Christian teaching and learning about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage
Living in Love and Faith is the most extensive research into this area by any church, and it's designed to enable a period of church-wide learning and engagement during 2021 and 2022, after which there will be recommendations made for the future life and mission of the Church.
Together in Love and Faith: a new essay from Bishop Steven
We've been exploring questions around human sexuality for more than a decade. Now is the time to take the next steps, but how? A new essay from the Bishop of Oxford, Together in Love and Faith, is published on 4 November. Over 52 pages, Bishop Steven considers the most pressing question: the Church of England’s response to same-sex relationships. Sharing his personal journey from evangelical ministry in Yorkshire to serving Bishop of Oxford, and recounting poignant conversations with the LGBTQ+ community and conservative Christian groups, Bishop Steven offers reflections and practical suggestions on this challenging topic.
Living in Love and Faith: responses from church-wide engagement
As part of the church-wide engagement with the Living in Love and Faith resources, everyone who took part was invited to share their learning, insights, and reflections. Over 6,000 responses were received, through questionnaires, focus groups, creative responses, and a variety of other forms. These responses have been gathered into a report, Listening with Love and Faith. This is accompanied by a more detailed technical report, and a reflective essay, Friendship and the Body of Christ. These and the LLF resources will support the bishops in their ongoing discernment process as they seek to discern what they believe God is saying to the Church of England today.
Do contact any of the LLF Advocates if you wish to talk through the LLF process.
Our journey so far
In October 2018, the four bishops of the Diocese of Oxford issued Clothe Yourselves with Love, a pastoral letter on the inclusion of and care for LGBTI+ people within the diocese. Just over a year later, the diocese launched a chaplaincy service for LGBTI+ people and their families.
In November 2020, the Church of England published a landmark set of resources to aid discernment and decision-making on questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. The resources draw together the bible, theology, science and history with powerful real-life stories designed to help every Christian explore questions in that area.
We encouraged parishes and deaneries to run the LLF course and engage with the LLF materials between September 2021 and April 2022. This timetable was to allow time for a proper focus on regathering after the lockdowns and, we hope, to enable the conversations to be onsite as well as online. The national Next Steps group have gathered feedback from thousands of different groups across the country.
The listening process reports were published at the beginning of September 2022 and the bishops have two residential weekends during the autumn where they will discuss these reports and discern what they believe God is saying to us today. The bishops will then present at General Synod meeting in February 2023, where it is expected a clear sense of direction is reached.
LLF Course
The deadline for offering feedback has passed, but the LLF materials will continue to be available to use. We believe the material is useful for churches to use to together discuss faith, marriage, sexuality, and gender. Those who haven't yet run the course can do so at a time that suits them.
We won't be running any more LLF Course Facilitator training sessions , but you can download the handy short guide to Facilitating Living in Love and Faith Groups. The LLF Advocates are also available to talk to you about facilitating a group or any other questions you have about running the LLF Course.
All course material is available for free when you register on the LLF hub. There are also printed copies of the course booklet which you can purchase from Church House Publishing.
Introductory webinars
In June 2021 we hosted three introductory webinars to introduce LLF to the diocese. These events were attended by more than 400 people across the diocese and received excellent feedback from those who attended.
You can watch the presentations within these webinars by clicking the links below. The presenter was the Revd Dr Eeva John, the Church of England’s Enabling Officer for LLF.
Session 1: How can we learn well together
Session 2: Studying the Bible together
Session 3: Thinking about friendship
LLF Advocates
Please feel free to contact any of the LLF advocates below to find out more about how the LLF process might work in your context.
Berkshire Area
Buckingham Area
Dorchester Area
Oxford Area
Diocese-wide
Diocesan Facilitator
FAQs
God, whose name is Love,
Whose gift is life,
Whose word holds all in being;
Bless Living in Love and Faith to your church
As we seek to grow together
Into the truth of our humanity and longings,
Into communities where all find welcome,
nto the fullness that is your image in us;
Through the Word made flesh,
Our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
A comprehensive suite of LLF resources
- Living in Love and Faith book - amid the biblical, theological, historical and scientific exploration, each of the five parts includes encounters with real, contemporary disciples of Christ whose stories raise questions which ask us to discern where God is active in human lives. Order from Church House Publishing.
- A five-session course for small groups - including videos and a booklet to use. Order your free copy of the LLF Course booklet. For more copies, order packs of six or single copies from Church House Publishing.
- Living in Love and Faith learning hub - an online resource library of over 300 resources to draw from including story films, podcasts, and teaching resources. Log in/register for the LLF hub.
Other links and useful information
- Clothe yourselves with love - The pastoral letter to the diocese that sets clear expectations of inclusion and respect towards LGBTI+ people.
- Contact the diocesan LLF Advocates.
- LGBTI+ Chaplaincy Service - The LGBTI+ chaplaincy service in the Diocese of Oxford offers listening, support and prayerful affirmation for LGBTI+ people, their families and friends.
- Resources for use with young people - Log in to the LLF Hub to find session notes to run the LLF course with young people.
It may not always be practical to run all five sessions of the course, so we've created a shorter session plan, or use this day session plan.
Although not officially part of the LLF resources, these materials for use with children, young people and families might be helpful. - Find out more behind the LLF project.