Men and Women in Marriage – new document from Faith and Order Commission
C of E Press release – The Church of England’s view of the long-established meaning of marriage has been outlined in a new report – “Men and Women in Marriage” – published this week by the Church’s Faith and Order Commission.
The publication includes a foreword from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York which commends the document for study. The report sets out the continued importance and rationale for the Church’s understanding of marriage as reflected in the 1,000 marriage services conducted by the Church of England every week.
The document also seeks to provide “a more positive background on how Christians have understood and valued marriage” arguing that marriage “continues to provide the best context for the raising of children”.
The report takes as its starting point the Church’s basic premise that “marriage is a creation ordinance, a gift of God in creation and means of His grace”. The document also seeks to enlarge the understanding of marriage defined as “a faithful, committed, permanent and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman, central to the stability and health of human society.”
Recognising the ongoing debate around marriage in society the report acknowledges that marriage “like most important undertakings in life, can be lived more successfully or less successfully. Mistakes are made, by couples, by their friends and relatives, and sometime by pastors and institutions of the church… Lack of clear understanding of marriage can only multiply disappointments and frustrations. Public discussion at this juncture needs a clear view of why Christians believe and act in relation to marriage as they do and this document is offered as a resource for that.”
The Bishop of Coventry Dr Christopher Cocksworth, Chair of the Commission said: “The Church has a long track record in conducting and supporting marriage, drawing from the deep wells of wisdom which inform centuries of shared religious and cultural understandings of marriage. There is a danger in the current debate of picking apart the institution of marriage which is part of the social fabric of human society.
“This report seeks to celebrate all that is good about marriage in its ability to bring together biological difference and the generative power of marriage to bring forth life. It also recognises that there are forms of human relationships which fall short of marriage in the form the God has given us.
“This report also underlines the role of the Church in seeking to provide care, prayer and compassion for those who for whatever reason are unable to receive the gift of marriage in the form that the Church has understood it and continues to uphold. Whilst it is right that priests and church communities continue to seek to provide and devise pastoral care accommodation for those in such situations, the document is clear that public forms of blessing belong to marriage alone.”
Church of England rejects blessings for same sex couples
The Church of England has rejected blessings for same sex couples according to The Guardian.
Basing his story on Men and Women in Marriage, a report from the Church of England Faith and Order Commission, Sam Jones writes:
The Church of England has ruled out offering blessings to same-sex couples, insisting that such public gestures belong only to heterosexual marriage.
The announcement – made in a report from the church’s faith and order commission entitled Men and Women in Marriage – comes weeks after the outgoing bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, suggested the church consider blessing gay couples as it should “bless true love wherever such love is found”.
The report stresses the church’s immutable definition of marriage as “a faithful, committed, permanent and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman, central to the stability and health of human society”, but recognises the existence of same-sex relationships, which it terms “forms of human relationships which fall short of marriage in the form God has given us”.
The bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, who chairs the commission, repeated the church’s commitment to providing “care, prayer and compassion” to those who cannot be married in church, but drew the line at blessings for gay couples. “Whilst it is right that priests and church communities continue to seek to provide and devise pastoral care accommodation for those in such situations, the document is clear that public forms of blessing belong to marriage alone,” he said.
The bishop also warned that the government’s plans to introduce same-sex marriages – a move opposed by the Church of England, which will in any case be legally barred from marrying same-sex couples – risked jeopardising the institution of marriage.
“The church has a long track record in conducting and supporting marriage, drawing from the deep wells of wisdom which inform centuries of shared religious and cultural understandings of marriage,” he said.
“There is a danger in the current debate of picking apart the institution of marriage which is part of the social fabric of human society,” he added.
While the bishop made it plain that the report does not herald a change in the church’s public recognition of gay couples, he said that a commission on same-sex relationships, set up in July 2011 under Sir Joseph Pilling, would report at some point later this year.
“There is thought going on at the moment to the sort of prayer, if you like, that might be offered in that private, personal, pastoral care,” he said.
Despite the church’s traditional and unchanging view of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, the new archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has expressed his admiration from some same-sex relationships.
“You see gay relationships that are just stunning in the quality of the relationship,” he told the BBC on the morning of his enthronement last month, adding that he had “particular friends where I recognise that and am deeply challenged by it.”
The archbishop has also offered to meet the veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to discuss the church’s position on same-sex marriage.
Other press coverage
BBC – Church will not bless gay marriage
The Church of England rules out providing public blessings to same-sex marriages in a new report from its Faith and Order Commission.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22094595
Times – “Bishops devise way of ‘accommodating’ same-sex couples”
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/faith/article3735341.ece
Telegraph – Priests urged to be flexible on blessing gay partnerships”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9983121/Church-of-England-gives-blessing-to-recognising-civil-partnerships.html
Mirror – C of E rejects blessing for same-sex couples”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/10/church-england-same-sex-couples
Exp/Mirror (no link)
Express – “C of E gay prayers plea”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/390621/Church-of-England-gay-prayers-plea