Church in Wales approves blessings of same-sex marriages

A bill to give a certificate of same-sex marriages a permanent member of the Church of Wales has been accepted by the governing body.

It comes after a temporary service was introduced in 2021 meaning same-sex couples could have their marriage or civil union blessed in a church ceremony.

Several influential figures within the Church of Wales, including the bishops of St Asaph and Llandaff, all supported the plan before it was approved.

Individual clergy will also be able to opt out of giving blessings to same-sex couples.

The service of blessing was voted unanimously by 143 members.

Each of the three orders needed a two-thirds majority – bishops, clergy, and lay members – in order to vote.

Lay members voted by 48 to eight in favour of two abstentions, with clergy voting 32 to seven with five abstentions, before bishops announced the bill passed with no objections.

It means that the wording, which was first introduced five years ago, will now be included in the Book of Common Prayer, which includes the Church in Wales' common prayers and blessings.

The Church in Wales said the planned permanent change "follows a period of reflection and listening around the church.

The trial period for the temporary blessing, which was introduced in 2021, was due to conclude at the end of 2026.

During a vote on the bill on Wednesday, the bishops of St Asaph and Llandaff, Gregory Cameron and Mary Stallard, spoke in favour.

Bishop Gregory said he had seen

the harm that our LGBT brothers and sisters in Christ does

and told a tale about a young man who had not spoken to his parents for four years, afraid of what their reaction would be to their homosexuality.

Please can we not be a church that inflicts such agony,

He said, "And that I think is the correct option at the base of this bill.

Someone close to her had

been in a dangerous place due to their sexual orientation,

Bishop Mary said there was a "culture of shame [within the Church] that told them it was not OK to be gay.

The Church in Wales did something good and beautiful

by announcing the blessing in 2021, albeit temporarily.

Jesus never spoke against same-sex marriages, the Bangor diocese's Rev. Rhun ap Robert said, and that what was most important was "the consistency of a relationship.

Other speakers opposed the bill, including Andy Grimwood, a deacon in St Asaph's diocese, who said that friends from the Anglican community who uphold the traditional position on sexuality had been "pained to see what the Church in Wales is suggesting".

"Today's worry is that it does not bring peace, but it does bring division.

Within the Church of Wales, within the Anglican Church, I see family and colleagues leave the church they love,

he said.

Rev. Melanie Prince, of the diocese of St Davids, said she had been recently speaking to the Anglican Church in Nigeria about how Christians could support Christians in that region of the world.

Do not water down the gospel we are dying for,' she replied.

Julia Schulz, a lay member of Bangor's Diocese, said the blessing looks like a marriage service in all but name and that people should recall Bible lessons regarding the "blueprint for what a Christian marriage is.

The decision to permanently include a blessing for same-sex marriages underlines a change between the Church in Wales and the Church of England, which does not have the same blessing.

Some believe it could be a good indicator of whether the Church in Wales will continue to encourage same-sex marriages in the future.

Cherry Vann, the first female and first LGBT+ archbishop of Wales in July 2025, became Wales' first female Christian and first gay archbishop and said the Church in Wales should represent "diversity around the world and in our communities".

However, a coalition of conservative Anglicans, who described her appointment as "another painful nail in Anglicanism's coffin.

Following the resignation of her predecessor, Andrew John, in the summer, Archbishop Vann was elected by her fellow bishops with a two-thirds majority.

He resigned after concerns with safeguarding, overstaffing, and church members overstepping sexual boundaries came to light at Bangor Cathedral.

A priest who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy over three decades was allowed to rise through the ranks to become a bishop in Aberystwyth, Wales, with the allegations covered up by the Church of Wales.