The Bishop of Oxford: why I support gay marriage

We all know the Church of England is ‘divided’ over homosexuality. But it’s not a very equal division. Reform is favoured by a clear majority of bishops, the clergy and Anglican worshippers. So how are the conservative evangelicals managing to hold back the tide?

Perhaps the problem is a lack of leadership. The archbishops have not dared to reveal what sort of change they want, beyond saying that there should be blessings for gay couples. The other bishops have echoed the evasion.

Only one senior bishop has articulated a clearer reformist vision. Just over a year ago, the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, broke ranks and said what he really thought – up to a point. In a booklet called ‘Together in Love and Faith’, he argued that gay blessings were not enough – the Church should allow openly gay clergy and conduct gay weddings, too. The intervention annoyed his senior colleagues. The archbishops wanted a united front on the introduction of gay blessings, with no talk of further reforms round the corner. Only two other diocesan bishops expressed support for his stand.

It might seem surprising that Croft’s background is evangelical. In fact, this makes sense. A liberal Anglo-Catholic is likely to have become jaded and cynical on the issue around the turn of the millennium. The relative zeal of the convert is needed. Also, the Protestant mind resists the old high-church habit of rarefied doublethink, camp irony, performative muddle – and the whispered hint that gay people have an edgy dispensation from behavioural norms. Let’s sort this out, it says, let daylight in.

When I meet Croft over Zoom, he is wearing a low-church blue jumper – there is no visible dog-collar, let alone episcopal purple. I am struck by his air of calm frankness.