I attended, at Committee request, the Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music public hearing from 2pm to 4pm. The hearing, held in a large hotel ball room, was on resolutions proposing same sex liturgies for holy matrimony, holy unions and blessings””eleven resolutions in all. I estimate attendance at somewhere between 150 and 200. Estimating numbers in crowds is not my strong suit so don’t bet any money on this. A total of thirty-six people testified in favor of the various resolutions ten testified against them. Testimony was straightforward and respectful. There was not the anger and acrimony on either side that was present in GC 2006.
The thrust of the proponents was that taking action will liberate the church to move on with mission, the Spirit is once again calling the Church through society as it did with the issues of women and Blacks to full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, the dreadful harm that has been inflicted through exclusion must stop and we need to move beyond the hypocrisy we have engaged in for such a long time.
The opponents had biblical objections, said the theological issues have not yet been worked through, said that same sex is not accepted by the majority in the greater Anglican Community nor with the majority in the U.S., and that we need to listen to the voices of the past and tradition.