Lambeth 1998: what Resolution I.10 says about sex and marriage

What is the Lambeth Conference?

The Lambeth Conference is a gathering of bishops from across the Anglican Communion, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and normally held about every ten years. It is not a governing body. The 2022 conference, held in Canterbury and ending on 8 August 2022, was the first since 2008, and about 650 bishops attended it, according to Christianity Today ^[5]. The Communion those bishops belong to was estimated at about 85 million adherents in 165 countries ^[5].

The Communion is made up of self-governing national or regional churches, called provinces. In 1998 the Anglican Communion News Service counted 37 of them ^[3]. Each province makes its own laws and its own decisions on doctrine and discipline, which is why the status of Lambeth resolutions matters so much. The Church of England is one province, the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church are others, and the Church of England, as the established church of England, is not the same body as either.

The 1998 conference took place in Canterbury and passed more than ninety resolutions, according to the Church of England's own later description ^[4]. Among them was section I.10, headed human sexuality. It attracted far more attention than the rest. The debate on it was heated, and the number of amendments reflected disagreement even among those who intended to vote for it ^[2].

Timeline

1. 1991House of Bishops of the Church of England publishes Issues in Human Sexuality
2. 5 August 1998Lambeth Conference in Canterbury adopts Resolution I.10 by 526 votes to 70, with 45 abstentions
3. 25 July 2005English bishops' pastoral statement on civil partnerships restates that sexual intercourse belongs within marriage
4. August 2022Lambeth Conference: about 650 bishops attend; Global South bishops press for I.10 to be reaffirmed; some provinces boycott
5. February 2023General Synod supports Prayers of Love and Faith and new pastoral guidance, with no change to the doctrine of marriage
6. October 2025GAFCON primates reject the authority of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally
7. 12 February 2026General Synod: the Living in Love and Faith programme to conclude by July 2026
8. 3-6 March 2026GAFCON gathering in Abuja approves a declaration and creates a Global Anglican Council

What does Resolution I.10 say?

Resolution I.10 has seven numbered parts, lettered (a) to (g), and the part that concerns sex outside marriage is clause (b). Clause (a) commends the report of the human sexuality subsection to the Church ^[1]. Clause (b) upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and states that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage ^[1][6].

The word “abstinence” was a late change. Thinking Anglicans reports that the draft originally used “chastity,” and that an amendment moved by Bishop John Sentamu, then Bishop of Stepney, replaced it with “abstinence” on a voice vote ^[2]. The change matters because it makes the clause shorter and more direct: it asks people outside marriage to abstain, not merely to live chastely according to their situation.

The remaining clauses concern homosexuality and pastoral care. Clause (c) recognises people who experience a homosexual orientation, commits the bishops to listen to them and affirms that all baptised, believing and faithful persons are full members of the Body of Christ ^[1][6]. Clause (d) rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, while calling for sensitive pastoral ministry, condemning irrational fear of homosexuals and also criticising violence within marriage and the trivialisation and commercialisation of sex ^[1]. Clause (e) says the Conference cannot advise legitimising or blessing same-sex unions, or ordaining people in them ^[1][6].

Clauses (f) and (g) are procedural. They ask the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council to set up a way of monitoring work on human sexuality across the Communion, and they note the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Human Sexuality and related resolutions on the authority of Scripture ^[1][6]. Nothing in the resolution mentions cohabitation or unmarried heterosexual couples by name. Its only direct reference to sex outside marriage is the single clause on abstinence.

The vote was 526 in favour, 70 against and 45 abstentions, a total of 641, as reported by the Anglican Communion News Service on 7 August 1998 ^[3]. About 100 bishops did not vote at all, out of roughly 740 taking part, according to Thinking Anglicans ^[2]. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey spoke before the vote, endorsing the text while warning that the conference would have failed if it were remembered only for what it said about homosexuality ^[3]. The vote was taken on Wednesday 5 August 1998: the Anglican Communion News Service says Wednesday ^[3], and the Thinking Anglicans report dated 6 August speaks of the debate as “yesterday” ^[2].

Is Resolution I.10 binding on the Church of England?

No. Resolutions of the Lambeth Conference are statements of opinion by the assembled bishops, and they do not have legal force in any province. The Church of England put this position in writing in November 2016, when the Secretary General of the Archbishops' Council, William Nye, wrote that I.10 is not legally binding on Anglican provinces including the Church of England, and that the Conference has no jurisdiction over discipline within provinces ^[4]. The Anglican Communion News Service had already noted in 1998 that the resolution was not binding on the Communion's 37 provinces and had been referred to the Primates ^[3].

The same letter explains how the Church of England relates its own documents to I.10. Nye described the 1991 House of Bishops document Issues in Human Sexuality as the Church of England's teaching on same-sex practice and unions, and as consistent with the resolution ^[4]. He also described I.10 as teaching abstinence outside marriage ^[4]. In that sense the resolution and the Church's own teaching line up, but the Church of England's authority rests on its own canons, Synod decisions and bishops' statements.

For sex outside marriage, the Church of England's most direct statement is the House of Bishops' pastoral statement of 25 July 2005, which said that sexual intercourse properly belongs within marriage exclusively and that sexual relationships outside marriage fall short of God's purposes ^[13]. Our page on what the Church of England teaches about sex outside marriage sets out that position and the more recent changes.

Why does Resolution I.10 still matter in Anglican debates?

Resolution I.10 still matters because it became a test of loyalty within the Communion, especially in the dispute over same-sex relationships. Its supporters treat it as the Communion's settled teaching, while its critics argue that the vote in 1998 was a snapshot, reached in a heated plenary, that need not bind the Church indefinitely. The immediate reaction in 1998 showed the split. The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Richard Holloway, said he felt “betrayed” and “gutted,” according to the Anglican Communion News Service, while Archbishop Robin Eames told the Primates to monitor the matter and said it was not the end of the story ^[3].

The question returned in 2022. Christianity Today reported that bishops from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, led by Archbishop Justin Badi, pressed for I.10 to be reaffirmed, that at least 125 bishops endorsed it, and that bishops from Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda boycotted the conference over provinces that allow same-sex marriages or the ordination of LGBT clergy ^[5]. That report is a single source for the count of 125, which represents a minority of the roughly 650 bishops present ^[5]. The Living Church added that the draft Call on Human Dignity described I.10 as the “mind of the Communion as a whole”, that the text was revised after the conference began to acknowledge divergent views, and that bishops did not vote on it ^[14].

More recently, conservative Anglicans linked to GAFCON have moved from criticism towards institutional separation. In October 2025, after Sarah Mullally was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, GAFCON primates rejected her authority, giving as their main argument that most of the Communion holds to male-only episcopacy ^[7]. A GAFCON gathering in Abuja from 3 to 6 March 2026, attended by more than 340 bishops from 27 provinces, approved the Abuja Declaration and created a Global Anglican Council, chaired by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda of Rwanda, in place of the GAFCON Council of Primates ^[8]. A second report counts 347 bishops and 121 lay and clerical leaders at the gathering, known as G26, and says its communiqué called for “principled disengagement” from the Archbishop of Canterbury and Anglican structures based in England while describing the group as not breakaway ^[15]. The declaration criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lambeth Conference for failing to maintain doctrinal discipline ^[8]. Neither report ties these events specifically to I.10, so they should be read as part of the wider dispute rather than as a direct result of the resolution.

Inside the Church of England the resolution is cited less often, because the debate has moved on to the Living in Love and Faith process. On 12 February 2026 the General Synod approved a motion that the LLF programme would conclude by July 2026, and it commended two new bodies to continue the work: a Relationships, Sexuality and Gender Working Group and a Pastoral Consultative Group ^[9].

How have British churches responded since 1998?

British churches have gone in different directions since 1998, and I.10 is mostly a reference point for those who want to hold to a traditional line. The Church of England has kept the doctrine of marriage unchanged while changing its pastoral provision: the Synod of February 2023 backed the Prayers of Love and Faith and the replacement of Issues by new pastoral guidance, Issues was withdrawn from the selection of ordinands in July 2025, and in February 2026 the Synod agreed that the LLF programme would conclude by July 2026 ^[9]. Our explainer on Living in Love and Faith covers that process.

Other churches have gone further. The Quakers in Britain recognised same-sex marriage at Britain Yearly Meeting in 2009 ^[12]. On 30 June 2021 the Methodist Conference voted by 254 to 46 to allow same-sex marriages in Methodist places of worship, and, according to the Church Times, by 253 to 38 to recognise, accept and celebrate unmarried cohabiting couples ^[11]. The Church of Scotland's General Assembly voted 274 to 136 in 2022 to change church law so that ministers and deacons may apply to become celebrants of same-sex marriages, with participation optional ^[10].

None of these decisions reproduces or repeals I.10, because the resolution belongs to a Communion that only some of these churches join. The Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church are not Anglican, and the Quakers have no bishops. What they show is that, in Britain, the 1998 vote did not stop any church from making its own decision. The Methodist decision on cohabitation is covered separately in how British Methodists came to accept couples living together.

Frequently asked questions

When was Lambeth Resolution I.10 passed?

On Wednesday 5 August 1998, during the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury. The Anglican Communion News Service reported the vote on 7 August 1998 as taken that Wednesday ^[3]. The count was 526 in favour, 70 against and 45 abstentions.

Does Resolution I.10 concern unmarried heterosexual couples?

Only in one clause. Clause (b) says abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage, which on its wording covers all unmarried people ^[1][6]. The rest of the resolution deals with homosexuality and pastoral care, and it does not mention cohabitation.

Is Lambeth I.10 part of Church of England law?

No. The Church of England has stated that Lambeth resolutions are not legally binding on provinces, including itself, and that the Conference has no jurisdiction over discipline within provinces ^[4]. The Church's law is made by its own Synod and canons.

Did later Lambeth Conferences revisit I.10?

Yes, in 2022 the question returned. Christianity Today reported that Global South bishops pressed for I.10 to be reaffirmed, that at least 125 endorsed it, and that bishops from several provinces boycotted the conference ^[5].

How did the bishops vote on Resolution I.10?

By 526 votes to 70, with 45 abstentions ^[3]. About 100 bishops did not vote out of roughly 740 taking part, according to a contemporary account by Thinking Anglicans ^[2]. The resolution passed after many amendments.

Why does the resolution say abstinence rather than chastity?

Because of an amendment during the debate. Thinking Anglicans reports that the draft said “chastity” and that Bishop John Sentamu moved to replace it with “abstinence,” which passed on a voice vote ^[2]. The final clause says abstinence is right for those not called to marriage ^[1][6].