The Church in Wales has pulled back from plans to allow homosexual weddings to take place in churches.
The Bench of Bishops announced plans last November to make the liturgy for the blessing of those in same-sex marriages or civil partnerships permanent, and to allow gay weddings in churches.
While the liturgy was made permanent in April, a recently released report by the Bench said that “a period of positive but yet frank interaction” had led them to conclude that “a longer period of time is now needed to assess the best way forward in enabling Governing Body to consider equal marriage”.
While still in favour of eventually bringing so-called “equal marriage” into the Church, the Bench said “it is important to explore the doctrine of marriage from a theological perspective, allowing the Governing Body to reflect on marriage, and the nature of legislation which would be most appropriate to support such a change”.
The report said that a request would be submitted to the Governing Body’s meeting in April next year to host a “conversation on the doctrine of marriage” with representatives of both “traditional” and “progressive” views on the matter.
Last year the Church in Wales saw the controversial appointment of Cherry Vann as its 15 archbishop. Vann is a lesbian who has been in a civil partnership for over a decade.
At the time of her appointment, Andrea Williams, head of Christian Concern, described the move as “tragic”, “a clear sign of apostasy” and evidence that the Church in Wales was in “open rebellion” against the scriptures.
