previous Chair of the ISB. In the event, the court dismissed the claim brought by Dr Percy against the ISB, in part because all parties agreed that the ISB was not a legal entity against which such a claim could be brought.
At the heart of the case is the need for a rigorous review of the processes and practices of the Church of England alongside other developments at Christ Church. The ISB consider that the original review’s published terms of reference would have needed significant amendment to ensure that any independent ISB review had sufficient scope and depth.
While the ISB’s review could have made progress, the absence of an Information Sharing Agreement with the Church of England significantly hampered the continuation of the work. The review was initially paused and then discontinued by the Archbishops’ Council which decided that it should be conducted by some other person. That individual has yet to be agreed. The ISB urges the Archbishops’ Council to act with urgency to ensure that an independent review is commissioned. Professor Percy’s assertion that such a review should be led by a KC or Judge has significant merit and is one with which the ISB concurs. (more…)
on Friday, 28 April 2023 at 10.38 am by Peter Owen
categorised as Church of England, News
We reported here in November 2021 that the Bishop of Ely, Stephen Conway, was to be Acting Bishop in the Diocese of Lincoln, following the retirement of Bishop Christopher Lowson in December 2021. That arrangement will now come to an end with the announcement today that the Bishop of Grimsby will be the acting bishop from 1 May 2023 until the the new Bishop of Lincoln takes up the role.
The Crown Nominations Commission has held its two meetings to consider Lincoln (the second on 28/29 March 2023), so an announcement of who is to be the new bishop may not be too far away. But as usual it will probbaly be some months after that before he or she takes up the role.
Appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Ripon: 27 April 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Anna Eltringham to the Suffragan See of Ripon in the Diocese of Leeds.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 27 April 2023
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Anna Eltringham, KHC, Team Rector of Oxted Team Ministry, in the Diocese of Southwark, to the Suffragan See of Ripon, in the Diocese of Leeds, in succession to The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley following her appointment as Bishop of Newcastle.
Anna was educated at St John’s College, Durham and trained for ministry at the South East Institute of Theological Education. She served her title at Holy Innocents, South Norwood, in the Diocese of Southwark, and was ordained priest in 2009.
Anna was appointed Team Vicar, Oxted Team Ministry, also in the Diocese of Southwark, in 2014 and was appointed to her current role as Team Rector in 2019.
Additionally, Anna has served as Dean of Women’s Ministry since 2017 and has been an Honorary Chaplain to the Monarch and Honorary Canon at Southwark Cathedral since 2020.
The Church of England is obstructing its own safeguarding panel by denying them their own computers, refusing to share data and treating them with “hostility”, whistleblowers have told The Telegraph.
The Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) was formed in January 2022 and tasked with scrutinising the work of the Church’s National Safeguarding Team (NST), as well as holding the Church to account regarding its safeguarding duties.
However, the ISB’s only two board members have come forward to claim that their experience working with Church officials is “an uphill battle and unnecessarily challenging”.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Jasvinder Sanghera CBE, who founded the Karma Nirvana charity which aims to end honour-based abuse, and Steve Reeves MBE, executive director of Global Safeguarding, raised the alarm.
They claim there has been “clear interference” with their work, a “lack of transparency” and a “reluctance to provide information” meaning that at times they have been “met with hostility”
Their concerns have been echoed by victims who claim that unless the Church revokes its “inappropriate and irresponsible” appointment of the new ISB chair as Meg Munn – the former foreign office minister who already holds posts within the Church of England – they will not only feel “re-abused” but they will also refuse to work with the ISB and share their testimonies…
And there is a great deal more detail, which should be read in full, if possible.
In a statement to Premier, Martin Sewell who is a member of General Synod said :
“These latest revelations confirm the serious concerns that I, survivors, and members of General Synod have repeatedly raised about the lack of independence in the Established Church’s responses to the IICSA enquiry. I thank the two ISB members for bravely aligning themselves with those of us calling for a comprehensive and open debate of this scandal on the floor of Synod.”
In a statement to Premier Bishop Joanne Grenfell, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop said:
“The Independent Safeguarding Board was set up to provide important external scrutiny for the Church’s safeguarding work and it is vital that the right structures are in place to do this.
“We look forward to working with them as they begin the next phase of their work to scope out what these structures are and to having conversations about concerns they have raised. An acting chair was put in place until the end of the year to ensure continuity and I look forward to working with all three Board members.
“We welcome their annual report (being published tomorrow) and note their comments around their work to date and desire to continue with this independent scrutiny of the Church’s safeguarding. It is vital that we have independent scrutiny as this informs the core responsibility for all in the Church of ensuring good safeguarding in all our parishes kand settings across the country. This important work goes on every day of the year. “
House of Survivors has a useful ISB timeline on this page.
The response from Joanne Grenfell quoted by Premier can now be found here. It appears that it was not written as a response to the Telegraph article, but in order to link the ISB annual report to the CofE website.
….Given that about 45% of the General Synod has clearly articulated the conviction that the proposals of the bishops are unacceptable, urgent consideration needs to be given to a form of good differentiation involving structural re-organisation without theological compromise. Following this path could prevent the unity of the Church of England being torn apart in the same way that the Communion has been.
The Church of England has this morning published the following statement from the independent reviewer in the Smyth case.
Statement from independent reviewer in Smyth case
18/04/2023
“I have made a report to the Police regarding matters that have come to light in recent weeks and in the course of my review, into the abuse perpetrated by John Smyth. I have subsequently passed extensive information to them in relation to this matter. This necessary development is in line with my obligations set out in the terms of reference for the review and in UK law and is therefore unavoidable. This impacts on the planned timescale for completion of the review, and I am aware from my regular contact with victims, of the distress that this is likely to cause them, their families, and others affected by this case. A further update on this will be provided as soon as is possible”. Keith Makin, independent reviewer
The National Safeguarding Team has arranged continued support for victims through Nina Tanner, a specialist Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA). The formerly named Splitz organisation have changed their name to Fear-Less.org.uk Home – Fear Less (fear-less.org.uk) but still provide the same service to victim and survivors. Nina remains the independent lead for support for the victims of John Smyth and fulfils the same role as before. If you need support, she can be contacted on Nina.Tanner@fear-less.org.uk or on 07825 741751. If you have been affected by this latest update and need support, please do contact Nina.
Church Attendance in October 2022: Post-Covid-19 Trends, Patterns and Possibilities
This is a report that compares church attendance in October 2022 and October 2019 in five dioceses. There is a summary hosted on the Oxford diocesan website here, and the full report (pdf) is here.
on Friday, 31 March 2023 at 1.40 pm by Simon Sarmiento
categorised as Church of England, News
Updated
A group of clergy in the City of London, has announced to the world, via a YouTube video, that they have set up “a new Deanery Chapter for the City of London”.
The Diocese was first informed a few hours ago that a group of clergy in the City of London is seeking to set up its own parallel, unregulated structures, outside of those of the Diocese of London and the Church of England. This unilateral move would have no legal substance.
The initiative has been announced publicly, without discussion, at a time when constructive ongoing dialogue continues here in the capital, and across the country, following the House of Bishops’ proposals in response to the six-year Living in Love and Faith process. As a Diocese, we remain committed to working together through our differences, recognising the strength of our shared faith in Christ, and all that brings us together.
…In this week’s video, Mr Fishlock and Mr Martin say that the new group will seek to support ordinands who, “because of conscience”, feel “unable to be ordained by the diocesan bishop or any bishop acting on her behalf.
“Therefore, senior leadership from the churches within this deanery chapter will commission these individuals so that they are enabled to work within Church of England churches, until such a time that that ordinations can take place.”
They add that support will also be made available to prospective ordinands and curates who are unhappy about the plans for blessing same-sex couples, as well as to deacons who are unwilling to receive post-ordination training within the diocesan structure…
Professor Maggie Atkinson has resigned as chair of the Church of England’s Independent Safeguarding Board, ISB; in a statement she said she wished all concerned the greatest success in their crucial work on safeguarding.
The Archbishops’ Council has agreed the appointment of Meg Munn as the acting chair until the end of 2023. She will work closely with the two other Board members, survivor advocate Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves who have started developing plans for what independent scrutiny of the Church’s national safeguarding work will look like in the long term.
The ISB work will continue to sit alongside the Church’s National Safeguarding Panel of which Meg is also the independent chair and there will be updates on this in due course.
Speaking this week, Dr Atkinson said: “Changing family circumstances and ISB matters have meant that my presence even from a distance has become a distraction and therefore I decided to tender my immediate resignation to the Archbishops’ Council.
I wish all concerned the greatest success in their crucial work on safeguarding across the Church and will keep their endeavour in my prayers.”
Dr Jonathan Gibbs, the Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, and member of Archbishops’ Council said: “I would like to personally thank all three board members for their work so far, particularly their important focus on responding well to survivors. I wish Maggie well as she leaves the Board and welcome Meg as she works with Jasvinder and Steve and builds on the existing work of the ISB. The Archbishops’ Council remains committed to this important principle of independent oversight as the ISB moves to its next phase.”
Meg Munn is a former MP and Government minister and a qualified social worker with extensive experience in senior safeguarding roles in local authorities. She has been the Independent Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel since 2018.
Meg said: “I am pleased to be asked to take up the role of Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Board. As I know from my work leading the National Safeguarding Panel, independent scrutiny and oversight is a vital part of the Church’s national safeguarding work. I look forward to building on that and the work of the Board to date.
I want to thank Maggie Atkinson for her work as Chair. She demonstrated a strong commitment to engaging widely to develop phase 2 of the Board’s work, an approach that I will follow.”
Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves said: ” We would like to thank Maggie Atkinson for her work and acknowledge this has not been an easy decision for her. While working with limited resources, we have met the various challenges of the past seven months. The work of the Board in raising the voices of victims and survivors has continued. We welcome Meg Munn to the role of acting Chair and look forward to our collectively work towards implementing the vision of the ISB.”
This is a detailed review of the many missteps in the short life of the ISB, which needs to be read in full. Here’s two extracts:
…This latest act in the tragi-comedy which is the ISB, came at the end of a lengthy period of the Chair being “stood back” – in truth suspended by the Church – but even from that time, the Archbishops’ Council was still maintaining the fiction that it was not controlling the very body whose role was in part to hold its parent body to account. The announcement of both the “standing back”, and the resignation were published on the CofE website; this is not insignificant; a truly independent body would have been reporting its own comings and goings.
If you read the terms of the announcement – and we must now be clear that the news management is largely in the hands of the CofE Communications Department – it was all very respectful and amicable; evidently the Chair was leaving partly to spend more time with her family. If you believe this is the top and tail of the story, I have a lovely bridge in New York to sell you – ‘real cheap.”
————-
…The appointment of Ms Atkinson’s temporary replacement brings additional important issues to light .The former MP Meg Munn who is taking over, currently numbers amongst her career portfolio of offices, that of member of the National Safeguarding Steering Group and Chair of the National Safeguarding Panel. Whether she and /or either of those bodies played any part in the original conceptualisation of the ISB or the current shenanigans is unclear. So much is and will remain unclear; General Synod has not been allowed to debate these problems and may not be in July.
One might have assumed that the interim role would have fallen to the Survivor Advocate who has been the de facto voice of the body, since Ms Atkinson has been “stepped back”. However, Jasvinder Sanghera appears to have been nudged aside, with Ms Munn imposed upon her and her colleague Steve Reeves without any notice, still less consultation, neither were survivors consulted.
One might be critical of the slow pace of change, and even perhaps of the naivety of the ISB members; sometimes they appeared to be talking a better game than they delivered within the complex and tangled institution that is the CofE.
What cannot be denied however is that Ms Sanghera and Mr Reeves have brought bona fides to their task and devoted a lot of time to talking to Survivors, gaining their confidence. The effects of the imposition of the Archbishops’ Council ‘s choice of Chair into this difficult situation without any consultation with the very group that has been abused and ignored by the Church for far too long, is yet another example of the arrogance of power that taints so much that the Church does in this area…
Church of England Cathedrals showed recovery in 2021 amid Covid-19 measures
24/03/2023
Latest worshipping and visitor data collected from England’s 42 cathedrals and Westminster Abbey during 2021 shows show attendance began to recover despite ongoing Covid-19 measures.
Increased in-person attendance, which had been severely impacted in 2020, reflected the vaccine rollout, and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions throughout the year, though it also showed that many people chose to stay away from public indoor spaces especially during those periods when restrictions remained in place, and during the late autumn that saw the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, the data showed a weekly total of 15,800 people were reported at cathedral services in 2021. This is a 22 per cent more than the equivalent figure from 2020, although still 58 per cent below the 2019 figure.
Meanwhile, the number of cathedrals offering online worship in addition to, or augmenting in-person services remained high, with 94 per cent of cathedrals continuing to offer this.
Weddings showed the closest return to pre-pandemic numbers with 230 marriages conducted in cathedrals during 2021, 93 per cent of the figure from 2019, and an increase of 250 per cent from the 2020 total.
During 2021, there were a total of 320 baptisms conducted in all Church of England cathedrals. This was 43 per cent of the equivalent figure in 2019, but a 242 per cent increase on the total number of baptisms that took place in cathedrals in 2020.
The total number of visitors to the cathedrals was just under half of the equivalent figure from the 2019 figure, reflecting the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
Volunteering has been one of the few areas of cathedral life that has not shown signs of recovery in 2021. The number of people volunteering in cathedrals has decreased by a further 21 per cent from the 2020 figure.
The Dean of Canterbury, David Monteith, who Chairs the College of Deans, said: “It is encouraging to see the beginning of recovery in our cathedrals in 2021 even amid the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.
“Church of England cathedrals have been an integral part of the country’s cultural heritage for over a thousand years, and they continue to serve as places of worship, community gathering, and tourism.
“The data from 2021 demonstrates the resilience of the cathedrals and their importance to local communities in the face of adversity.
“We have adapted to the changing circumstances throughout the pandemic, and some of what we have learnt is here to stay. This includes the gift of online worship, with many cathedrals reaching new congregations, together with those who would prefer to join services from home.
“As we look to the future, and continued recovery, we remain committed to supporting our whole communities, particularly those in need, providing a place of worship, prayer and sanctuary for all.”
Meeting of College of Bishops March 23, 2023
24/03/2023
The College of Bishops met on Thursday to continue considering next steps for the Church of England following the recent debate at General Synod on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
Last month’s Synod considered proposals from the bishops which would enable same-sex couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationship such as a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church to give thanks, offer prayers of dedication to God and to receive God’s blessing. Synod members also met in small groups to consider and comment on a set of draft texts for these prayers known as Prayers of Love and Faith, and to offer their views on proposed pastoral guidance.
At Thursday’s meeting, in London, bishops began reviewing those comments and considered how to approach the task of refining the Prayers of Love and Faith and preparing the new pastoral guidance.
They agreed to setting up three working groups and a steering group to oversee and coordinate their work, each to be made up of bishops assisted by a group of advisers drawn from across the Church, both lay and ordained.
The working groups will focus on:
Pastoral Guidance – with responsibility for drafting new Pastoral Guidance.
Prayers of Love and Faith – to further refine the texts in the light of feedback from General Synod
Pastoral Reassurance – to examine what will be required to ensure freedom of conscience for clergy.
It is anticipated that the steering group will be chaired by the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and will include the chairs of the three working groups.
The final membership of the working groups will be confirmed and published in due course.