Several gay ministers will write to church leaders to say they are already in same-sex marriage and want official position reconsidered

A group of gay Church of England clergy are set to reveal that they have married their partners, defying the official line taken by church leaders on same-sex marriage.

A dozen gay ministers are to sign an open letter that also urges the church to allow clergy to carry out blessings for parishioners entering into same-sex marriages.

Half the signatories have already declared themselves to be in a gay marriage, including Andrew Foreshew-Cain, who was one of the first priests to openly defy the ruling.

Gay marriage plans offer 'quadruple lock' for opposed religious groups Read more

The letter is likely to reignite the heated debate on the issue, which has divided the church since same-sex marriages were legalised in England and Wales in March 2014.



Following the change in the law, church leaders, headed by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu respectively, decided that clergy must not enter into a same-sex marriage and that those in a gay marriage would not be ordained.



While canon Jeremy Pemberton had his permission to officiate revoked after marrying his partner in April 2014, Foreshew-Cain was not removed from his post as vicar of two churches in north London after openly marrying his partner, Stephen Foreshew in June 2014.



Foreshew-Cain told the Guardian there were an increasing number of clergy and lay people in same-sex marriages. “Our marriages are legal, celebrated and widely accepted in society,” he said. “Yet the Church of England behaves as if they are somehow dirty and imposes penalties on clergy and refuses to acknowledge the marriages of those who wish to make lifelong faithful commitments.”

“This has to stop and the element of fear and hypocrisy around our marriages has to end,” he added.

Foreshew-Cain also said that many faithful Anglicans accept and want to support same-sex relationships and be able to “to celebrate all that is good in them”.



“There is a clear and pressing need for a way forward that acknowledges the new reality of how Christians think about this issue in England,” he said. “Those parishes and communities that wish to celebrate and support lesbian and gay couples should be able to do so.”

Over the past two years, more than 1,300 members of the church have taken part in a process called “shared conversations” to discuss the issue in regional and national settings, said Steve Jenkins, a spokesperson for the church of England.

“Through those conversations, deep convictions have been shared and profound differences better understood,” he said. “It is our hope that what has been learned through the relationships developed will inform the way the church conducts whatever further formal discussions take place in the future.”

Foreshew-Cain said that the signatories had written the letter, which will be sent to the House of Bishops in September, to “support our bishops as they meet to consider what next after the shared conversations”.

The letter asks for bishops to use the next meeting of the general synod in February to press for gay couples to have their marriages recognised and blessed in a special service, rather than a complete change in the doctrine of marriage.



“We’re simply asking for action to back up the rhetoric of the Bishops about welcome and acceptance for LGBTI people,” Foreshew-Cain said.

“We accept not all are ready so we’re urging them to make a bold step, while accepting that it isn’t yet time to ask for the removal of the ‘quadruple lock’ blocking same-sex marriages in Church of England churches.”

Although the letter has yet to be sent, the signatories have already been met with criticism. Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told the Sunday Times: “They [the signatories] are trying to undermine the authority of the teaching of the church.”