Originally published in Church Times
THE Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) has again rejected two proposals for special prayers and liturgy to be developed for same-sex couples, despite pleas from its outgoing Archbishop, Dr Thabo Makgoba.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in South Africa since 2006. A motion from the diocese of False Bay, in Western Cape, asked the Church’s synod to develop prayers for couples in same-sex unions. The motion was lost by seven votes, with 78 voting against it, 71 in favour, and ten abstentions.
Dr Makgoba, who has been Primate since 2008, has repeatedly urged for the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. He appealed to the synod: “We pray for trees, we pray for cars, we pray for avocados!”
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A second motion, from the diocese of Johannesburg, proposed compiling a separate liturgy to serve what it called the “grave pastoral need” of the LGBTQ+ community, but this was also lost.
The motion had specifically sought to distinguish such a liturgy from marriage, thanksgiving for a marriage, reaffirmation of vows, and the blessing of a civil union. It was rejected by the synod by 98 votes to 61, with ten abstentions.
The failure of the two motions is the latest in a string of defeats in the synod on issues of greater inclusion for LGBTQ+ Anglicans in the Province.
In 2016, blessings for same-sex couples were rejected, and, in 2023, the House of Bishops of ACSA declined a proposal from the Province’s Theological Commission to give dioceses the option to allow blessings locally. Two connected proposals to commend prayers of blessing, and allow priests to use them in their churches, were rejected in 2024 (News, 4 October 2024).
Following this failure, the Bishop of Saldanha Bay, the Rt Revd Raphael Hess, went ahead to approve blessings for same-sex couples anyway, the website Anglican Ink reported.
This month’s synod did adopt a resolution “condemning the genocidal actions of the State of Israel”, and calling for sanctions on Israel’s participation in international events and forums.
Dr Makgoba said told the synod that he would be retiring within the year. And, in his charge to the Church going forward, he pledged: “In whatever years remain to me — in whatever shape or size those years take — I pledge, today, that this will remain the guiding principle of my life: to continue to go out, to continue to engage human suffering, to continue to speak into human need, to continue to work, even against the odds, to reverse injustice, as long as there are those left standing on the margins.”
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