Church split over ‘gay-friendly’ marriage service

US proposal to scrap the words ‘husband and wife’ and ‘procreation’ divides Church of England clerics

THE Church of England is split over US plans to remove “husband and wife” from the marriage service.

Plans by The Episcopal Church (TEC) to change its marriage service to a gay-friendly version, which also removes mention of the word “procreation”, were criticised in a letter from William Nye, the Church of England’s secretary general, last October.

However, the proposals have been backed elsewhere in the Anglican Church, with more than 300 members, including Alan Wilson, the Bishop of Buckingham, signing an open letter distancing themselves from Mr Nye’s statements.

His original letter, which emerged last month, threatened to cut ties with the US church, which is a fellow member of the global Anglican Communion, if the new service became standard.

The reworded service removes the phrase “the union of husband and wife” and replaces it with “the union of two people”, and replaces the section which talks about part of God’s intention for marriage being “for the procreation of children” with the phrase “for the gift of children” to make it more relevant for same-sex couples who may wish to adopt. Couples can still use the words “husband” and “wife” when making their vows, though the gender-neutral “spouse” is also an option.

The Episcopal Church asked other members of the worldwide Anglican Communion to respond to the new liturgy, prompting Mr Nye’s letter.

He said using the new service as standard would lead to a growing “pressure to dissociate” the Church of England from the US church as conservative members see any move at all in that direction as “completely unacceptable”. He urged the Church to consider keeping the new service on “trial status” indefinitely to avoid “irrevocably redefining marriage”, adding that the new rites “constitute a clear divergence from the understanding of marriage held throughout the history of the Christian church”.

However, in a letter published on Sunday evening addressed to the US church, liberal members of the Church of England said they were “grateful” for the move.

They thanked TEC for recognising “a gender-neutral approach will enable us to become a loving and inclusive

Church for all”.

“We still have a few problems to sort out over here with those who keep threatening to leave, but we know that your actions have given great hope to thousands and shown that the Church is not as homophobic as it can sometimes appear,” the letter added.

Campaigners also cited a 2016 survey which found that 45 per cent of British Anglicans said same-sex marriage was right, compared to 37 per cent who said it was wrong.