Living in Love and Faith sets out to inspire people to think more deeply both about what it means to be human, and to live in love and faith with one another.
It tackles the tough questions and the divisions among Christians about what it means to be holy in a society in which understandings and practices of gender, sexuality and marriage continue to change.
Living in Love and Faith is supported by films, podcasts and other resources, available for free at the Living in Love and Faith Learning Hub (registration required).
Upcoming events: Diocesan Synod on Saturday 5 February at St Mary’s, Horsham
Extracted from Bishop Martin's most recent Ad Clerum issued on January 13 2022:
The engagement with the Living in Love and Faith resources by people in deaneries and parishes, and individually, across this diocese has been significant, and possibly more extensive than in some other parts of the country.
Following up on that engagement, the diocesan Synod on Saturday 5 February at St Mary’s, Horsham will focus specifically on what those resources have meant to us.It will be a “hybrid” meeting, with those who wish to isolate for Covid reasons able to join by Zoom.
Please pray for the members of the Synod as we meet for this important opportunity to reflect on the personal, scriptural, and theological issues that emerge from the LLF resources.
This will not be a decision-making Synod, with votes and abstentions.It will be an exercise in what the word “synod” means: being on a road together.This implies that there will be differences, as there are on any high street.But we also believe that the road we are on is a pilgrimage, a holy journey on which God befriends and guides us.
We shall send a descriptive account of what our Synod was like to the Next Steps Group, which is monitoring response to the LLF resources.Those resources will be assessed by the General Synod, enabling “the whole people of God to feed into the bishops’ discernment for the Church in 2022” and beyond.
In order to ensure that all discussion of LLF resources takes place in a safe space, I commend the Church of England’s Pastoral Principles for living and learning well together. The 6 principles are: addressing ignorance; paying attention to power; casting out fear; acknowledging prejudice; speaking into silence; admitting hypocrisy. Further details are on the Church of England website here
To find out about the four stages of how The Living in Love and Faith resources are to enable the whole Church to embark on a journey together click here