I do think it's a step in the right direction. The most eloquent "this is not nearly enough" takes I have seen have been from faithful gay Anglicans; meanwhile I've seen a bit from outraged conservatives about dropping the 1991 Issues statement as some kind of attack on the idea that celibacy outside of marriage is a good thing, among some of the more expected objections. I haven't really seen a lot from people who have never had anything to do with church; I've seen some hurt feelings from people who have already left, or lost their faith entirely, partly because of how crap the church is at equality. Mostly people don't challenge me about it because they don't realise how much it could have affected me, had a circumstances been different.
The thing I am finding most heartening is that there are various statements floating around from various bishops (the Bishop of Bristol's one comes to mind) that openly acknowledge their support for full equality of same sex marriage, and that this current proposal isn't ideal and will still cause hurt and harm. It seems pretty obviously a transitional arrangement, even if nobody is saying so out loud.
I am also mindful of how difficult it has been for various clergy I know to attempt something a bit like this anyway, knowing if they were caught or if what they could offer was misinterpreted by the wrong people, they could lose their posts and their homes, and so feeling they must tread very carefully and be very circumspect when they would have wanted to celebrate in a more public and exuberant way. "I'm so sorry, I'm not legally allowed to marry you in church and that's bullshit, but you can do the legal bit elsewhere and then have a blessing here, and we can make that into one heck of a party if you want," is... so much better, pastorally, than some of the responses I have seen.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2023-01-22 07:03 am (UTC)From:The thing I am finding most heartening is that there are various statements floating around from various bishops (the Bishop of Bristol's one comes to mind) that openly acknowledge their support for full equality of same sex marriage, and that this current proposal isn't ideal and will still cause hurt and harm. It seems pretty obviously a transitional arrangement, even if nobody is saying so out loud.
I am also mindful of how difficult it has been for various clergy I know to attempt something a bit like this anyway, knowing if they were caught or if what they could offer was misinterpreted by the wrong people, they could lose their posts and their homes, and so feeling they must tread very carefully and be very circumspect when they would have wanted to celebrate in a more public and exuberant way. "I'm so sorry, I'm not legally allowed to marry you in church and that's bullshit, but you can do the legal bit elsewhere and then have a blessing here, and we can make that into one heck of a party if you want," is... so much better, pastorally, than some of the responses I have seen.