Staff writer 31 August 2023
A survey of Church of England clergy by The Times newspaper has found widespread support for a change in rules to allow priests to conduct same-sex weddings.
The survey of 1,200 serving priests found that over half (53.4%) support a change in Church law to allow them to wed gay couples, compared to over a third (36.5%) who are opposed.
The Church of England's parliamentary body, the General Synod, backed plans to introduce same-sex blessings in February. Asked where they stand on the issue, most of the priests surveyed (59%) said they plan to offer same-sex blessings to couples, versus 32.3% who said they will not.
More than three in five (63.3%) said gay priests should be allowed to marry their same-sex partners.
A sizable majority (62.6%) support a change in position on premarital sex - 21.6% support an end to the teaching of abstinence before marriage, and 41% say opposition to premarital sex should be dropped for people in "committed relationships".
Just over a third (34.6%) say the Church's traditional teaching on premarital sex should not be changed.
The findings reflect a dramatic change in attitudes among CofE priests since 2014, when 51% said in a Lancaster University study that same-sex marriage was "wrong", compared to 39% who supported it.
Linda Woodhead, who led the 2014 study, said The Times survey revealed "a very rapid change" in attitudes.
The Rev Canon John Dunnett, director of the Church of England Evangelical Council, said the study "signposts a thoroughly divided Church of England".
"The question it raises, the million-dollar question, is how is the [Church] is going to face a situation in which the level of division is both so substantial and runs so deep?" he told the newspaper.
More than half of clergy think CofE establishment needs review
Posted:Thu, 31 Aug 2023
Nearly 12% of priests support disestablishment, survey finds
More than half of Church of England priests want the Church's established status to be reviewed, according to new figures.
A survey conducted by The Times found 53% of Church of England clerics think establishment should be reviewed. This is a significant increase from the last survey in 2014, which found 41% supported a review.
Clergy who question establishment include nearly 12% of priests who said Church should be disestablished – formally separated from the state.
Over 41% of clergy say the Church's established status "should be reviewed, with some elements of establishment retained and some abolished". Only 43% think the Church's status should be left unchanged.
The National Secular Society has said the figures underline the need for parliament to "take disestablishment seriously".
Most clergy want bishops' bench reformed, say Britain no longer a "Christian country"
The survey also indicated widespread doubt about the appropriateness of reserving 26 seats in the House of Lords exclusively for CofE bishops (Lords Spiritual, also known as the 'bishops bench'). Sixty per cent of priests back reform, including nearly 45% who say the seats should be opened up to other faith leaders, and over 8% who say their numbers should be reduced. Nearly 7% think Lords Spiritual should be abolished altogether.
Less than 37% say the bishops' bench should be left unchanged.
The survey, which analysed responses from 1,200 ordained serving priests, also found:
- Over 73% think modern Britain cannot be called a "Christian country". The 2021 census found less than half the population of England and Wales are Christian, while the percentage of nonreligious people has risen sharply to 37%.
- Approximately 67% predict church attendance will continue to decline.
- A majority (53%) think the Church should allow priests to choose to conduct same-sex weddings, and 63% believe gay priests should be allowed to enter same-sex civil marriages. Nearly 65% believe the Church's teaching that "homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture" should be dropped.
- Nearly 63% of priests think the Church should drop its opposition to sex outside of marriage.
NSS: Separating religion and state most "practical, sustainable and suitable approach"
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "It's encouraging to see support for reforms to remove the Church's privileges coming from within the Church itself.
"The issue of automatic seats for religious clerics in House of Lords certainly needs to be addressed, but extending the privilege to leaders of other faiths is wholly unworkable.
"The question of which faith communities would be represented, and then identifying and selecting individuals who could legitimately represent those faith communities, would be both extremely difficult and divisive.
"It would also add to the alienation of the rapidly growing numbers of nonreligious people.
"A clear separation of religion and state through disestablishment, including ending seats 'as of right' for religious leaders, is much more practical, sustainable and suitable approach for a modern pluralistic Britain.
"It's time for parliament to take disestablishment seriously and ensure mechanisms are in place to enable a clean break between Church and state."
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