The Church of England’s House of Bishops met today, and agreed to spend more time finalising its proposals on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process. There is a press release, which is copied below.
House of Bishops continues work finalising Living in Love and Faith decisions
16/12/2025
The House of Bishops has agreed to spend more time finalising its proposals on the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, which explores the Church’s approach to identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
At a meeting at Lambeth Palace in London today, bishops discussed a series of decisions taken in principle on the direction of LLF at their last meeting in October.
While those decisions were not contested, the bishops identified some areas where further clarification is needed and agreed to continue work on a letter to the Church summarising LLF and setting out an agreed position.
Bishops recognised the deep hurt, particularly to LGBTQI+ people, as a result of those decisions.
The House will meet again in January to finalise the text of the letter – which will take the form of a statement from the House.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who chairs the LLF Programme Board, said: “Although we recognise that having not set out a final decision today may add to the frustration and distress many people are feeling, it is important we take proper care and time on this. That is needed.
“We remain on course to bring proposals to Synod for consideration in February.”
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24 CommentsThe Prime Minister’s Office has announced the appointment of Canon Christopher Palmer as the next Dean of Winchester. The press release is copied below. There is more information on the cathedral website. Canon Palmer will be installed on 15 March 2026.
Appointment of Dean of Winchester: 8 December 2025
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Christopher Palmer, Canon Residentiary and Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral, as Dean of Winchester.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 8 December 2025
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Canon Christopher Palmer, Canon Residentiary and Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral, as Dean of Winchester, in succession to The Very Reverend Catherine Ogle following her retirement.
Background
Christopher was educated at University of Oxford and trained for ministry at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. He served his title at All Saints, Emscote, in the Diocese of Coventry, and was ordained Priest in 1999. He served as Team Vicar of All Saints, East Sheen, in the Diocese of Southwark and, from 2005, was also the Area Dean of Richmond and Barnes. In 2010, Christopher was appointed Team Rector of Merton Priory.
From 2018 Christopher served as Canon Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral and he took up his current role as Canon Treasurer in 2022.
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65 CommentsWe reported earlier this month that the Governing Body of the Church in Wales was to meet to consider rule changes to allow the appointment of an interim Bishop of Bangor. The meeting took place yesterday and it agreed, with a slight amendment, the proposed changes. Details are in a press release, which is copied below.
Governing Body approves motion enabling interim Bishop of Bangor appointment
Provincial news Posted: 25 November 2025
The Governing Body of the Church in Wales met today to vote on proposed, time-limited constitutional changes that would allow an interim Bishop to be appointed to the Diocese of Bangor.
The motion, brought forward following the Electoral College’s decision not to proceed with an election at this stage, sought temporary amendments to the Constitution so that an experienced bishop may be invited to serve in Bangor for a period of one to two years. The interim appointment is intended to provide leadership and stability while work continues to strengthen governance, management, finance, and diocesan structures in preparation for a future episcopal election.
After an amendment which extended the maximum expiration date of the arrangements to a month following the first ordinary Governing Body meeting in 2028, members voted as follows:
With a majority in favour, the amended motion was passed.
The Governing Body’s approval now enables progress toward inviting an interim bishop to take up leadership in Bangor following the retirement of Bishop Andrew John at the end of August.
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Concerns about the “huge power” enjoyed by the body set to replace the Archbishops’ Council were voiced in Parliament last week, during a meeting of the Ecclesiastical Committee.
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Clergy conduct batted back to General Synod
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The publication of a report confirming the parliamentary decision and setting out the reasons behind it is expected to be published next week…
The report has not yet been published; when it is it will be published here.
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23 CommentsReaders will recall that the see of Bangor has been vacant since Bishop Andrew John retired at the end of August. Since then the Church in Wales’s Electoral College has met twice to discuss the election of the next bishop and to invite potential candidates to respond to the vacancy. However the College has decided not to proceed with this, but instead has proposed that an experienced bishop should be invited to Bangor on an interim basis, for a period of one to two years to provide leadership and stability and to work with the diocese to strengthen leadership, finance, governance and management in advance of the election of a new diocesan bishop.
This does require some time-limited changes to the Constitution, and the Governing Body will meet on Tuesday 25 November 2025 to discuss these proposed changes.
More details are in this press release, and the agenda and papers for the meeting are here.
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