Blessing of same sex marriage not a halfway house – bishop
VOTING to allow married same-sex couples to be blessed in an Anglican church was a radical move and not the ‘halfway house’ that some people might have thought, said Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Rev. Stephen Lake.
In General Synod last week he backed a motion drawn up by its House of Bishops.
‘Having prepared it alongside my brother and sister bishops, naturally, I voted for it,’ he said.
He accepted that opinions on the decision were polarised and it was because of this, that the decision had come across as a kind of halfway house.
‘Actually, compared to where we were, which was “no”, this is quite radical and the first time in history that the church will be able to publicly, generously, bring together same sex couples for blessing in church and to do that joyously.’
But he said it was important to understand that not everybody felt that way.
‘And to reconcile those of different views, and unity is clearly important to us. But I do feel that this is the right way forward at the moment.’
His views were echoed by the Dean of Guernsey, the Very Rev. Tim Barker, who said he would have voted in favour of blessings, had he still been on Synod.
‘I recognise that there are huge sensitivities on both sides of the argument,’ he said.
‘I think the decision, even though it may be unsatisfactory in that it doesn’t go as far as some people would like and has gone further than others would like, is probably the right decision at this point.’
But it was important to note that ministers would not have to conduct the ceremony if they did not want to, while those who wanted to would be free to do so.
‘One of the key things for us is to learn to live with that difference,’ said Mr Barker.
