Effective immediately, clergy in the Diocese of San Joaquin may, at their discretion and in accordance with the conscience of each priest, perform blessings of same sex civil marriages, domestic partnerships, and relationships which are lifelong committed relationships characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God. Said relationships shall be called Holy Unions for purposes of blessing these relationships and purposes of recognition of said relationships. For those same sex couples who are legally married, the blessing performed may be termed the Blessing of a Civil Marriage.
It must also be recognized that the Canons of the Church currently limit marriages to opposite sex couples, as does California law. Accordingly, until such time as both the Canons and state law permit the solemnization of the marriage of a same sex couple, and specific authorization of the bishop is given, no priest of this Diocese shall attempt to solemnize a marriage between two persons of the same sex.
Specific policies, as well as liturgies authorized for use within the Diocese, will be published separately. Clergy are encouraged to engage in open discussion of this matter, as well as the policies and liturgies, with members of their congregations, particularly those who are members of Vestries or Bishop’s Committees.
Elves- In headline, “Authorizes” not “Authroizes”
[i] Corrected. Thank you. [/i]
-Elf
I predict that TEC will amend their marriage canon at their next General Convention in order to permit same sex ‘marriage.’ The problem, though, is that California doesn’t yet permit it….if the state ever does, since the issue is tied up in court, and is likely to be in court for quite some time.
Cennydd–I think they will definatley allow blessings and even will allow blessing civil unions where allowed, but changing the definition of marriage, at least in 2012, would surprise me. Althoug, I must admit, almost nothing they do actually surprises me anymore.
[blockquote]Effective immediately, clergy in the Diocese of San Joaquin may, at their discretion and in accordance with the conscience of each priest, perform blessings of same sex civil marriages, domestic partnerships, and relationships which are lifelong committed relationships characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships [b]to see in each other the image of God[/b].[/blockquote]
But how can the image of God be fully reflected in a male/male or female/female union? At best it will be a distorted image that is reflected for as it says in Genesis “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” It would seem to me that a same sex marriage can only be a parody of God’s original intention and is precisely what you would expect to find in a human society estranged from its Creator.
Ross
It might also be mentioned that while a male/female union may be sterile, a male/male and female/female union is sterile 100% of the time. It’s kind of hard for the latter to be fruitful and multiply. As with the transgendered what we see is a post modern assault on reality.
Will someone tell me how the %$##@&* a church can undertake a
civil marriage? That this is so is precisely what’s wrong with the definition of marriage. Civil unions: that’s what states do. Marriages: that’s what churches do. Why is this so hard to comprehend? Larry
But, you know, when I was watching the wedding of William and Kate, I found my throat tightening and my eyes watering. I thought., “You ARE getting sentimental,” but then I realized this wasn’t the problem. The real problem was a wish, a hard heartsqueezing wish, that this marriage would succeed, and stand as a paradigm for all new marriages. I listened to the Dean’s instructions – which of course included making children – and I thought what an appalling thing it would be if the two people there were both men, what a deep, fundamental violation of the world’s quintessential principles such a pairing would be. And there was David Bowie and boyfriend. And here is TEC, blessing a world of inescapable sterilty.
So much for gracious restraint.
[Off topic and ad hominem comment deleted by Elf]
Ah. Sin begets sin and therefore justifies the later sin. Regardless, 8 your relationships are sterile and will remain so.
Faux bishop of faux diocese authorizes faux blessings.
RE: “And this is the model that is held up against the evil of same sex relationships.”
Well, um, no.
It wasn’t “held up” against the intrinsic wrong of sexual acts between males or females.
What was, actually, “held up” as a *possible* model was an actual real marriage.
Which is, after all, a far cry from your list of things purported to be held up as a model.
#8: Methinks you skipped several bars of the wedding march to reach that conclusion.
Dld you not feel the sheer rightness of this wedding? I am not speaking of William and Kate and the Dean specifically, but the rightness of the entire experience. It was seamless. Is my intuition merely the expression of something that I have been taught and so internalized I cannot know it for what it is? Or is it an absolute which we all can touch if we will?
At present, the unnatural is winning all the battles against the natural. (No no I do not want to argue these words for I speak to intuitions of rightness, not intellectualities) I see the another transgender has won the right to play golf under a faux-sex pose.
And ssm still gains strength. But the wedding we watched and the words and advice spoken thereto, was what “natural” truly means: This is the way “it” is meant to be; evolution and the church simply say the words that Design has put in their mouths.
I am not prone to advance propositions rooted in intuition, but this is an exception. I cannot defend it by reason, but I still know it as the seed knows the spring sun. There are those who will not know the spring sun because they are sterile seed, but such as these honor the truth in its breach. Larry