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Martin Davie writes: Three papers have recently been published by the Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission to provide advice to the House of Bishops and the General Synod as a whole in advance on further debate on the Prayers of Love and Faith proposals in General Synod in February: a. The nature of … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: The recent announcement from the House of Bishops (discussed here by me and here by Ian Paul) is raising the question as to how it relates to the last Synod motion on PLF passed back in July 2024. At least one Diocesan Synod is being asked to call on the bishops to … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: Three weeks ago, on 15th October, it was announced that “The House of Bishops has made a series of key decisions on the future direction of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process”. To widespread surprise across the divisions the process has created in the church, this announcement looked … Continue Reading
Joshua Penduck writes: On a cold and wet evening sometime in early 2021, my church’s ministry and management team met on Zoom to discuss the first chapter of the then new Living in Love and Faith material. I knew that that there were mixed opinions on the team. I didn’t realise just how mixed. The … Continue Reading
On Wednesday at about a quarter to five, the House of Bishops released a very significant statement, following their meeting the previous week in which they spent six and a half hours discussing the next (and final?) steps in the LLF process. The timing was odd; my understanding was that they were planning to release … Continue Reading
Dear Stephen I read with interest your address to York Diocesan Synod on 5th July, and one word leapt out for me: ‘final’. Near the end of your address, you comment: The Living in Love and Faith process is not yet complete. Some final proposals will be brought to the February 2026 meeting of the … Continue Reading
Last month, Justin Welby was interviewed at the Cambridge Union, and some of his comments once more hit the headlines. When I heard about this, I could not help rolling my eyes. Despite having initially welcomed his appointment, and having then tried hard to work with him well as a member of the Archbishops’ Council, … Continue Reading
Mark Bratton writes: In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty scornfully says to his conversation partner Alice, “When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean – neither more or less” “The question is”, said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is”, … Continue Reading
Michael Hayden writes: Bishop Martyn Snow, Lead Bishop for LLF, has just published a booklet. The challenge is in the title: can we possibly imagine a future in which we can stay together in the Church of England—or is it time to give up and separate? Bishop Martyn has spent a considerable amount of time … Continue Reading
Christopher Landau was a liberal on sexuality—until he visited a gay bar in Chicago and talked to the people there about what their life was actually like. This made him go back to Scripture and theology, and understand why the historic Christian understanding of marriage was actually the only path to flourishing. He believes that, … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard offers an update, diagnosis and proposal. A more detailed analysis is available as a PDF here. Summary In the light of the House of Bishops stating that there will be no further decisions on PLF in either the February or July General Synods this year and the new papers just released, this article … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Associate Senior Research Fellow, Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod and Archbishops' Council. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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