Statement from the Church of England regarding GFSA statement

25/01/2023

A Church of England spokesperson said: “We are heartened by Archbishop Justin Badi’s commitment to the Anglican Communion, and his affirmation of the Communion as an expression of God’s ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’. This echoes the House of Bishops’ desire to walk together as a single church while reflecting our different understandings. The Archbishop of York has written to all the Primates of the Communion to express this, and that while the Church of England’s teaching of Holy Matrimony remains as between one man and one woman, we are welcoming prayers of God’s blessing for people in same-sex partnerships. The Bishops’ proposals will now be discussed and debated by General Synod, and we look forward prayerfully to those discussions.”

An Anglican Communion Office spokesperson said: “The 42 member Churches of the Anglican Communion are independent and autonomous, but interdependent. It is a fundamental principle of the Anglican Communion that no province can bind another province, and no Instrument of Communion (Instrument of Unity) has any jurisdictional authority over any province. The Primates’ Meeting does not decide doctrine within the Anglican Communion, doctrine is decided by provinces in accordance with their local processes.”