Church of England bishops have been accused of kicking the issue of same-sex equality into the long grass by offloading the topic to a series of working groups that will not report until 2020 at the earliest.



The archbishops of Canterbury and York, the two most senior figures in the church, have established two main groups and four subgroups to advise on pastoral issues and produce a new teaching document on human sexuality.

Reporting to the C of E’s synod, meeting in York, Justin Welby said the processes “aim to take a reasonable time for profound thought by a large number of people across a wide range of views, and during that time provide pastoral guidance”.

The intention, he added, was to “map, to set out clearly where we agree and where we disagree, to help us understand better the issues and the points of conflict”.

He said he hoped a document would be available for discussion at the synod in early 2020 “though on a process this complicated we cannot be pinned down relating to time”.

Welby was challenged from the floor of the synod on whether bishops were “sufficiently aware of the urgency of this matter”. Joyce Hill, a lay member of the synod and former pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: “There is a lot of long grass potentially growing.”

In response, the archbishop of Canterbury said: “Many people think it should take a lot longer, many think we should come to a quick decision now. All of us would like a magic wand to wave … [but] there’s no magic wand.

“We believe very firmly that a timescale of two and a half to three years both does justice to the depth and range of questions that need to be addressed … and to the need to begin to draw some conclusions for the church. This clearly will not satisfy everyone.”

The working groups were established after February’s synod meeting narrowly threw out a bishops’ report that upheld traditional teaching on marriage.

In response, the archbishops said a “radical new Christian inclusion in the the church” was needed, founded in scripture, tradition and faith while also based on “a proper 21st-century understanding of being human and being sexual”.

But Alan Wilson, the bishop of Buckingham, accused his bishop colleagues of “well-meaning temporising waffle” while society moved on. “The fact is we’ve been going round this mulberry bush regularly for almost 30 years. Each new iteration consists of a grand announcement that the bishops will lead the way forward,” he said.

“The only way forward is mutual personal respect that acknowledges difference. Instead, the House of Bishops attempts to synthesise a single grand approach to impose top-down. People aren’t looking for bishops to teach about this. They want us to shut up for a change, listen to someone other than ourselves and learn.”

Speaking after Saturday’s synod session on “next steps in human sexuality”, Hill said that “while the bishops need to be thorough about developing a clearer understanding on these issues, there is a lot of potential for things to be sidelined, postponed and delayed”.

Society had moved on in its understanding of sexual relationships, and the state had followed by legalising same-sex marriage, “but the church doesn’t seem to adequately address these issues in a way that can be understood by the nation”.

The church’s difficulties in moving forward was “damaging, especially in relationship with the younger generation – people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. We have a real problem.”

Acknowledging the profound disagreements within the C of E and global Anglican communion on sexuality, Hill added: “Every now and then, if you can’t get consensus, you have to say: ‘Let’s provide leadership.’ If it causes division, that’s sad but sometimes necessary.”

There was a growing anxiety among lay members of the church that bishops were stalling on the issues, she said, “and I hear a lot of impatience in the pews”.

The issue of same-sex relationships and whether the church should allow same-sex marriage has dominated synod proceedings in recent years. Conservative Anglicans have threatened to leave the church if it changes its traditional teachings.

Last month, Scottish Anglicans voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry in church in a historic move that set their church on a potential collision course with the global Anglican communion.