30.03.2026
New Book Seeks to Resource Conversations on Marriage and Relationships
“Faith traditions have always had things to say about marriage and relationships,” says the author of a new book which seeks to provide an overview of the subject.
Marriage and Relationships: An Anglican Exploration by the former Bishop of Limerick and Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Kenneth Kearon, was launched on Saturday afternoon (March 28) in the Henry Roe Room of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
The book, which was officially launched by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, looks at societal changes in the 20th and 21st centuries which have challenged many Christians to rethink approaches to marriage and personal relationships. It focuses on the use of contraception, the availability of divorce and the legal recognition given to same sex relationships in most western countries. It explores what the Bible says, centuries of Christian tradition, how attitudes to contraception and divorce changed, and where Anglicans are now in the discussion of same sex relationships.
Archbishop Jackson said that Bishop Kearon’s broad–ranging experience across the Anglican Communion left him well placed to take on “one of the thorniest and one of the most fractious theological topics of pastoral and personal import for exploration”.
“It matters to people, however, because it goes to the core of their being. People who observe us as we seek to deal with this area of human living in our church life are as important to us as is our own estimation of ourselves. But, inside the Anglican Communion, few of us seem to see it like this. Some dialogue is healthy. Some dialogue is toxic. This book is suffused with clarity of writing and graciousness of spirit,” he commented.
Anglicanism, the Archbishop stated, has a history of allowing sincere, principled and well thought through new interpretations of Scripture based on scientific and sociological developments to ventilate and to become part of the weave of Anglican lived experience. Pointing to the Scripture, Tradition and Reason basis of Anglicanism of Richard Hooker, he said we could not avoid or deflect the issues. Added to this is the compassion for human experience which makes Anglicanism a pastoral church.
He commended the book saying: “Ken has had the courage to address the issues simply but not simplistically, aggressively but not antagonistically, lovingly but not sentimentally. They are issues, as a predecessor of his in the chaplaincy in Trinity College once said, that are things on which we strive to agree to disagree – agreeably … Let us live in prayer and hope of such agreeability.”
Bishop Kearon noted English playwright and poet TS Eliot’s observation on Anglicanism following the Lambeth Conference of 1930: ‘Anglicans wash their dirty linen in public – but the linen does get washed!’. He said that issues are debated publicly at synods and committees with everyone contributing to the conversation before eventually a way forward is found which attracts widespread consensus.
In the areas of contraception and the remarriage of divorced persons in church, he said that the discussions and debates were interminable but in each case a way forward was found which reflected a consensus on the issue.
“We are a pastoral church, rooted in the everyday lives of people and the challenges we all face. Trying our best to live lives that are true to our faith and to our own values isn’t easy. Life is an ongoing dialogue between experience and our faith tradition, and both have to be taken seriously. It isn’t simply a matter of churches doing or saying what’s popular or easy; but also, gone are the days when a few chosen verses from the Bible or from some ancient church document or creed could resolve a question. As the debates about contraception and divorce show, resolution isn’t easy; but it is possible,” he said.
Bishop Kearon acknowledged that today churches everywhere are “vexed” about human sexuality. Social changes have been rapid and churches are under pressure from all sides, he added.
“The conversations and discussions are difficult. However, what is not acceptable is that the conversation doesn’t take place. It is my hope that this short book will help resource those conversations, introduce some background material, and give us all the confidence to engage, so that as in the past difficult issues were faced and finally resolved, so too in the same spirit we can engage with difficult ethical issues that face us as church people today,” he said before concluding with thanks to all who had helped bring the book to publication.
Marriage and Relationships: An Anglican Exploration is published by Hinds Publishing and is available to buy from Hinds Publishing www.hinds.ie and on the bookstore of the Church of Ireland website www.churchofireland.org.
You can read Archbishop Jackson’s speech in full here.
You can read Bishop Ken Kearon’s speech in full here.
You can see more photos from the launch on our Facebook page: