What next for evangelicals in the Church of England?

Yet another proposal in the continuing crisis about the blessing of same-sex couples was debated in July session of General Synod.

It had to be substantively different from the previous proposal, but it had a similar pattern to the one before that. It passed by a narrow margin, with, as Vaughan Roberts insightfully surmised, those in favour of change voting for it and those against change voting against it. Despite chummy overtures, it did not garner the unity it sought to inspire.

Progress was celebrated in terms of tone and the proposal was framed in terms of a trajectory with a timetable. Unsurprisingly, given the short amount of time to find a fresh approach, there was an absence of content and detail. Seemingly in sympathy with this, responses from all sides were peppered with metaphors, parables and allegorical stories. Nevertheless, there were many disconsolate remarks about how much content had not yet been written and yet would be carried by a positive vote. Several speakers maintained that the proposals were not ‘oven ready’.