The Living in Love and Faith Resources: Learning and Discernment in the Church of England

This article examines the role of the Living in Love and Faith resources in the Church of England process associated with their publication in 2020. First, it traces the formation of the resources, beginning with their origins in a determination to mark a break from previous episcopal contributions to the long conversation around responding to changing social attitudes on sexuality and marriage. Second, it reviews the reception of the resources from 2020 to 2022, proposing that this represented the opening of a significant new space in that conversation by re-directing attention to shared learning about critical questions of theological anthropology in dialogue with fundamental shifts in contemporary culture. Finally, it explores the relation of the resources, via their reception, to the pivotal stage of ecclesial “discerning,” identifying critical areas of weakness that contributed to subsequent difficulties in the twisting trajectory of the Living and Loving in Faith “journey” until its formal end in 2025.