Diocesan Synod, November 2025 - Presidential Address

22 November 2025

Good morning. Thank you for being here. Today, I want to use my Presidential Address to touch on three areas. Sustaining Ministry and the conversations around discerning mission and ministry in the Diocese. Some further reflections on Living in Love and Faith, following my recent Pastoral Letter. And a few thoughts on the challenges we are facing with the rise of Christian Nationalism and the far right.

First, Sustaining Ministry

Following a period of listening and discernment, Travelling Well Together was published in 2023, setting out a future direction of travel for the diocese as we face both opportunities for mission and service and significant challenges. At the heart of Travelling Well Together remains the invitation to use seven shared values as the basis for conversations and facilitated decision-making.

During our Synod in March this year, our Diocesan Secretary and the Dean of Mission, Ministry and Education, in a paper entitled ‘Sustaining Ministry’, outlined the significant challenges we face as a diocesan family. These include reducing congregations, falling ordinand numbers, clergy wellbeing, church buildings and our parochial system, and the continuing Parish Share shortfall. While it may seem overwhelming, I know that God who calls us is faithful and that we need continually to turn to God in prayer as we discern how best to be an enduring missional presence in Essex and East London. In March, Sustaining Ministry gave detail to the challenges and also outlined a process of shared discernment for us to continue travelling well together as one diocesan family.

Since March, and the valuable feedback received then from Synod members, there’s been careful reflection, drawing also on learning elsewhere in the Church of England. Rather than move straight into a conversation, Sustaining Ministry has been reshaped to help get ready for the changes God is bringing to each of us and to the communities we serve. That reshaping is built on a period of discernment centred on 100 days of prayer, and careful listening, to one another and to God. There’s more about this on our agenda today. But please be assured that Sustaining Ministry is not some grand plan with predetermined answers; there is no secret diocesan initiative lurking, waiting to be imposed on unsuspecting parishes.

Let me be clear, I believe change comes from the grass roots with necessary and appropriate leadership from those with diocesan wide responsibilities. Our approach remains the enabling and empowering of parishes and deaneries to discern how they are to be God’s people in their own particular context, and as part of one diocesan family. Therefore, Sustaining Ministry is a genuine invitation to ready ourselves to be changed by God in each of our church communities, and to be prayerfully attentive to the God who continually works in us to reshape us in our everyday life of discipleship. I hope and pray you will join in Sustaining Ministry with a sense of openness and anticipation, generosity and joy.

Turning now, to Living in Love and Faith

In my recent Pastoral Letter, sent on 28th October, I shared my understanding of where we now are, following the House of Bishops meeting in October, in relation to Prayers of blessing for same sex couples who have entered a Civil Partnership. I tried to explain why I think it is that we’ve arrived where we have and to say that, from my perspective, any structural changes by way of pastoral provision would have risked destabilising our Area Scheme and fracturing our diocesan life, not to mention undermining our Anglican identity. If you have not read the letter and would like to, it’s still available in the news section of the Diocesan website.

Today, I want to build on that letter and share with you some further reflections, recognising that nothing is finalised until the December House of Bishops and General Synod in February 2026. What I say is inevitably quite personal and represents my own views, not spoken on behalf of the House of Bishops or anyone else - but I offer it in a spirit of honesty and because I believe there is now greater acknowledgement that there are a variety of sincerely held views amongst bishops and that it’s right and proper, healthy in fact, that we should be able to speak more openly.

Not that my views have been a secret. Indeed, I’ve been known, for some time, as someone who wants to see greater progress in the use of Prayers of Love and Faith. To see greater freedom for clergy, if they choose, to offer blessings to same sex couples and, for gay and lesbian clergy themselves, to be able to enter into same sex marriages without fear of sanctions. I recognise that my views differ from some of my colleagues in the House and College of Bishops. The Church of England is a broad church with deep roots, and it holds difference within it and I value that diversity.

But, regarding where we seem to have arrived in relation to the use of the Prayers of Love and Faith, let me say plainly that, although I understand why, I’m still dismayed and disappointed and I regret profoundly the ongoing pain and hurt caused especially to LGBT+ people, and I recognise that it is for them that the cost is greatest.

I was present at General Synod as a clergy rep from Peterborough Diocese, back in February 2017, when Synod refused to take note of the House of Bishops paper "Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations". Rightly, or wrongly, Archbishop Justin responded, very much in the moment, promising to work towards a new and radical Christian inclusion for LGBT+ people. Now, nearly 9 years later, following many conversations, countless papers and documents, meetings, discussions and votes, I know that many people feel we have not only made no progress, but have in fact gone backwards. Whatever the rights and wrongs of what has happened (and as someone who has been in the House of Bishops for the past 5 years, I take my fair share of collective responsibility for any failures around process, communication and other shortcomings), but whatever the rights and wrongs, LGBT+ people have been failed – I’m sorry about that and I regret it bitterly.

We do need good processes and we haven’t always had them. We do need good communication, and we haven’t always managed that. We do need to ensure LGBT+ people are present in the conversations rather than being talked about; that hasn’t always been the case. We do need to attend to good ecclesiology in service of our Anglican identity, and sometimes we have overlooked that. And we do need good theology to frame our discussions whilst also accepting that there is seldom one theology but multiple theologies in dialogue with one another.

But ultimately, people matter and it is people who are being hurt. And it is because I care about people that I have chosen to speak directly into this situation, both in my pastoral letter and now. I won’t always say what people want to hear and I won’t always express myself as perfectly as I would like. But neither do I want to avoid speaking about these painful matters simply because it’s too hard. Instead, I am seeking to play my part transparently, with compassion, with respect and with a desire for the flourishing of all, including all clergy; whether they agree with me or not.

I cannot see how there is any theological difference between Prayers of Love and Faith being offered in scheduled services (as, I’m pleased, has been commended by the House of Bishops) and in bespoke services which have not been commended, though I do accept that for now there are limitations around how the prayers can be offered. And of course, I recognise the importance of symbols in our worship and liturgy, and yet we navigated the symbols appropriately when prayers of dedication and blessing were first introduced for divorced people who had remarried in civil ceremonies; and so I believe we could navigate the symbols in relation to the blessing of same sex couples.

Without changing the doctrine of marriage, which includes the statement that marriage is for life, we have made pastoral provision for those who divorce and remarry. I believe it would also be possible to make pastoral provision for same sex couples in committed relationships, because people matter and because it seems untenable to ‘recognise the goods in faithful, committed same-sex relationships’ (as stated in the PLF Resources),[1] whilst providing only the narrowest possible window, for those goods to be celebrated and blessed. Back in 2017, LGBT+ people were promised bread and I understand why they may now feel they have been given a stone. Although I made the case in my pastoral letter that progress has been made, and I stand by that, I can also see how this might be seen, by some at least, as meagre offerings.

In concluding this section let me say a couple of things. I do want to see greater progress in the use of Prayers of Love and Faith and will continue to advocate for further developments. I believe it is healthy and important for bishops, and for all of us, to share our views and our ongoing learning and to do so without fear because fear is destructive, damaging and harmful. I also know that there will be those who disagree with me profoundly. For some my words will have not gone far enough, and for others they will have gone too far. I accept and indeed respect that.

But like many areas of our life, there is space for those who disagree to travel well together. That is what we are called to do as Anglicans. That is part of how I understand my role as a bishop – not to deny my own convictions (on any number of issues) but to hold space so that other convictions, too, may live and breathe and feel valued. As Anglicans we are not to shut each other out, refusing to meet for prayer and worship, refusing to be in relationship, refusing to contribute to our common life. But we are to be those who, joined by our common calling to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, commit to ongoing discussion and debate, discernment and learning. Being part of one diocesan family means we choose to belong to one another, when it’s easy and when it’s hard. And being part of one family brings both blessings and challenges; points of agreement and disagreement. For all of us, enjoying the blessings, should be held alongside a commitment to contribute and play our part joyfully, with kindness and generosity.

The rise of Christian nationalism

I want to end my address by briefly looking beyond our internal debates, to another important matter and to remind ourselves of our mission to love God and neighbour, to preach the good news and to serve our neighbourhoods.

No one can deny that we are in troubling times. Political grounds are shifting and many communities are struggling to maintain cohesion. The hard earned securities which have ensured peace in Europe for the past 80 years are gravely at risk and, in the words of one senior army commander at the Remembrance Sunday event I attended recently, our country is preparing for war. Added to that we have the rise of far right Christian nationalism. Those who are purporting allegiance to Christianity while promoting division and hatred, especially of the foreigner and outsider, in the process scapegoating asylum seekers for the ills of society. I know that some of our communities are profoundly impacted by these things and some of our churches are right in the heat of the fire.

So, how, in the face of all this should we as Christians respond when demonstrators spread fear using Christian symbols, campaigners misappropriate the Gospel message to suit their own agendas, and the government introduces proposals that will likely further marginalise some of the most vulnerable in our midst?

I have no easy or straightforward answers; I’m not sure there are any. But recently I’ve been revisiting Bishop George Bell’s essay, The Church’s Function in Wartime. It’s nearly 100 years old, written in the first few months of the Second World War and yet it resonates with relevance for today.

Bell says, ‘It is the function of the Church at all costs to remain the Church.’ That is his thesis: that the Church should continue being the Church, no matter what. There is something essential and unchanging about the function of the Church, according to Bell, and its purpose should not be swayed, no matter what the context; war, plague, extremism or fear. Bell states that the Church ‘is bound to proclaim the realities which outlast change.’ There is, after all, he says, ‘no special wartime gospel. It is the gospel for human needs in all times and countries.’ The Church ‘is charged with a gospel of God’s redeeming love. It aims at creating a community founded on love.’

Of course, it’s complicated; and, in the present time, I believe our task is to hold in tension several different vocations as we try to ensure the Church remains the Church – to preach peace and reconciliation while also supporting our armed forces, to be confident in proclaiming the Gospel in word and action, boldly rejecting the appropriation of Christian language and symbols and being a reminder that, if these mean anything at all, they must be aligned to actions that demonstrate love and kindness. We must continue offering welcome to asylum seekers and refuting all forms of racism and xenophobia, and we must commit to deep listening and trying to understand better those in our communities who are genuinely feeling disenfranchised and without hope. The Church, if it is to be the Church, is present for everyone and committed to demonstrating God’s redeeming love and dismantling the unjust structures of society.

Finally, I want to thank those church communities in Chelmsford Diocese that are faithfully seeking to navigate these turbulent waters. I know it’s painful and costly. But you are courageously shining a light into places of darkness and I want to encourage you and all of us to continue in the way of Christ and to continue being the Church.

+Guli Chelmsford

 

[1] 'Prayers of Love & Faith' resources commended by the House, 2023, ‘Introduction’ p 3. https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-12/prayers-of-love-and-faith.pdf