Church of England bishops will meet this month to continue their deliberations about human sexuality and gender identity.
In this meeting, and then in a subsequent meeting of the House of Bishops (diocesan bishops plus elected suffragans), they will draw together proposals to put to General Synod in February 2023. It is most likely that this synod will be used to seek opinion on the bishops’ proposals rather than to ratify a new measure, but then this will frame the agenda for the July synod.
The College of Bishops also met in October, following a programme of reflections on and responses to the Living in Love and Faith campaign, which began in 2020. In the same week, Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, published his essay, Together in Love and Faith, which called for same-sex marriage in the Church of England. At the time of writing, a small number of bishops have publicly aligned themselves with his position. Again, at the time of writing, a corresponding call to hold to the current teaching of the denomination has not been issued by a bishop with an orthodox position.
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