CofE leaders have forgotten Church teaching on sex

The proposed Prayers of Love and Faith, offering blessings for LGBT couples, go before General Synod this week. But Rev Dr Christopher Landau says fundamental questions remain unanswered. He’s making a plea for theological coherence 

As recently as December 2019, the bishops of the Church of England offered a clear and concise summary of the Church’s teaching about sex. For those who despair at the CofE never having a clear view on anything, it was somewhat surprising.

In response to the government’s decision to allow opposite sex couples to enter into civil partnerships for the first time, the House of Bishops formally stated: “The Church’s teaching on sexual ethics remains unchanged. For Christians, marriage – that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows – remains the proper context for sexual activity. In its approach to civil partnerships the Church seeks to uphold that standard, to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships and to minister sensitively and pastorally to those Christians who conscientiously decide to order their lives differently.”