According to Robert Innes, the Bishop of the Church of England in Europe, the ecclesial community lacks a definition of a woman since such definitions were previously believed to be self-evident.
His remarks coincide with a General Synod meeting, the Church of England’s legislative body, which is taking place in York from July 8 to July 12.
According to Robert Innes, the Bishop of the Church of England in Europe, the ecclesial community lacks a definition of a woman since such definitions were previously believed to be self-evident.
His remarks coincide with a General Synod meeting, the Church of England’s legislative body, which is taking place in York from July 8 to July 12.
The synod was asked, “What is the Church of England’s definition of a woman?”
Innes responded, “There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy,” The Telegraph reported July 10.
“The LLF project however has begun to explore the marriage complexities associated with gender identity and points to the need for additional care and thought to be given in understanding our commonalities and differences as people made in the image of God,” he added.
Living in Love and Faith “is part of discerning a way forward for the Church of England in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage,” according to its website.
The Church of England is a member of the Anglican Communion, which has recently been strained by disagreements about moral and sexual issues.
The Church of England released pastoral guidelines for gender-neutral liturgies in 2018. These liturgies are meant to “recognise liturgically a person’s gender transition” and to affirm and celebrate a person’s change to a chosen gender identity.
The guidelines state that baptism is the “natural liturgical context for recognizing and celebrating [a transgendered person’s] identity in Christ and God’s love for them” and encourages ministers to accept and use “the preference of a transgender person in respect of their name and gendered (or other) pronouns” in the baptism of transgendered persons.
Baptized members of the Church of England are to be offered specially adapted rituals “to recognize liturgically a person’s gender transition,” the guidelines say.
The guidelines note that the Church of England “welcomes and encourages the unconditional affirmations of trans people” and state that services to recognize their new identity should have a “celebratory character.”