The House of Bishops has agreed to replace the outdated document Issues in Human Sexuality in the process of discerning new candidates for ordination with a requirement for candidates to live in line with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy.

The change does not alter the Church’s doctrine or canonical requirements, which remain in place, but is intended to ensure the discernment process is both theologically robust and pastorally sensitive.

The decision, at an online meeting of the House of Bishops this morning, follows a near-unanimous vote at the General Synod in York last week, and is an interim step while a longer-term approach is developed.

Synod supported an amended private member’s motion calling on the House to remove any requirements relating to Issues – as it was widely known – from the process and replace it with the interim requirement relating to the Guidelines.

When it was first published in 1991, Issues aimed to be sensitive, but the tone, language, and some of the assumptions are now considered inappropriate and offensive to many people.

Originally intended as a teaching document, Issues had assumed a more definitive role within the Church’s discernment and vocations process with candidates required to confirm that they would shape their lives within the boundaries outlined within it.

Bishops also agreed to remove the document from the House of Bishops website.

Work is now getting under way to update materials used in the discernment process such as online forms which reference Issues and documents used in the Candidates Panel. All existing guidance documents for Candidates, Diocesan Directors of Ordinands and Bishops’ Advisers will be reviewed and changed where necessary and new guidance will be issued. The Ministry Development Team, in collaboration with the Ministry Development Board, will report back to the House in October on this process.

This interim procedure will remain in place while the Church continues its work on the broader package of proposals for the Living and Love and Faith process. This work is ongoing, with the aspiration that proposals will be brought to the House of Bishops in the autumn and then to the February 2026 General Synod.

The House heard a presentation on the work undertaken so far on a review of regulations for Reader Ministry and the findings of the second Anglican Giving Survey carried out earlier this year.

The survey found that over 75 per cent of Anglicans had been thanked for their giving in the last six months, up from less than a third five years ago.

It also highlighted the generosity of givers, with average giving exceeding inflation over the last five years, and suggested that more than two thirds of Anglicans had heard a sermon on giving in the last year, with 60 per cent of those saying the sermon changed their thinking on giving.

The meeting closed in prayer.

Notes

• First adopted in 2003, the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy were substantially revised and declared an Act of Convocation by the Convocations of Canterbury and York in 2015. Work is currently underway to develop a revised version for consideration by the Convocations.
• The House of Bishops resolved today to:
  • Remove Issues in Human Sexuality from the Vocations (Shared Discernment Process) and the House of Bishops website immediately and agree to replace it immediately with an interim requirement of living consistently with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy during the period of discernment and training.
  • Commission the Ministry Development Team, working with the Ministry Development Board to develop the details needed to implement this well, reporting to the House in October 2025.
• The Synod motion agreed on July 15, 2025 was:
  • “That this Synod request that the House of Bishops remove any requirements relating to Issues in Human Sexuality from the Vocations (Shared Discernment) Process and replace it with an interim requirement of living consistently with the Guidelines for the Professional Conduct of the Clergy (GPCC) during the period of discernment and training, and complete work on the package of the Pastoral Guidelines, Code of Practice, and Bishops’ Statement, as agreed at General Synod in July 2024.”