London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Lambeth Conference: Welby unites bishops with compromise on sexuality

A mood of unity and self-satisfaction is prevalent at the end of this rare gathering of more than 650 Anglican bishops - they had come from all over the world, many from Africa where Anglican Christianity is growing at its fastest.

The Lambeth Conference is the once-a-decade meeting of bishops representing the many churches in the Anglican Communion and is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Delays meant this was the first since 2008 and there had been speculation tensions could run high, with the risk even of division or the fracturing of the communion that represents more than 80 million people worldwide.

Though the conference, which ends on Monday, was devoted to a gamut of issues, the jeopardy surrounded a predictable question which, nevertheless, many conservative churches said they saw as fundamental: homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

In fact, the reason the conference didn't take place in 2018 was because it was felt the communion was not ready to find a way forward on the issue.

For years, this community has wrestled with it, and now just a handful of the 46 churches in the communion conduct or bless same-sex marriages, and only a small minority allow gay clergy.

The archbishops of Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda boycotted this Lambeth Conference over the issue, protesting that any "recognition of homosexual relations" was biblical revisionism.

But if the ambition had been to hold things together among those who did attend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, appears to have found the formula for now.


Pragmatism


It was set out in a pivotal speech in which, on the one hand, he reaffirmed a resolution passed by the Lambeth Conference in 1998 which said same sex marriage was wrong and "homosexual practices" are incompatible with scripture.

On the other hand, Archbishop Welby also said that churches (like those in Wales and Scotland) which moved away from that historical teaching, would not be sanctioned or condemned.

His focus appeared to be pragmatism, suggesting that for some churches it could even be dangerous to reform on same-sex marriage.

"For them, to question this teaching is unthinkable, and in many countries would make the Church a victim of derision, contempt and even attack. For many churches, to change traditional teaching challenges their very existence," he said.

But equally, the archbishop said that in other countries it could be a reluctance to reform that is just as unthinkable and a similar threat to the Church.

Liberal and conservative bishops came together to give Archbishop Welby a standing ovation and a crisis seemed to have been averted.


Toksvig love appeal


But one of the two positions he validated sees people who happen to be gay as fundamentally unequal. As much as the Archbishop of Canterbury may have quelled some fires within the Anglican communion, the ramifications of what he says go far beyond the Church.

In her impassioned open letter to Archbishop Welby, Sandi Toksvig told of her dismay.

She said the signals he sent, in reaffirming the Church's long-held position that gay marriage was wrong, and that same-sex relationships defied scripture, put lives at risk. She cited the fact that young gay and transgender people were already much more likely to contemplate suicide.

"Do you know why? For many it's because they don't feel loved and love, Justin, is supposed to be at the core of what you do," the broadcaster said.

In her view, the archbishop had favoured unity of the institution ahead of doing the right thing.

However, the Archbishop of Canterbury does not have any power to issue directives. The Church of England is just one of many churches in the communion and the archbishop is defined as "first among equals" within it.

But as the historical centre, the seat of Anglicanism, the Church of England and its primate do at least have the powerful opportunity to influence by example.

It happened with the role of women, where some Anglican churches internationally took their lead from the Church of England in ordaining women, to the point where nearly 100 of those attending this Lambeth Conference were women, five times more than the last one.

On same-sex marriage though, the Church is in no position to urge others to change because it has not done so itself. A consultation process is due to report later this year, but gay rights advocates within the Church are not confident it will lead to equality.

Given the countries in which Anglicanism is growing, it is conservative views that are growing globally. Conservative Anglican churches in Africa or Asia will not, of course, have any say in the Church of England process. But if gay marriage is allowed in the Church here, it could well strain relations.

Some conservative African bishops at the conference suggested that if the Church of England allowed gay marriage it would leave them, and not English bishops, as the true Anglicans.

"We will be the ones coming to England and going to Canterbury. Let those with a revisionist theology go and form something else," the Archbishop of South Sudan, Justin Badi, told me, drawing comparisons with the way in which missionaries had journeyed to Africa.


Existential threat


Many other bishops at the conference bristle at the fact there has been so much focus in the media and outside world on the issue of sexuality.

They point to the fellowship and collaboration on issues like poverty and conflict that has been fostered during the conference, and give those as important examples of why it is crucial to keep the communion together.

But it is Justin Welby himself who talked about the issue of same-sex marriage as being a potential existential threat to the church - in some countries if churches challenge the hard line historical position on it, in others if they do not make progress.

The archbishop may well have been talking about his own Church in the latter category, as one of those that needed to reform if it is to stay relevant and avoid being subject to contempt.

He may feel that he has made a significant compromise by saying national churches choosing to conduct same-sex marriages will not be sanctioned, but here at home, even just by entertaining and reaffirming a position that allows gay people to be viewed unequally, as he did at this conference, he risks doing precisely what he says should be avoided.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×