The Church of England’s (CofE) liberal drift continues as a new survey shows that a majorities of priests now support abandoning traditional Christian sexual ethics.
A survey by the Times found that 62.6 percent of priests believe the church should relax its teaching that all premarital sex is sinful.
An smaller majority (53.4 percent) voiced their support for same-sex marriage. The Church of England currently allows marriages only between men and women, though the General Synod — the CofE’s legislative body — voted in February to offer blessings to civilly married same-sex couples.
Most Church of England priests back gay marriage, survey finds https://t.co/qZSdXbDnPf
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) August 30, 2023
When the survey was last conducted in 2014, only 39 percent of priests were in favor of allowing same-sex marriage in the church, according to the Guardian. (RELATED: QUAY: Nancy Mace Shows How America’s Churches Are Failing Us)
In April, a group of Anglican churches from the global south as well as the U.S.-based Anglican Church in North America, which split form the Episcopal Church in 2008, responded to the synod’s vote by signing the Kigali Commitment in Rwanda. “We consider that those who refuse to repent have abdicated their right to leadership within the Anglican Communion,” the statement reads.
Each church in the global Anglican Communion is self-governing, but the Archbishop of Canterbury, who leads the Church of England, has traditionally held the role of first among equals.