A majority of priests in the Church of England say the church should allow same-sex weddings and change its stance on premarital and gay sex, according to a new Times poll.
The survey of 1,200 active Anglican priests found that most think church doctrine should be aligned with public opinion on moral issues.
On the question of allowing gay couples to get married in church, 53.4% were in favor, with 36.5% opposed. The Church of England currently reserves church weddings for unions between one man and one woman.
According to The Guardian, the last time Anglican priests were asked about same-sex marriage was in 2014, shortly after civil marriage for gay couples was legalized. At that time, 51% said same-sex marriage was "wrong," compared to 39% who approved.
A 62.6% majority said the church should change its teaching on the immorality of premarital sex, with 41% saying sex outside of marriage is OK for people in "committed relationships" and 21.6% saying all premarital sex is fine.
Just 34.6% of Anglican priests said the church should not change its stance on sex outside of marriage.
Among the priests surveyed, a 64.5% majority said the church should end its opposition to gay sex, while 27.3% said all gay sex should be accepted.
Sex between gay people in "committed" relationships, such as civil partnerships or marriages, was permissible, according to 37.2% of respondents, but casual gay sex was frowned upon.
Only 29.7% said church doctrine on the matter should not change.
Andrew Foreshew-Cain, founder of the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England, told The Guardian that the poll showed there was "no excuse for further delay and equivocation" in receiving gay people into the church.
"The clergy of the Church of England are kinder, more generous, and more welcoming towards LGBTI people than the current official position allows," he said. "The C of E, and in particular our bishops, needs to stop wringing its hands over gay people and move forward towards blessings and, in time, to celebrating same-sex marriages in our parishes."
Anglican bishops from around the world passed a resolution in 1998 that declared homosexuality "incompatible with Scripture," and the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement then that firmly precluded sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage.
"I stand wholeheartedly with traditional Anglican orthodoxy," Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said at the time. "I see no room in Holy Scripture or the entire Christian tradition for any sexual activity outside matrimony of husband and wife."
According to Breitbart, England's bishops will gather this fall to discuss formally overturning that teaching, as well as whether gay priests should be allowed to have civil weddings, which was supported by 63.3% of the surveyed priests.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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