To be published in the afternoon of Monday 9 November
Commissioned by the House of Bishops and led by the Bishop of Coventry, the Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth, the aim of the Living in Love and Faith project is to help the whole Church to learn how relationships, marriage and sexuality fit within the bigger picture of a humanity created in the image of God.
Why is the Church doing this?
The Living in Love and Faith project is propelled by the Church’s desire to learn how relationships, marriage and sexuality fit within the bigger picture of a humanity that is liberated by Jesus Christ and infused by the Spirit to reflect the image of God in which we are created.
Perspectives on gender, identity and sexuality are evolving and the Church wants to explore these matters by studying what the Bible, theology, history and the social and biological sciences have to say.
What can we expect?
The project team, led by Bishop Christopher, has produced resources in a variety of formats that they hope will be accessible, helpful and attractive to a wide range of people. These will be published on Monday 9 November.
These resources will help people to think more deeply both about what it means to be human, and to live in love and faith with one another. They will tackle the tough questions and the divisions among Christians about what it means to be holy in a society in which understandings and practices of gender, sexuality and marriage continue to change.
What will happen next?
The plan is to enable bishops, dioceses, deaneries and local church communities to explore the resources together from the beginning of 2021.
Engagement with the materials will need to be responsive to local contexts as churches and dioceses consider the impact of COVID-19 and other challenges on the health, the economy and the wellbeing of the nation.
It is envisaged that in 2022 learning and engagement with the materials will move to discernment, decision-making and if necessary, synodical processes. The group that will take this part of the LLF process forward on behalf of the House of Bishops will be led by Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London.
