[Church of England] The College of Bishops of the Church of England has concluded its three-day meeting (Oct. 31 to Nov. 2), called to begin a process of discernment and decision-making about questions of identity, sexuality and marriage.

Under the banner “Living in Love and Faith” (LLF), the church produced a suite of resources in November 2020 about human identity, sexuality relationships and marriage. These include a book, a video course, podcasts and videos of the experiences of a wide range of people. These have been available through a variety of channels across the church, including websites and local parishes.

Since then, the church has been encouraging churchgoers from across the country to take part in a process of learning using the resources, listening to one another and to God. A report of the gathered responses from this churchwide engagement was published in September 2022.

During the recent three days of meetings at the College of Bishops, bishops drew on this wealth of resources and the many conversations that have been held with a wide range of stakeholders to inform their discernment.

Commenting at the end of the meeting, Bishop of London Sarah Mullally said: “The bishops’ honest and fruitful conversations were undergirded by a deep desire to walk together and to find a way forward that will be good news to the church and to wider society. Bishops were united in their determination to come to a clear sense of direction in time for the meeting of the church’s General Synod in February 2023.”

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