(updated 18 August, 1 September, 28 October and 18 November)

One of the issues in the Church of England at the moment is transparency, or rather the lack of it. As of this morning, the ‘LLF Journey’ page on the main Living in Love and Faith website is still stalled at July 2023. What follows is my attempt to update that. When I do review visits either of theological colleges or of universities, I always ask for a chart showing which group reports to which group, to get a sense of where accountability lies. I would love to do this for the current stage of LLF, but that isn’t possible yet. Instead, we are heading into autumn with a new configuration, and I’m thinking of the fruit-less tree which was the original LLF logo, until it was replaced with a stained-glass window…

So: we’ve had the Next Steps Group, the Implementation Groups, and now we have more groups. There is currently something called the Steering Group, which comprises the bishops who chaired the Implementation Groups: Bishop Sarah Mullally (Co-Chair), Bishop Philip Mounstephen (Co-Chair) Bishop Debbie Sellin, Bishop Sam Corley, Bishop Robert Atwell, Bishop Rosemarie Mallet, Bishop Andrew Watson and Bishop Jackie Searle. This will be meeting twice in August and twice during September. The dates are 25^th August, 30^th August, 18^th September and 26^th September. Then they meet again on 11 October and on 6 November.

A 7 August press release told us that ‘invitations have been issued’ to three more ‘facilitated conversations’ in September. This seems to have passed under the radar of many people. But the list of those invited is still not published, maybe they haven’t all replied. What’s the purpose of these conversations? So that those at the table can offer their ‘insights and reflections’: ‘we are seeking to listen to people’s hopes and concerns and to ensure that they are satisfied that their views have been taken into consideration’. Those invited ‘will bring a wealth of knowledge from prior involvement in the LLF process, as well as a range of lived experiences’; some, presumably, will have been through the full 6+ years of LLF, others only the more recent stages. ‘Range of lived experiences’ is presumably a way of saying that – in contrast to those on the platform at the presentation on LLF at the July 2023 Synod – some of them will be LGBTQIA+. It would be good if lay people – the majority of the church! – are better represented than on the Implementation Groups. On the Pastoral Guidance Implementation Group, for example, there were 10 bishops, 9 clergy, one lay man and one lay woman: on the Prayers of Love and Faith Implementation Group, 7 bishops, 7 clergy and one lay man. The dates for the meetings of this brand new ‘facilitated conversations’ group are 7th, 12th and 28th September.

Then on 3 October and 10 October various organisations (‘stakeholder groups’) have been invited to send a couple of representatives to meet with the ‘core staff team’ of  Bishop Mark Wroe, Mark Betson and Georgie Morgan. The stated aims are to listen to stakeholders, and to influence how the LLF material is presented to the November Synod; so, the focus is on Synod, not on what the bishops discuss when they meet. The invitations to ‘inclusive’ groups include GSGSG, OneBodyOneFaith, Inclusive Church, MOSAIC, Diverse Church, Modern Church, WATCH, Student Christian Movement, Church for Everyone, Synod Evangelical Forum, Inclusive Evangelicals, Affirming Catholics in Synod, Society of Catholic Priests, Affirming Catholicism. Changing Attitude (England), Ozanne Foundation, and Equal.

Originally, the ‘conservative’ groups are scheduled for 3 October: ‘inclusive’ groups for 10 October. This has now been recognised as, potentially, a problem because there is a House of Bishops meeting on 9 October. And it is expected to be the one at which whatever is going to be presented to the November Synod will be agreed and signed off by the bishops. Having those with one perspective meeting the core team before that, and those with another perspective only after the House of Bishops has done whatever it intends to do at that early October meeting, does not seem to treat both groups on equal terms. As a result, as of 18 August, there is now an alternative opportunity for the ‘inclusive’ groups on 2 October.

And then there are the bishops, of course. There’s a College of Bishops (all bishops including suffragan and area bishops) from 18-21 September, a further House of Bishops meeting from 30 October-1 November, with General Synod meeting from 13-15 November. 

Why do these dates matter? Simply because, in the interests of transparency, many of us would like to know how and by whom decisions will be made on what to bring to General Synod. Is the LLF tree about to bear fruit? At the July meeting, we had one bishop telling us that November would definitely be when the bishops brought something to us, and another bishop telling us that he doubted this would be possible. The intense timetable of meetings encourages me to think that something is happening, but for now we remain largely in the dark when it comes to the details. I hope this blog post brings a little light, and please do correct me if any of the details are not correct!

And, in the further interests of transparency, later blogs I’ve posted on this site describe – but are as yet unable to explain – what happened between the September College of Bishops and the October House of Bishops, when what appeared to be the proposed way forward was changed. Now we have a motion for November Synod, which will no doubt be subjected to amendments from all over the spectrum of belief. But – and this is why I have decided to do a further update to this blog – there’s now another date to add in, between the 30 October-1 November House of Bishops, and the Synod meeting.

That date is 3 November. Representatives of all the ‘inclusive groups’ – the stakeholders – are invited to a meeting with the LLF staff team and the Archbishop of Canterbury. I assume representatives of ‘conservative groups’ also have their meeting. Since representatives will of course be discussing with their groups what they are expecting from this meeting, it’s clearly not entirely confidential. For the sake of keeping this post as accurate as possible, I am therefore mentioning it here (NOTE: I later blogged on it here). Unlike the Living with Faith conversations, no mention has been made of St Michael’s House Protocols or the even more strict confidentiality imposed on us at those meetings. And people outside the various ‘groups’ need to know that the Archbishop has taken this initiative. After that, as per my original comments on the timetable, there will be the LLF Steering Group on 6 November. And then, as far as I know, nothing – or, at least, nothing formal – until November Synod.

And after November Synod? I understand that the House of Bishops meets on Zoom on 29 November and 12 December, with the next residential College of Bishops on 18-19 January. So perhaps the Prayers of Love and Faith will be available for use after 12 December. And then we can look forward to the February Synod…