Synod Takes Middle Ground on Civil Partnerships

A motion passed yesterday by the Church of England's General Synod has revealed deep divisions over the Church's response to the 2005 Civil Partnership Act, which legally recognised same-sex relationships, and the subsequent guidance issued by the House of Bishops in 2005.

|PIC2|The House of Bishops triggered controversy in 2005 when it issued its Pastoral Statement on civil partnerships which stated that gay clergy could enter into civil partnerships as long as they first assured their bishops that they would abstain from sex - guidance which conservatives feared would be ignored by gay clergy entering such partnerships.

Synod debated a motion Wednesday afternoon put forward by the Rev Paul Perkin of Southwark, also a member of the evangelical group Reform, which said the Civil Partnership Act undermined the "distinctiveness and fundamental importance to society of the relationship of marriage".

Perkin's motion also said the House of Bishops' Pastoral Statement had "produced a recipe for confusion by not stating clearly that civil partnerships entered into under the CP Act would be inconsistent with Christian teaching".

Significantly, liberals and conservatives voted down an amendment recognising the controversial Pastoral Statement as a "balanced and sensitive attempt" to apply Church teaching to civil partnerships. Synod asked yesterday that the House of Bishops now review the Pastoral Statement.

Church liberals were among those voicing concern over the guidance, saying that it was too intrusive in advising clergy to ask clergy in same-sex civil partnerships questions about the sexual aspect of their relationships.

The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev John Gladwin, also insisted that Church teaching on marriage had not changed in the wake of the Civil Partnership Act and that the civil partnerships did not undermine society and marriage because they did not equate to marriage. Another member said that civil partnerships did not undermine marriage but actually "promote fidelity".

The Rev Rob Munro of Cheadle in Cheshire, however, pointed out that public perception was important and that, regardless of legal definitions, the public did in fact equate civil partnerships with marriage.

Conservatives in the Church called for a return to Scripture, which they said was very clear in its position on homosexuality.

The Rev Roderick Thomas of Elburton, Plymouth, said that the Pastoral Statement had been brought into disrepute because the discipline envisioned by it had not been applied in cases where clergy entering into civil partnerships had refused to give the necessary assurances that they would abstain from sexual activity.

|PIC3|He said he was dismayed that the Church of England was being "brought down" the same way as the Episcopal Church in the US, which has just been told by the Primates of the Anglican Communion to clarify its position on homosexuality by September 30.

He added that the Pastoral Statement had compromised biblical authority. "This is a chance to show other churches that the Church of England still stands for biblical authority," he said.

The Rev Angus MacLeay of Sevenoaks said that the Pastoral Statement "flies in the face" of biblical teaching on homosexuality and warned Synod that "conscience must not be raised above the level of Scripture".

"We must not let conscience derail us from the consistent teachings of the Bible on homosexuality," he said. "We have heard so much about listening to each other but so little about listening to the Lord through His Word."

Perkin's motion failed to win the approval of Synod on the day, however, with the yes vote going instead to an amendment which acknowledged "diversity of views" in the Church of England on the Civil Partnership Act.

While the carried amendment acknowledged that the Government had passed the Civil Partnership Act with the intention of addressing discrimination against gays and lesbians, it also said it wished that the Government had "done so in a way that avoided creating a legal framework with many similarities to marriage".

Perkins responded to the putdown of his motion with a warning that clergy members face a "postcode lottery" on civil partnerships as bishops continue to offer differing advice to clergy.

He also refuted the Archbishop of Canterbury's statement at the start of the General Synod said that the public perception was that the Church of England was a church "obsessed with sex".

Perkins also criticised the lack of debate on gay clergy in the last few years and the lack of opportunity to discuss the meaning and consequences of the House of Bishops' guidelines.

"It's [debate] been left to a private member's motion four years later. I don't call that an obsession with sex," he said.