How do questions about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage fit within the bigger picture of the good news of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to live in love and faith together as a Church? Since 2017, the Church of England has been travelling together exploring these questions as part of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process.
A suite of LLF resources, published in 2020, was engaged with by a range of people across the Church of England. As a result of this journey of listening and discerning, engaging with Scripture and the tradition of the Church, the bishops shared their response with General Synod in February 2023.
This response took the LLF journey from listening and discerning to implementing. It included an apology by the House of Bishops for the failure to welcome LGBTQI+ people into the Church, committing itself to address this lack of welcome and inclusion.
Part of this response has been to commend a further suite of resources and prayers called the Prayers of Love and Faith. These Prayers are for same-sex couples because no provision was previously made for them through existing public forms of prayer. Despite big differences over the best approach to take, the Church agrees it wants to better include, support and cherish LGBTQI+ people. We hope to find a way to continue to walk together, respecting our difference and collectively embracing a radical Christian inclusion.
The Church is keenly aware that issues of gender and sexuality are intrinsic to people’s experience; their sense of identity; their lives and the loving relationships that shape and sustain them. We also know that the life and mission of our Church – and of the worldwide Anglican Communion – are affected by the deep, and sometimes painful, disagreements among us which have been debated and discussed on many occasions over the years.
These divisions have come into sharper focus because of society’s changing perspectives and practices, especially in relation to lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex people. The Church wants to understand what it means to follow Christ in love and faith given the questions about human identity and the variety of patterns of relationship emerging in our society, including marriage, civil partnership, cohabitation, celibacy and friendship.
The LLF resources explore these matters by studying what the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences have to say, and by telling the real-life stories of followers of Christ with diverse experiences and convictions. Find out more about what the learning outcomes of the resources are.
The Living in Love and Faith Learning Hub
Explore the LLF resources
You can find the LLF Book, Course, story films, podcasts and online library by registering on the LLF Hub here.
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