The statement ends with a warning that, although “the C of E has a long tradition of tolerating conscientious dissent and of seeking to avoid drawing lines too firmly”, the Bishops expected their clergy to honour the vow of obedience made at ordination.

AS THE first same-sex marriages loom, the C of E House of Bishops has reiterated its ban on blessings for same-sex unions. It also rules out same-sex marriage for clergy, or for anyone seeking to be ordained.

In a statement issued on Saturday (reproduced in full below), the Archbishops of Canterbury and York write: “We seek to model a distinctive and generous witness to Jesus Christ in our pastoral guidance to the Church at this time.” In response to the “new reality” of same-sex marriage, the statement appends the results of a discussion in the House of Bishops meeting held last Thursday.

The Bishops’ ruling follows the stance it took throughout the Parliamentary debates that led to the passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which comes into force in March. No same-sex weddings will be permitted in C of E churches, unless, at some future date, the whole Church opts in.

The Bishops acknowledge that, as with civil partnerships, some newly married couples were likely to seek “some recognition of their new situation in the context of an act of worship”. Despite a recommendation in the recent Pilling report that blessings for civil partnerships be permitted as a “pastoral accommodation” (News, 6 December), the Bishops state that its 2005 ban on such blessings should be extended to include same-sex marriage.

“Just as the Church of England’s doctrine of marriage remains the same, so its pastoral and liturgical practice also remains unchanged.”

As in 2005, the Bishops state that they do not wish “to interfere with the clergy’s pastoral discretion about when more informal kind of prayer, at the request of the couple, might be appropriate in the light of the circumstances. . .

“The same approach as commended in the 2005 statement should therefore apply to couples who enter same-sex marriage, on the assumption that any prayer will be accompanied by pastoral discussion of the church’s teaching and their reasons for departing from it. Services of blessing should not be provided. Clergy should respond pastorally and sensitively in other ways.”

Once any such wedding has taken place, however, the Bishops insist that same-sex couples should not experience any discrimination: “Those same sex couples who choose to marry should be welcomed into the life of the worshipping community and not be subjected to questioning about their lifestyle. Neither they nor any children they care for should be denied access to the sacraments.”

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