Church of Wales evangelicals call for new bishop after vote to allow blessing of same-sex unions

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Evangelicals belonging to the UK’s Church of Wales are requesting a new bishop to represent them in light of the church governing body’s recent vote to allow blessing services for same-sex couples, the Christian Post (CP) reports.

Holding to traditional Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage, the Evangelical Fellowship within the Church of Wales (EFCW) officially disagreed with the September 6 vote, which passed 28 to 12 in favor of allowing pastors to bless same-sex unions in their churches, CP said.

The EFCW is now calling for a new bishop who can represent those who “hold to an understanding of the doctrine of marriage as only being between a man and a woman,” CP reports.

Asserting its disagreement with the new policy, the EFCW also recognized that the Church has “not always engaged well” with the LGBT community and that it has been “deeply insensitive” and hurtful. “This is something of which we repent unreservedly,” the EFCW said in a statement Monday. The Good News of Jesus Christ is for all people, regardless of sexual orientation.”

Nevertheless, the EFCW attested that the church’s decision to bless same-sex unions was a mistake, even if it is a “well-intentioned” one. In their statement, the EFCW affirmed: “The only biblical context for sexual activity is heterosexual marriage,” the statement argued. “The new rite for the blessing of same-sex unions, which introduces liturgy permitting the blessing of same-sex civil marriages, has, de facto, changed the Church’s doctrine on marriage.”

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