Church of England LGBTQ+ Divide: Bristol 2026

Key Points

• The Church of England remains divided between liberal and conservative positions on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
• In Bristol, the debate is taking place within a city known for its vibrant LGBTQ+ community.
• Jeni Leggat-Green left a former church committee after facing a hostile response to her proposal to join an inclusivity initiative.
• Leggat-Green says people she regarded as friends compared welcoming gay people with welcoming paedophiles.
• She later joined Cotham Parish Church, where she now helps lead Open Table Bristol.
• Open Table Bristol provides a monthly service offering an affirming and welcoming spiritual home for LGBTQ+ people.
• Cotham Parish Church also hosts Foundation, a weekly inclusive community led by minister Andy Thornton.
• Revd David Stephenson, the church’s vicar, says accommodation and the creation of a genuinely safe space are different things.
• The debate in Bristol includes questions about the Ephesian Fund, which directs giving towards orthodox ministries.
• Those involved are also considering whether a formal split within the Church of England is becoming inevitable.
• The development could affect LGBTQ+ worshippers, church members, clergy and people deciding whether they feel able to remain within the Church.

Bristol (Bristol Express News) August 7, 2026— date not stated in the supplied report: the Church of England’s division over same-sex relationships is continuing to shape the experiences of worshippers and church communities in the city. The disagreement has been present for decades, and in Bristol it has become particularly significant because the city has a large and active LGBTQ+ community.

The issue is not limited to theological or institutional discussions. For some people, including Jeni Leggat-Green, the division has affected personal relationships, participation in church life and their sense of belonging within a religious community.

How did Jeni Leggat-Green experience the division?

Jeni Leggat-Green had previously served on the committee of another church before leaving and joining uk/local/cotham/">Cotham Parish Church. According to her account to The Cable, she decided to leave after facing a hostile reaction to a motion she had proposed.

The motion concerned joining an inclusivity initiative. Leggat-Green said the response exposed divisions within the parish community that she had not previously recognised. The reaction was particularly painful because it came from people she had considered friends.

“People who I had considered to be friends started saying some really horrible things, like welcoming gay people was like welcoming pedophiles into your church,”

Leggat-Green told The Cable.

She said the experience still hurt, despite the fact that almost two decades had passed since she and her wife left the former parish. Her account illustrates how debates about LGBTQ+ inclusion can extend beyond formal church policies and into relationships between members of the same congregation.

The disagreement also demonstrates why questions about inclusion remain emotionally significant for people who have experienced rejection in religious settings.

For Leggat-Green, the issue was not simply whether a church would adopt a particular initiative. It also involved the way the proposal revealed attitudes within the wider parish community.

What support does Open Table Bristol provide?

Leggat-Green is now the convenor of Open Table Bristol, which is hosted at Cotham Parish Church. Open Table is a monthly service forming part of a UK-wide network that offers an affirming and welcoming spiritual home for LGBTQ+ people.

The service provides support for people who have felt rejected or isolated from church. Its role is to create a setting where LGBTQ+ people can engage with Christian worship and community without being treated as a problem to be managed or as outsiders within the church.

Open Table Bristol’s presence at Cotham Parish reflects the parish’s role as a location for inclusive Christian activity. The church also hosts Foundation, a weekly inclusive community led by Andy Thornton.

The two initiatives have different schedules and structures, but both are described in the supplied report as communities that seek to welcome people who may not feel accepted elsewhere within the Church.

For those involved, welcoming people into church is not necessarily the same as creating conditions in which they feel secure. That distinction is central to the discussion between Leggat-Green, Revd David Stephenson and Thornton.

Why does Revd David Stephenson distinguish between accommodation and safety?

Revd David Stephenson, the vicar of Cotham Parish Church, said there was an important difference between accommodating LGBTQ+ people and creating a genuinely safe space for them.

“I think it’s one thing to accommodate, which feels very conditional,”

Stephenson said.

“It’s a very different thing to create a safe space.”

His comments draw attention to the limits of conditional inclusion. A church might allow LGBTQ+ people to attend, but that does not necessarily mean they feel fully accepted, protected or able to participate on equal terms.

The distinction is also relevant to the experiences described by Leggat-Green. Her account suggests that a congregation can appear united until a specific question about LGBTQ+ inclusion brings hidden disagreements to the surface.

Stephenson’s position indicates that inclusion, from the perspective of Cotham Parish, involves more than permitting attendance. It requires creating a community in which people do not have to continually assess whether their identity, relationships or presence will be challenged.

That question has significance for both worshippers and church leaders. If inclusion remains conditional, people may be present physically while still feeling isolated socially or spiritually. If a church seeks to create a safe space, it must address the attitudes and conduct that can make people feel unwelcome.

How deep is the divide within Bristol churches?

The discussion involving Leggat-Green, Stephenson and Thornton focuses on the division between liberal and conservative factions of the Church in Bristol.

The supplied report does not present the city’s churches as holding one unified position. Instead, it describes a continuing disagreement about how the Church should respond to same-sex relationships and LGBTQ+ people.

The contrast is visible through the existence of inclusive communities such as Open Table Bristol and Foundation, alongside the experiences of people who have encountered hostile or rejecting attitudes elsewhere.

Leggat-Green’s former parish experience shows that disagreement can emerge when members propose formal steps towards greater inclusivity. The response to her motion revealed a rupture within the congregation and ultimately contributed to her departure.

At Cotham Parish Church, the approach is different. The church hosts a monthly LGBTQ+-affirming service and a weekly inclusive community. However, the existence of these groups does not remove the wider dispute within the Church of England.

The debate therefore operates on several levels. It concerns the beliefs held by individual Christians, the policies adopted by churches, the language used by members and clergy, and the question of whether people can remain part of a church while disagreeing over LGBTQ+ inclusion.

What is the Ephesian Fund?

Another issue raised in the discussion is the Ephesian Fund. The fund was established to direct giving towards orthodox ministries.

Its inclusion in the debate reflects the wider disagreement over the future direction of the Church of England. The fund represents one aspect of organised activity connected with more conservative or orthodox ministry, while Open Table Bristol and Foundation represent inclusive forms of church community.

The supplied report does not state the amount of money involved, the number of ministries supported or the fund’s wider financial impact.

It does, however, identify the Ephesian Fund as part of the conversation about the division between conservative and liberal factions.

The dispute is therefore not only about individual congregations. It also concerns the way resources, ministry and institutional priorities may be directed as different groups seek to maintain or advance their understanding of the Church.

Is a formal split within the Church of England inevitable?

The possibility of a split within the Church of England is another central question raised in the discussion. The participants consider whether the depth of disagreement means that separation is becoming unavoidable.

The supplied report does not establish that a split will happen. Instead, it presents the possibility as an issue being discussed by people involved in Bristol’s church communities.

The personal history described by Leggat-Green shows how division can already exist within individual parishes, even without a formal institutional separation. Her former congregation became divided after the proposal to join an inclusivity initiative, while Cotham Parish has created spaces specifically intended to support LGBTQ+ people.

Whether those differences result in a formal split remains uncertain. The question depends on how the Church of England manages competing views, how individual churches respond to LGBTQ+ worshippers and whether communities can continue working together despite disagreements over doctrine and practice.

For people on both sides of the debate, the outcome could influence how churches organise their ministries and define their relationship with the wider Church of England.

Explore More Local Bristol News

Bristol Temple Meads Trials AI Multilingual Train Announcements in Bristol 2026

Plans for New £16.9M Health Centre Approved in Thornbury 2026

What is the background to this development?

The background to the development is the Church of England’s long-running division over same-sex marriage and the place of LGBTQ+ people within church life. In Bristol, the disagreement is unfolding in a city with a prominent LGBTQ+ community and a range of Christian communities with differing approaches to inclusion.

Cotham Parish Church has become a base for Open Table Bristol and Foundation. Open Table Bristol holds a monthly service and forms part of a UK-wide network offering an affirming spiritual home for LGBTQ+ people. Foundation is a weekly inclusive community led by Andy Thornton.

Leggat-Green’s earlier experience shows the consequences of disagreement at parish level. After a hostile response to her proposal to join an inclusivity initiative, she left her former church and later joined Cotham Parish. She now works to support people who have felt rejected or isolated from church.

The Ephesian Fund and the possibility of an eventual split illustrate the institutional dimension of the dispute.

Together, these developments show that the debate involves personal experiences, local congregations, organised ministries and the future structure of the Church of England.

How could this development affect the Bristol audience?

For LGBTQ+ people in Bristol, the continued division may make the availability of clearly inclusive churches and services more important.

Open Table Bristol and Foundation provide identifiable communities for people seeking an affirming spiritual environment, although the existence of such groups also highlights that not every church is experienced in the same way.

For members of the wider Church of England, the debate may lead to greater attention being paid to the difference between allowing attendance and creating a genuinely safe space. Congregations may face questions about how they respond to proposals concerning inclusion and how they support members who disagree.

For clergy and church leaders, the disagreement could create pressure to explain their position more clearly and to manage tensions within congregations. If divisions continue, discussions about funding, ministry and the possibility of a formal split may remain part of the Church’s future debate.

The eventual effect on Bristol’s churches is uncertain. However, the experiences described by Leggat-Green and the work of the communities at Cotham Parish suggest that the issue will continue to affect how LGBTQ+ people assess whether they can participate fully in church life.