Dear Friends,

As you may have heard, on the 12th December, 2023 the House of Bishops met to commend the ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’ for use starting on Sunday, 17th December.  For the first time the goodness and holiness of committed same-sex relationships will be formally recognised in the liturgies of the Church of England. The only exception is the special standalone services for same-sex couples, which are not yet authorised.

You can read about this great news in this Church Times article.

In the Trunch Benefice we have always been enthusiastic supporters of inclusivity and will be using these prayers moving forward.

This document invites churches, if appropriate, to use some of the commended prayers from this Sunday. The document gives full details of what is and isn’t permitted, plus suggestions as to how the prayers might be used. Here is the key paragraph:

We therefore suggest that, in as many parishes as possible where same-sex couples are regular worshippers, they should be named and prayed for as couples this Sunday, probably in the regular intercessions. Local judgments will need to be made about whether they should come to the front, or stand up, or in some other way be more clearly identified.

Even if this is not appropriate, some of the Prayers of Love and Faith can be used more generally to give thanks for and to pray for same-sex couples.