The Church of England is once again in disarray over its teaching on homosexuality. Or to put it another way, it has declined to put forward any teaching on homosexuality at all, because there is not enough agreement among its members about what that teaching should be.

For a while, there was a hope that if people on different sides spent enough time talking to each other, the differences would fade. So a programme of numerous local discussions called “Shared Conversations” was organised. Far from a meeting of minds, however, the process ended in rancour, with accusations from the gay side in particular that nobody had really been listening to them.

Last week, the General Synod of the Church of England refused to “take note” of a document that members had just spent hours arguing about. The document, prepared by the House of Bishops, was meant to be the fruit of these Shared Conversations and to chart a way forward.