While we remain in a provisional time when our canons have not fully caught up to what I believe is an intersection of the movement of the spirit and the understanding of the people, it seems that now is the time to remove any distinction between same-sex marriage and other marriages.
From this date forward, please simply follow the canonical requirements for marriage regardless of the gender of the couple.
The bishop says nothing about dealing with the liturgy. Our marriage rite is replete with male/female references and imagery. If he is serious about this, he needs to do his work ruthlessly to edit the Prayer Book, to eliminate the offending language and references.
Anathema
#1. I think we are going to enter some very slippery territory soon on precisely this issue. Some will speak of a single rite for all, something referred to on occasion as ‘gender-neutral’ (whatever that might really mean is another question). Others, recognizing the canonical realities or for tempermental reasons will want their to be a special rite for ss marriage, and it will sit astride the BCP rite for a season. Others will want both things: a gender neutral rite that replicates the BCP rite as much as that is possible without being ridiculous, sitting alongside the present one. These are TEC-wide considerations, but of course we are also in a season where people appear to do what they want to locally and culture then spins it as they wish too.
This may end up being the great wake-up call for the laity in many places, but especially more conservative dioceses. Will they like any of the above options should they find them in the pew rack in front of them?