On Sunday morning, Catherine and Jane will kneel together before the priest at their church to receive a simple prayer of blessing. At the end of the service, the congregation at St John the Baptist in Felixstowe will raise a glass of bubbly instead of the usual cup of tea. Catherine and Jane will be one of the first same-sex couples to be officially blessed in the Church of England after eight years of debate – always impassioned, often rancorous – in the C of E’s ruling body, the General Synod, and decades of division in the wider church. This week, C of E bishops announced that clergy could voluntarily use special “prayers of love and faith” from Sunday. It is a significant moment, but not an end to arguments and campaigning. Progressive Christians will continue to demand full equality, including church weddings for same-sex couples; conservatives will continue to insist on traditional biblical teaching that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman.