New Church of England Bishop of Ipswich welcomes LGBTQI+ couples

By Bishop Joanne Grenfell

East Anglian Daily Times

February 21, 2026

Church is for everyone: God has made us to live in communities, and their foundation must be love.

I believe that gay people should have the same opportunities as straight people to have their faithful, loving, and stable relationships blessed in church, and to know that the Church wants to support and celebrate the God-given love that is contained within their relationship.

I value the ministry of LGBTQI+ colleagues who minister in the Church of England and do not believe that they should have to choose between marriage and ministry.

I want every LGBTQI+ person to know that God loves them, that God has made them just as they are, and that God’s heart breaks when they are treated as less than fully human or denied the possibility of having their love recognised by the Church.

General Synod, the national assembly of the Church of England, commonly referred to as the Church's Parliament, has during its February in London voted to bring to an end the programme Living in Love and Faith.

And it is not where I had hoped the Church’s Living in Love and Faith work would end up.

The programme has tried to help the whole Church to have a careful, sensitive, informed conversation about human sexuality.

It has acknowledged that people have different views on whether churches should be able to offer blessings for same-sex couples and whether gay clergy should be permitted to enter into same-sex civil marriage.

Although parts of the process have seen grace-filled listening and have increased people’s knowledge and understanding of their differences, there has also been painful disagreement.

The cost of this pain has been borne most of all by LGBTQIA+ people themselves, as they have seen their lives and loves dissected and their hopes for full inclusion and equality in the Church dashed.

The Church has allowed for a new suite of prayers for local churches to use to enable same-sex couples to have prayers of blessing within regular church services.

Churches are not, however, allowed to offer bespoke or standalone services that look like wedding services.

At the moment, those who have entered into a same-sex civil marriage cannot be ordained in the Church of England.

Those who are already ordained could face the Church’s disciplinary processes if they were to enter into a same-sex civil marriage, and they are unlikely to be able to take up new roles elsewhere.

At this point in time, I want to say sorry to LGBTQIA+ people who are hurting because of the Church’s decisions.

And I want to set out what I believe every LGBTQIA+ person should be able to expect from the Church of England in Suffolk.

We will love and affirm you, and will care for and protect you in every one of our churches, chaplaincies, and Bishop’s Mission Orders in the county.

Although they cannot legally offer same-sex civil marriage in our churches at the moment, in churches that have chosen to offer the Prayers of Love and Faith, you will find clergy keen to work with you to celebrate the faithful commitment you are wanting to make before God.

We will do that joyfully with you: we see your love as a gift not only within your relationship, but in the wider community.

In churches which have decided that they are not able to offer the Prayers of Love and Faith, you will find welcome and care in a healthy church culture where disagreement is handled with transparency and respect.

To the young people of our communities, please know that, as you figure out your identity, there are churches and church people with whom you can feel safe.

You are wonderfully and beautifully made by God; we see God’s love within you.

To those who, in conscience, have not wanted the Church of England to take even the steps that it has towards offering Prayers of Love and Faith, please know that, although we disagree, I respect your decision.

You believe the doctrine of the Church of England as you have received it and you must have the protection to express with kindness and respect that traditional teaching to which you hold fast.

And to those who, for whatever reasons, feel called to singleness and celibacy, please know that our churches will support and encourage you in that vocation, valuing you as a cherished member of our communities.

I am learning that there are many special things about churches in Suffolk.

One particularly special thing is that churches are there for everyone, particularly in rural communities where there aren’t lots of church options to choose from.

In a village church, we meet people who are like us as well as people who are different from us: young and old, richer and poorer, people of different ethnicities and nationalities, people with a whole range of different views and priorities.

And somehow, church brings us all together to worship God.

In Suffolk, we are not given to extremes of church tradition; instead, we see the value of a broad and generous approach, where everyone can find a place to belong.

That means relating well to people with whom we might not agree.

The Church of England still has a long road to travel as it works out the next steps on this difficult journey.

As it does so, perhaps it can learn something from our Suffolk approach.

The Rt Rev Joanne Grenfell is Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich

VOL was told that she was a disaster in London as a safeguarding bishop, and was rewarded with a diocese.