Bishop Martin Warner writes to his diocese after the York General Synod

Bishop Martin reflecting on this weekend’s General Synod in York, said: “The widely reported debates at the General Synod on the needs of people discerning gender orientation and transgender identity are an indication of the Church of England’s engagement with some of the most important, complex and sensitive human stories in today’s society.

“The debates drew on multiple accounts of need and experience. They indicated the positive effects of an informed and generous response from congregations and from clergy. Equally, there were heart-rending accounts of damage done by the Church as an institution or through misguided intervention by individual Christians.

“These debates have raised profound theological issues. More time will be needed to assess how, in the light of the inherited wisdom revealed in Scripture and tradition, we understand what we have learned at Synod during this past weekend

“Whatever narrative emerges from our interrogation of received wisdom and contemporary experience, we as Christians must be explicit about the God who creates us in love and who in mercy and tenderness sustains the movement of all things to perfection.”