Following the most recent Church of England General Synod, it was announced that three groups would take forward the work of the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ (LLF) project relating to prayers for same-sex couples, and would be overseen by a programme board chaired by the Archbishop of York.
These three working groups are looking at pastoral guidance, the introduction of standalone ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’, and charged with proposing provisions or a ‘settlement’, as deemed necessary.
The concept of settlement raises different questions for different constituencies. Many liberals are asking why anything further than the freedom not to use the LLF prayers is needed. For those of us who wish to hold onto an historic, Anglican and Biblical understanding, the question is why would others not want to offer a settlement that secures our position in the Church of England and which might help, to some degree at least, to secure the unity of which the bishops continually speak?
Bullying, abuse of power, threats and exclusion: Why evangelicals need new C of E structures
It is still being assumed by those pursuing change in the Church of England that we can simply ‘agree to …