Following Years-Long Debate, Church Of England Votes Against Blessings For Same-Sex Couples

The Church of England has abandoned a three-year effort to establish church blessings for same-sex couples after voting in early 2023 to pursue such ceremonies, the church reported.

The Anglican denomination continues to reject gay marriage, a decision it affirmed in 2023 while instead voting to pursue blessings.

The vote to end the pursuit closed three years of work in the broader Living in Love and Faith initiative regarding identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, that the church launched nine years ago.

Voting 252 to 132, with 21 abstentions, the February 2026 church Synod instead approved a House of Bishops proposal to establish the Relationships, Sexuality and Gender Working Group and the Relationships, Sexuality and Gender Pastoral Consultative Group to continue to explore the issue of gay marriage, the church reported.

Among the groups’ assignments are exploring the approval process for ceremonial blessings under canon law, and the legal process for licensing or ordaining same-sex married clergy, anglicannews.org reported.

The Synod also recognized and lamented the “distress and pain suffered during the LLF process, especially by LGBTQ community,” and affirmed that the work of the LLF would conclude by July.

The church spent about $2.1 million on the study of establishing blessings for gay couples, the BBC reported.

Both sides of the debate offered impassioned comments during the Feb. 9-13 meeting.

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally told the Synod the debate “touched some of our deepest theological views but also the core part of our identity,” the BBC reported. “It has left us wounded as individuals and also as a Church and therefore I am grateful that you still are here.”

Among dissenters, Synod member and gay priest Charlie Baczyk-Bell called the process a “facetious charade,” the BBC reported, telling fellow members they had broken his heart. “I cannot believe that we are here again, after all this time, with only this to offer,” the BBC quoted Baczyk-Bell.

Others who voted to discontinue pursuing the ceremonial blessings contended for Scriptural adherence, and said they were also wounded by a process that did not adequately include their voice.

“To refer to (such members) as ‘homophobic’ as some have, when they believe that they are seeking to remain faithful to God’s word is not only unhelpful, it is gravely unjust,” the BBC quoted Busola Sodeinde, a Synod lay member from London.

Synod lay member Simon Clift added, “Those like me, who hold to the historic teaching, also feel that pain, and all groups need to be recognized,” according to the BBC.

Despite the decision, the Church of England continues to condone blessing prayers for same-sex couples added to ordinary Sunday church services in 2023.

The denominational landscape for gay marriage is evolving. Pope Francis, now deceased, formally approved Roman Catholic blessings for same-sex couples in December 2023, but the church does not permit gay marriage.

The Southern Baptist Convention rejects gay marriage, affirming the biblical definition of marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman. The standard is included in the latest two iterations of the Baptist Faith and Message (1963 and 2000), as well as numerous resolutions. Most recently, messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting passed the resolution On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family, which resolves among many beliefs that “we encourage churches to disciple their members in a biblical view of marriage, sexuality, parenting, and the sanctity of life.”

The pro-LGBTQ Human Rights Watch lists 15 denominations and belief systems that affirm gay marriage, including the Alliance of Baptists (organized in 1987 by dissenting Southern Baptists), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ; the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and various sects of Judaism.