All of today's relentless spin by the Lambeth team, cannot disguise the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury, unilaterally declared human sexuality to be adiaphora - 'a thing indifferent'.
Plural truth now reigns, there is no prospect of a resolution of the issue in the future and there will be no attempt to do so.
Welby will neither discipline nor discuss [1] - it is settled adiaphora.
In fact, it is so adiaphora, whether it is, or is not, a matter indifferent, is itself not even to be the subject of a discussion or decision. It's off the table for this Conference.
After just 30 minutes of "robust discussion" in groups of seven, today's variation of voting on the Calls was that there was no Call and no vote. Not even yesterday's affirmation by silence, nothing. Apparently some things are just self-evidently true.
What might solve a Lambeth problem for Welby in the global Communion is going to cause all manner of problems for the faithful of the Church of England.
However the Living in Love and Faith process unfolds, the Archbishop of Canterbury, seemingly without the opportunity for dissent from his bishops, has declared his position.
“As Bishops we remain committed to listening and walking together to the maximum possible degree, despite our deep disagreement on these issues.”
It is a position that apparently holds for all Anglicans, everywhere, indefinitely and instead of being debatable it is an a priori truth.
That is the most important thing Welby could ever say on the subject.
"Did God really say?" It turns out not.
Hyperbole is always tempting at a time like this but was not Tuesday 2nd August 2022 not a truly tragic, lamentable day?
[1] Obviously, he'll talk for the rest of time, but the discussion is officially closed for this Conference.
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