Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
‘A TERRIBLE APPROACH’: ANDREW SYMES ON LATEST C OF E MOVES
Dear marriage supporter,
The Church of England has confirmed that any new blessing services for same-sex couples must not look like weddings, with proposed guidance ruling out rings, vows, kisses or processions that might suggest a marriage is taking place.
At the same time, campaign groups have been gathering signatures for an open letter, now approaching 7,000 clergy and lay members, urging the bishops to go further and faster towards full LGBT inclusion.
Against that background – and following on from my first conversation with Revd Andrew Symes – this second part of our recent interview, recorded shortly after the bishops’ announcement, looks at what Living in Love and Faith has really meant for marriage and why this matters for anyone who cares about the truth. You can watch the video here.
In this new video, Andrew goes back to first principles. For him the issue is the Gospel and the Church’s public witness. At the centre sits the belief that marriage is the term describing what only one man and one woman can do and that this God-given pattern protects sex and children.
He then tackles Living in Love and Faith. LLF was presented as a listening process, but in reality, he says, it has been driven by “those who want a much more liberal approach” and its purpose “has been… the aim of liberalising the church’s teaching on sex and marriage”. General Synod now permits blessings for same-sex couples in regular services, even though official doctrine still says marriage is only between one man and one woman, prompting “questions of conscience”. He asks: “Can we continue to be in the Church of England when it has this ambivalent view of marriage and sexuality?”
Andrew is especially critical of claims that nothing significant has changed because the canons remain untouched. His verdict is: “it’s a terrible approach”. He notes that many Anglican churches elsewhere in the world, with far more worshippers than the Church of England, see this as a serious break with historic teaching. His concern resonates with C4M supporters who believe real man-woman marriage is the gold standard for individuals, children and society, and who want the national church to say so clearly.
If you’re not yet supporting C4M financially but would like to help, please click the donate button at c4m.org.uk
Dr Tony Rucinski
facebook.com/coalition4marriage
‘A TERRIBLE APPROACH’: ANDREW SYMES ON LATEST C OF E MOVES
Dear marriage supporter,
The Church of England has confirmed that any new blessing services for same-sex couples must not look like weddings, with proposed guidance ruling out rings, vows, kisses or processions that might suggest a marriage is taking place.
At the same time, campaign groups have been gathering signatures for an open letter, now approaching 7,000 clergy and lay members, urging the bishops to go further and faster towards full LGBT inclusion.
Against that background – and following on from my first conversation with Revd Andrew Symes – this second part of our recent interview, recorded shortly after the bishops’ announcement, looks at what Living in Love and Faith has really meant for marriage and why this matters for anyone who cares about the truth. You can watch the video here.
In this new video, Andrew goes back to first principles. For him the issue is the Gospel and the Church’s public witness. At the centre sits the belief that marriage is the term describing what only one man and one woman can do and that this God-given pattern protects sex and children.
He then tackles Living in Love and Faith. LLF was presented as a listening process, but in reality, he says, it has been driven by “those who want a much more liberal approach” and its purpose “has been… the aim of liberalising the church’s teaching on sex and marriage”. General Synod now permits blessings for same-sex couples in regular services, even though official doctrine still says marriage is only between one man and one woman, prompting “questions of conscience”. He asks: “Can we continue to be in the Church of England when it has this ambivalent view of marriage and sexuality?”
Andrew is especially critical of claims that nothing significant has changed because the canons remain untouched. His verdict is: “it’s a terrible approach”. He notes that many Anglican churches elsewhere in the world, with far more worshippers than the Church of England, see this as a serious break with historic teaching. His concern resonates with C4M supporters who believe real man-woman marriage is the gold standard for individuals, children and society, and who want the national church to say so clearly.
If you’re not yet supporting C4M financially but would like to help, please click the donate button at c4m.org.uk
Dr Tony Rucinski
facebook.com/coalition4marriage
