A response to Bishop Martyn Snow
The Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, is the Lead Bishop for the Living in Love and Faith process (LLF). As a result of his experience in this role, which has involved both listening to those with different views of this process and what its outcome should be, and trying to steer the process as it moves forward, he has now written a short book entitled Can we imagine a future together? Intercultural lessons for Living in Love and Faith.1 As he explains in his introduction to this book, as a result of listening to different parties and spending hours trying to steer the LLF process he has:
… come to a view which I hope offers some inspiration for a possible way forward together.
That view can be summarised as:
We've not yet reached the point of separation – or even living in separate rooms.
So, we are in a season of discernment. Given our profound disagreements, can we imagine a new future together?
This season will require prayer, listening and practical active kindness as we reimagine how we serve a divided society and proclaim the Good News.
There are models available to us from other fields which might help us re imagine. One is called ‘interculturalism’ and the other ‘gift exchange.’ This booklet is an attempt to set out how they might help.
In this short response I shall explain why Anglicans who hold to the traditional Christian approach to marriage and sexual ethics have serious problems with these four points, even though there are parts of them with which they would agree.
We've not yet reached the point of separation – or even living in separate rooms.
The problem with this argument is that the LLF process means that the Church of England has already reached a point of separation, separation from the position still held by many within the Church of England, separation from the position of most Anglicans worldwide, and separation from the biblically based position of the Christian Church as a whole down the ages and across the world. Bishop Martyn is just not willing to admit this fact. The issue facing the Church of England is therefore not whether separation has occurred and is occurring, but how to retain the maximum degree of unity within the Church of England in the light of this fact.
So, we are in a season of discernment. Given our profound disagreements, can we imagine a new future together?
There are two problem what Bishop Martyn says here. First, if we are still trying to discern God’s will, why is the House of Bishops engaging in a process of changing the doctrine and practice of the Church of England by means of the Prayers of Love and Faith process? Secondly, why do we need to discern God’s will with regard to marriage and sexual ethics, given that the Christian Church has been clear about his will concerning these matters for the whole of its history?
This season will require prayer, listening and practical active kindness as we reimagine how we serve a divided society and proclaim the Good News. Anglicans who hold to the traditional view of marriage and sexual ethics would completely agree with Bishop Martyn that those in the Church of England need to pray, to listen to each other and to practise acts of active kindness towards each other and towards to those outside the church. However, they would add that the Christian call to love of neighbour (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39), involves helping people to live in the way willed by God, so that they can be rightly related to him in this world and spend eternity with him in the world to come. This being the case, it is necessary for Christians to go on proclaiming and explaining the traditional Christian view of marriage and sexual ethics to those both inside and outside the Church so that they too will decide to live by it. Love demands no less.
There are models available to us from other fields which might help us reimagine.
One is called ‘interculturalism’ and the other ‘gift exchange.’ In chapter 2 of his book Bishop Martyn explains that in contrast to assimilation in which a dominant culture seeks to abolish a minority culture, or multiculturalism in which cultures exist alongside each other and differences are celebrated, interculturalism: ‘recognises cultural differences and encourages interaction between people of different cultures.’ He further explains that gift exchange is a model for cultural interaction in which ’each person brings gifts to share with the other.
There is a mutual giving and receiving which can enrich both parties.’ In his view, the practice of interculturalism and gift giving are the way forward for the Church of England. Anglicans who hold to the traditional Christian view of marriage and sexual ethics would have no problem in principle with Bishop Martyn’s call to be in relationship with other members of the Church of England who take a different approach on marriage and the ethics of human sexuality, with giving gifts to them and receiving gifts from them, or with being involved with them in ‘practical acts of kindness and generosity which grow relationships and community.’ However, they would want to add the following caveats to what Bishop Martyn is suggesting.
First, they would want it to be crystal clear that willingness to remain in active Christian fellowship with other members of the Church of England does not mean that they view the matters over which they differ from them as being adiaphora.
Secondly, the forms which growing relationships across difference take will need to be ones that are in line with their theological convictions and this means, among other things, that they will have extreme difficulty about giving financial support to churches or organisations that are supportive of same-sex relationships or same-sex marriages.
Thirdly, they are extremely concerned that over the course of time they will face increasing pressure to assimilate their beliefs and practices with the permissive approach taken by the rest of the Church of England. As they see it, the proposals for Delegated Episcopal Ministry suggested by the House of Bishops will not prevent this happening. What is needed instead is a separate province within the Church of England for those who wish to adhere to the traditional Christian approach to marriage and sexual ethics. Only this will provide them with the guaranteed long term legal protection that they will require.
A more detailed version of this response can be found at: https://mbarrattdavie.wordpress.com/2025/03/20/what-should-the-future-of-the-church-of-england-look-like-a-response-to-bishop-martyn-snow
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Martin Davie is a Latimer Trust Research Fellow. He teaches at Wycliffe Hall and is the author of various books, some of them can be found here. He writes regularly on his blog Reflections of an Anglican Theologian.
Views expressed in blogs published by the Latimer Trust are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Latimer Trust.