House of Bishops of the Church of England Statement - Civil partnerships and same-sex relationships

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Posted On : July 1, 2011 11:00 AM | Posted By : Admin ACO

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<http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/England>England

Civil partnerships and same-sex relationships ? a
statement by the House of Bishops of the Church of England

Issued by the Church of England Communications Office

The House of Bishops today issued a statement
about the continuing debate within the Church of
England about same-sex relationships. Speaking on
behalf of the House, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James, said:
?Contrary to popular perception the House of
Bishops has spent very little time over recent
years discussing homosexuality. The last
substantive engagement with the issue was in 2005
when the House agreed to issue a pastoral
statement prepared by a group under my
chairmanship on the implications of the
introduction of civil partnerships. The House has
now agreed that the time has come to commission two new pieces of work.
?First it has asked for a review of the 2005
statement in the light of subsequent
developments. The review will include examination
of whether priests in civil partnerships should
be eligible for appointment as bishops. The 2005
statement was silent on this issue and, while the
relevant legal background was analysed in a
recently published Legal Office note, the House
acknowledges its responsibility to address the
policy issue. To avoid pre-empting the outcome of
the review the House has concluded that clergy in
civil partnerships should not, at present, be
nominated for episcopal appointment. The review will be completed in 2012.
?Secondly, the House has committed itself to a
wider look at the Church of England?s approach to
same-sex relationships more generally in the
light of the listening process launched by the
Lambeth Conference in 1998. The Bishops will
produce a consultation document in 2013. The
House?s decision is motivated by a desire to help
shape the continuing debate constructively and
not by any view about what the outcome should be.?
The statement follows:
A Statement from the House of Bishops of the Church of England
?It is now nearly six years since the House
issued its Pastoral Statement prior to the
introduction of civil partnerships in December
2005. The preparation of that document was the
last occasion when the House devoted substantial
time to the issue of same sex relationships. We
undertook to keep that Pastoral Statement under
review. We have decided that the time has come for a review to take place.
?Over the past five and half years there have
been several developments. Consistent with the
guidelines in the Pastoral Statement a number of
clergy are now in civil partnerships. The General
Synod decided to amend the clergy pension scheme
to improve the provision for the surviving civil
partners of clergy who have died. More recently
Parliament has decided that civil partnerships
may be registered on religious premises where the
relevant religious authority has consented (the
necessary regulations are expected this autumn).
?The review will need to take account of this
changing scene. The Pastoral Statement was not
concerned with clergy alone but with the whole
people of God. We recognise that bishops and
clergy have found ways of engaging pastorally
with those in civil partnerships, both at the
time of registration and subsequently. Within the
Anglican tradition our theological thinking is
formed by a reasoned interpretation of Scripture,
within the living tradition of the Church
informed by pastoral experience. The House
believes there is a theological task to be done
to clarify further our understanding of the
nature and status of these partnerships.
?These are the background issues for a review of
the 2005 Statement. It will be undertaken in the
context of the Church of England?s teaching on
same sex relations as set out in the General
Synod motion of November 1987 and Issues in Human
Sexuality (a teaching statement from the House of
Bishops in 1991). It will also be consistent with
the approach taken by the Anglican Communion in
Resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference 1998 and subsequently.
?Among the matters to be considered in the review
of the 2005 Statement there is one of some
importance which the House did not address in
advance of any experience of civil partnerships.
This is whether clergy who have registered civil
partnerships should be eligible for nomination to
the episcopate. The House has concluded that it
would be wrong to pre-empt the outcome of the
review and that clergy in civil partnerships
should not at present, therefore, be nominated
for episcopal appointment. The House?s intention
is to complete the review, which will need to
take account of the legal analysis set out in GS
MISC 992 (Choosing Bishops ? the Equality Act) during 2012.
?The House has also decided that more work is now
needed on the Church of England?s approach to
human sexuality more generally. In February 2007,
the General Synod passed a motion commending
?continuing efforts to prevent the diversity of
opinion about human sexuality creating further
division and impaired fellowship within the
Church of England and the Anglican Communion.?
?Alongside the review of the 2005 Pastoral
Statement, the House intends, therefore, to draw
together material from the listening process
which has been undertaken within the Church of
England over the recent years in the light of the
1998 Lambeth Conference resolution. The House
wishes to offer proposals on how the continuing
discussion within the Church of England about
these matters might best be shaped in the light
of the listening process. Our intention is to
produce a further consultation document in 2013.?
The statement has been issued to General Synod
members today, as GS Misc 997E. It is available
on the Church of England website at
<http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1289380/gsmisc997.pdf>http://www.chur 
chofengland.org/media/1289380/gsmisc997.pdf
.
Notes to Editors
The House of Bishops pastoral statement on Civil
Partnerships, issued on July 25th 2005, can be
found at:
<http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2005/07/pr5605.aspx>http: 
//www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2005/07/pr5605.aspx

GS MISC 992, ?Choosing Bishops ? the Equality Act
2010,? can be found at:
<http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1281174/gs%20misc%20992.pdf>http://ww 
w.churchofengland.org/media/1281174/gs%20misc%20992.pdf