Martin Reynolds
Martin Reynolds comments on the Church in Wales’ shift toward inclusion with the election of openly gay bishops, while noting tensions over same-sex marriage and criticism from abroad.
The Church in Wales, a Province of the Anglican Communion, has done much to overcome the poor reputation it justifiably gained when it failed to elect Jeffrey John (latterly Dean of St Albans Cathedral, England) who is gay, to be bishop of Llandaff in 2017. This was despite the overwhelming call from the diocese. He was told by the then Archbishop of Wales John Davies “it would be too much of a headache”.
The election of Cherry Vann to be Bishop of Monmouth in 2020 and the nomination in January 2025 of a partnered gay man David Morris, 38 to be Bishop of Bardsey, the youngest ever followed quickly giving this small Anglican province impressive credentials as an inclusive Church.
Cherry Vann, a lesbian Christian, currently Archbishop-elect for Wales, would still be ineligible as a bishop in her home Church, the Church of England.
The election has been met by expected repugnant statements from the Nigerian Church that has separated itself from Anglican Communion in all but name, while it was greeted with acclaim in the Churches and communities devoted to freedom from oppression and social justice.
One interesting and rather odd revelation came in Cherry Vann’s interview with The Guardian recently where the new leader of the Church in Wales doesn’t see her relationship with partner Wendy Diamond as a marriage and won’t be seeking the sacrament of Holy Matrimony when and if the Church in Wales decides to perform same-sex marriages in its Churches.
One wonders then if all the clergy in the Church in Wales will now be set free from the obligation to get married?
Martin Reynolds trained as a journalist before taking up ministry in the Church in Wales. He was a parish priest with ancillary roles as a prison chaplain and Fire Brigade Chaplain in South Wales. He was Director of Communications for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement 1998-2008.