From the Church of England

In a podcast interview Canon David Porter, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Director of Reconciliation, and the Revd Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs, talk about the process of shared conversations that has flowed the Pilling report as the College of Bishops of the Church of England gathers for its annual residential meeting in Leicestershire.

The College will conduct shared conversations for the next two days in small groups with the discussions remaining confidential, mirroring the wider proposed process. 

In an interview recorded ahead of the meeting of the College David Porter and Malcolm Brown recognised that whilst a uniform view on the issues was highly unlikely, the potential for the Church to model a different and more Christ like way of disagreement would be crucial. 

Malcolm Brown said: "There's a lot of anxiety around about what may lie behind these conversations about hidden agendas. I hope that we've unpacked that sufficiently in the light of Pilling indeed to show that that isn't the case. There's a lot of reassurance that says this is what it says on the tin and it's not something hidden."

David Porter added: "For me the ideal outcome will be that people will be able to articulate with a measure of empathy the views of others that they don't agree with.….And that we develop that rapport, that capacity to disagree well, that means that when we get to the process which is beyond the shared conversations when decision will have to be made, the way we approach the making of those decisions is done in a way that honours the fact that we are brothers and sisters of Christ. And that even though we disagree, we are going to do that in a way that reflects that reality as much as the reality of our convictions on these issues."

He adds that he hopes people will see the way the conversations are being held and say: "Look at how these Christians love one another because of the way they disagree well."

Listen to the interview here:

https://soundcloud.com/the-church-of-england/shared-conversations-discussion

https://www.churchofengland.org/our-views/marriage,-family-and-sexuality-issues/human-sexuality/pilling-report.aspx