DR EEVA JOHN, who is directing the Church of England’s exploration of sexuality and identity, Living in Love and Faith (LLF), held an informal session at ACC17 to extend further the spread of experiences being fed into the process.

The session attracted just under half the ACC members. Having outlined the process, Dr John asked participants to list elements that hindered human flourishing, as well as their hopes and fears about the project. She also asked for suggestions about how to encourage “humility and hopefulness” when the subject comes up at next year’s Lambeth Conference.

When she asked for feedback from other Provinces, the Ven. Wendy Hope Scott (Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia) stood and said: “We’ve gone through this. We’ve come out the other end, and we’ve got scars,” even though, she said, they had come up with a solution. She offered to pray for those behind the LLF process, “because, I swear, it’s the only thing that’s going to get you through this”.

Alistair Dinnie (Scotland) contributed a more optimistic example. He spoke of the time consumed and the pain felt during the Scottish process, “but we have got to a place where — to my great sadness we’ve not managed to bring everybody with us . . .

“But we have got to the point where the vast majority of people in our Province, wherever they stand on any of the issues, are happy with the accommodation that we have made, and the position that we have reached.”

Hear more about ACC-17 on the Church Times Podcast