Church of England Bishops back to the drawing board after Synod blocks gay marriage report

Gay Christians have welcomed the unprecedented defeat of a Church of England report that backed the traditional understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman.

The bishops’ report on sexuality, the product of years of “shared conversations”, was rejected by General Synod yesterday after it failed to win the support of all three Houses.

While the report was backed by the Houses of Bishops and Laity, the house of Clergy, which is made up of priests and rectors, voted 100 to 93 against the motion.

The set back for the Anglican hierarchy forces the House of Bishops to produce another report for debate at a later Synod.

The report, which said it would uphold traditional teaching on marriage while striving to allow pastors “maximum freedom”, called for a fresh culture of support and welcome for gay Christians.

But campaigners rejected it as a “weird fudge”.

Jayne Ozanne, a gay member of the Synod, welcomed the move. “'We can now work together to help build a Church that is broad enough to accept the diversity of views that exist within it, courageous enough to address the deep divisions that exist between us and loving enough to accept each other as equal members of the Body of Christ,” she said, according to Christian Today.

Speaking on Twitter yesterday Vicky Beeching, a campaigner for LGBT equality in the Church, welcomed the rejection of the report. “These are the small, incremental steps by which change comes to the Church of England. Nothing radical happens overnight. Takes patience,” she said.

After the vote the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, called for a “radical new Christian inclusion in the Church.”

He went on: “How we deal with the real and profound disagreement - put so passionately and so clearly by many at the Church of England’s General Synod debate on marriage and same-sex relationships today - is the challenge we face as people who all belong to Christ. To deal with that disagreement, to find ways forward, we need a radical new Christian inclusion in the Church. This must be founded in scripture, in reason, in tradition, in theology; it must be based on good, healthy, flourishing relationships, and in a proper 21st century understanding of being human and of being sexual.”

PICTURE: Members of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement gather outside of the General Synod at Church House in London ahead of the vote.