It's Tuesday, February 17, 2006.

I'm Albert Moller, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.

The General Senate of the Church of England met just days ago, and it's making history,

it's making headlines, is's making headlines. It's making headlines

mostly because you have developments such as reported by the BBC, the British Broadcasting

Corporation, quote, Church of England abandons proposal for same-sex blessing ceremonies. So the claim that

the Church of England has abandoned proposals is the headline. And there

is news here. And indeed, the Church of England in its General Senate did abandon some proposals,

some proposals that many people thought were moving towards the inevitable recognition of

standalone same-sex ceremonies in particular the equivalent of same-sex

marriages or weddings in the church. That didn't happen, and it didn't happen to the massive

consternation of many people there at the General Senate and beyond. It is unclear, however,

exactly what this means for the long term, because at the same time,

it's really clear that momentum towards the adoption of some kind of standalone same-sex

blessing ceremony or wedding ceremony is gaining traction. And indeed, some of those in the LGBTQ

community who expressed such deep hurt and dissatisfaction with his most recent action are

pressing for even bolder action in the future. Now, one of the things I want us to keep in mind

is that the culture itself is moving so rapidly in that direction that it's hard to believe

that without really resolute theological conviction, any denomination or church can prevent itself from falling

into this practice. But the language, the arguments, the background to all of this, it turns out

to be really interesting and important for us to consider. I mentioned the BBC, that's the British

Broadcasting Corporation. Its article begins this way.

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