The Very Rev. J. Brad Benson, rector of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, plans to get married this summer in a state where same-sex marriage is legal.
“After twenty years of loving relationship, my partner Carl Johengen and I have decided that it is time that we were legally married,” he wrote in the church’s most recent newsletter.
The St. Thomas rector explained that he has begun to see the word “marriage” in purely legal terms and has come to realize that he and his partner “need” the legal rights and responsibilities afforded in a marriage.
“No one questions the rights and responsibilities of a married couple; simply saying, ‘I’m his wife’ or ‘I’m her husband’ opens many legal doors,” he stated.
Gotta read the whole article!
[blockquote]After seeking legal marriage in another state, the gay couple will then seek the church’s blessing through a liturgy which will be attended and presided by three bishops – Rochester Bishop Prince Singh, retired Bishop Jack McKelvey, and Maine Bishop Stephen Lane.[/blockquote]
Anathema! Is anyone from the Global South reading T19? Does Rowan WIlliams read T19? Does anyone care? Three bishops, eh? Might as well make him a bishop while they’re at it.
Does the state of New York recognize marriages performed in other states? I recall that maybe it does.
In a church where true orthodoxy is held, this priest would be inhibited and, if he does not repent, be deposed.
In TEC, such actions are reserved for those priests who seek to preserve orthodoxy by disaffiliating with a heterodoxy that kills the soul.
No greater example of the current Anglican world could currently surface.
-Jim+
Yawn.
Ralph (#1), you beat me to it.
My instinctive response was the same was yours. Why in the world would THREE bishops want to attend and participate in this farce of a service? To make a statement, of course, a “prophetic witness.”
However, I think the timing could well be providential, as it so perfectly demonstrates to any doubters in Singapore (or anywhere else) the in-your-face, defiant attitude of so many “progressive” TEC bishops and other leaders.
Alas, Rochester’s +Prince Singh was once theologically conservative. He’s a Tamil immigrant from South India, and my former pastor in Richmond, David Singh+, knew him back when they both served in the Church of South India. But it appears that Prince Singh’s years of ministry in the Diocese of Newark thoroughly corrupted him. Very sad, but regrettably not uncommon.
David Handy+
The wedding should be a gala event. The diocese of Rochester could sure use a party after its 2002 through 2008 experience with Members down 22 percent, ASA down 20 percent, and Plate & Pledge adjusted for inflation down 14 percent. As for Aging the diocese had 153 Infant Baptisms and 190 Burials in 2008. Also in 2008, 31 of its 51 churches had ASA of 70 or less with 9 of these with ASA of 20 or less. As for Money, 40 of its 51 churches had Plate & Pledge of less than $150K in 2008 which means that each “rich” church had 4 “poor” churches to help. And St. Thomas could use a good time given that during 2002 through 2008 their Members and ASA dropped about 50 percent with Plate & Pledge adjusted for inflation down 15 percent. And the band played on. Statmann
If it is the legal rights this couple wants, then the civil partnership laws will provide them. If they do not provide them at a par with heterosexuals, then the civil laws can readily be changed. It is not marriage they need, if their demand is a legal one. But is it not the case that this “legal” issue is a smoke screen, that what homosexuals really want is the cachet of normality, of acceptance that marriage brings. Their argument here is like the argument that the stoners use for the acceptance of marijuana for medical use: The acceptable is a disguise for the unacceptable. Larry