Bishops’ same-sex-marriage statement provokes anger and defiance February 21, 2014 by Fulcrum ON St Valentine's Day last Friday, the Revd Andrew Cain got engaged to his partner, Stephen Foreshew. The following day, he saw the House of Bishops statement (reproduced in full below), which repeated the ban on blessings in church for same-sex unions, and ruled out same-sex marriage for clergy or for anyone seeking to be ordained. Madeleine Davies. Church Times. 21 February 2014 FulcrumShareTweetShare