For thirty years Canon Giles Goddard has been working on what he calls creating “an inclusive church” Giles has spent the last 16 years London’s zone 1, at St John’s Waterloo. the Church of England’s General Synod is discussing the Living in Love and Faith process today.
St John’s is an Anglican church that follows traditional Chruch of England services. What stands out about Canon Goddard’s work is that more than half of the congregation at are under 40 and as many as 30% identify as LGBTQ+.
The church runs monthly social and spiritual sessions, like ‘Question Time’ for younger members of the church, ‘Seeking to Explore Faith’ for LGBTQ+ congregants and weekends away aimed at people in their 20s-30s.
With all this and more at the church I ask Canon Goddard how he manages it all, to which he says “with great colleagues” and respecting his day off. In his memoir Generous Faith, he describes his own spiritual and emotional journey with sexuality and faith which he described as “challenging at times”, fuelling his mission.
When I ask him what draws these communities to his church, he thoughtfully pauses.
“I think it’s a number of reasons and I think they’re quite similar. I mean, there is difference but, lots of people, especially queer people who come to us are people who have been brought up Christian and they’ve found they’ve been rejected.
There’s the kind who haven’t given up on God, but they’ve nearly given up on the church and they’ve coming to us because they’re looking for a place they can be themselves.
But then there’s also people who are just exploring. I think people are looking for community often, and they’re looking for a community which is different to the London queer community. The emphasis on sex and sexuality, I think that’s quite exhausting for people.”
Canon Goddard was a founding member of the Living in Love and Faith Committee in 2019, alongside current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, whom he is “a fan”. The plan, which is now in its closing stages aimed to provde an inquiry into the role of LGBTQ+ people within the church. It was the first time that queer people were actively included in the church. Canon Goddard said the project aimed to “bring together people of different theological persuasions”.
The General Synod today aims to recognise the ‘distress and pain many have suffered in the LLF process’, confirm that plans outlined in 2023 will conclude by this July. The plans outlined included ‘bespoke’ services for LGBTQ+ congregants and a timetable for considering removing restrictions for clergy entering same-sex civil marraiges.
But, Can. Goddard notes the terms laid out in 2023, have not been met, saying instead the church is more or less “back to square one”.
“We’re now kind of stuck again, in some ways further back than we were ten years ago”.
What’s more divisions within the church turned into what Canon Goddard called “all sorts of tactics to try and stop progress from happening including threats” like funding withdrawal.
Yet, Canon Goddard says there is a “light at the end of the tunnel”; his congregation. “Our presence is now being recognised in the church, which it wasn’t before”.
The General Synod concludes tomorrow in South West London.
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Headline“The Gospel is for Everyone”: The priest behind London’s inclusive church
Short HeadlineThe LGBTQ+ priest behind London's inclusive church
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For thirty years Canon Giles Goddard has been working on what he calls creating “an inclusive church” Giles has spent the last 16 years London’s zone 1, at St John’s Waterloo. the Church of England’s General Synod is discussing the Living in Love and Faith process today.
St John’s is an Anglican church that follows traditional Chruch of England services. What stands out about Canon Goddard’s work is that more than half of the congregation at are under 40 and as many as 30% identify as LGBTQ+.
The church runs monthly social and spiritual sessions, like ‘Question Time’ for younger members of the church, ‘Seeking to Explore Faith’ for LGBTQ+ congregants and weekends away aimed at people in their 20s-30s.
With all this and more at the church I ask Canon Goddard how he manages it all, to which he says “with great colleagues” and respecting his day off. In his memoir Generous Faith, he describes his own spiritual and emotional journey with sexuality and faith which he described as “challenging at times”, fuelling his mission.
When I ask him what draws these communities to his church, he thoughtfully pauses.
“I think it’s a number of reasons and I think they’re quite similar. I mean, there is difference but, lots of people, especially queer people who come to us are people who have been brought up Christian and they’ve found they’ve been rejected.
There’s the kind who haven’t given up on God, but they’ve nearly given up on the church and they’ve coming to us because they’re looking for a place they can be themselves.
But then there’s also people who are just exploring. I think people are looking for community often, and they’re looking for a community which is different to the London queer community. The emphasis on sex and sexuality, I think that’s quite exhausting for people.”
Canon Goddard was a founding member of the Living in Love and Faith Committee in 2019, alongside current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, whom he is “a fan”. The plan, which is now in its closing stages aimed to provde an inquiry into the role of LGBTQ+ people within the church. It was the first time that queer people were actively included in the church. Canon Goddard said the project aimed to “bring together people of different theological persuasions”.
The General Synod today aims to recognise the ‘distress and pain many have suffered in the LLF process’, confirm that plans outlined in 2023 will conclude by this July. The plans outlined included ‘bespoke’ services for LGBTQ+ congregants and a timetable for considering removing restrictions for clergy entering same-sex civil marraiges.
But, Can. Goddard notes the terms laid out in 2023, have not been met, saying instead the church is more or less “back to square one”.
“We’re now kind of stuck again, in some ways further back than we were ten years ago”.
What’s more divisions within the church turned into what Canon Goddard called “all sorts of tactics to try and stop progress from happening including threats” like funding withdrawal.
Yet, Canon Goddard says there is a “light at the end of the tunnel”; his congregation. “Our presence is now being recognised in the church, which it wasn’t before”.
The General Synod concludes tomorrow in South West London.
Chan was convicted earlier today at Wood Green Crown Court after pleading guilty to 56 charges including sexual assault and making indecent images of children.
