Not enough for anyone. . .

The jolly old Church of England has decided to disappoint everyone.  They offer something which is not marriage to same sex couples and something which is like same sex marriage to those who will not have it.  They live in pursuit of vagaries that they think will allow the sham of a church to continue to live but they are on life support and everyone knows it.  Anything less than full marriage leaves the same sex couples with a second class prize and anything more than a civil union will bleed the facade of a church dry.  So the choice is to do nothing.  Nothing as much as marriage and nothing less than it -- all for the sake of avoiding a word and a potential conflict.

There is not much of a way forward for the Church of England.  It is a communion that has become as much a political entity as a religious one.  Skirting the fringes of a debate that wants no nuance will prove even more daunting than any of the changes that the old C of E has faced.  In reality, it is the same problem that the Church of England has always had.  It has decided that to stand for nothing clearly is to please everyone.  Looking at the statistics has proven just how successful that so-called third way has done.   

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is more than relieved, he is giddy:

This response reflects the diversity of views in the Church of England on questions of sexuality, relationships and marriage. I rejoice in that diversity and I welcome this way of reflecting it in the life of our church. I hope it can offer a way for the Church of England, publicly and unequivocally, to say to all Christians and especially LGBTQI+ people, that you are welcome and a valued and precious part of the body of Christ.

The Church of England has played fast and loose with doctrine for some time now and shows no willingness to step up to the plate -- not even to depart from the faith much less affirm it.  It is the coward's way out, to be sure, but there are not many faithful and brave leaders left in the Church of England.  We all know where this is going.  This is a bus stop on the way to the full embrace of all that our culture demands.  No one is fooled here and only fools will accept this as the end.  Charles III will have his way and his role as head of the church will come to mean any faith will do -- except, of course, the faith that holds to the Scriptures and refuses the onslaught of modernism.  A sad end for a church body left with grand ceremonies that mean nothing and a history which has become merely symbolic.