After reflecting with our Standing Committee, other California bishops, the chair of the Massachusetts task force on same”gender marriage and Bishop Tom Shaw, also of Massachusetts, here are the guidelines ”“ for now. You may have a same”gender civil marriage and blessing in your church provided an Episcopal priest does not officiate at the marriage itself or sign the marriage license and the Book of Common Prayer is not used. For example, you may have a civil ceremony conducted by someone other than an Episcopal clergyperson, followed by a blessing of that union (which could surely include a Eucharist) by an Episcopal priest. Various liturgies have been used around the diocese for blessings; a practice which was approved by the 2004 El Camino Real diocesan convention. These guidelines are not a tremendous change from our previous guidelines, but rather an addition that helps us live into a new reality. As the national church proceeds toward full sacramental inclusion, so shall our diocese. As with all couples, your discernment and discretion is integral to the process of determining the suitability of blessing the marriage. My consent, per the instruction of the 2004 resolution, is still required.
Please know that I have decided upon the new guidelines in light of the current climate in our diocese and the national church as a whole, and looking ahead to the upcoming Lambeth Conference. They will be too liberal for some and not permissive enough for others. I welcome your feedback as we move through these historic times. Also, as a means of encouraging ongoing conversation and exploration, I am appointing a Task Force on Marriage and Family in our diocese.
And +Tom Wright assures us that [strike]Mary Gray-Reeves will be receiving a letter from Rowan Williams stating that acceptance of the Lambeth invitation is an acceptance of Windsor principles[/strike], er, make that phone call from Rowan stating that we all need to just get along.
Sorry, this message is scapegoating Rowan Williams. Please ignore.
I see no real difference in a priest doing the ceremony versus a notary public doing the ceremony in the church followed immediately by the priest doing a blessing and eucharist. It is a distinction with no practical difference. But when you cease to believe in the need for salvation, for salvation by grace or even grace itself, and turn to the law (in this case the constitution and canons of TEC) this is the tangled non-sense you end up with.
“…I have decided upon the new guidelines in light of the current climate in our diocese and the national church as a whole..”
Thank God. Now General Convention needs never meet again. What a relief that bishops can now decide the policy of their fragment of the Church without wasting time in counsel or be guided by pesky canons.
Re: “… the national church as a whole” — Perhaps Bishop Gray Reeves was referring to GC03 Resolution C051:
[i]That we recognize that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions.[/i]
#4, SSBs and SSUs are Scripturally, theologically spiritually incorrect, impossible. These ‘ceremonies’ are not blessings, but abominations. The people who ‘perform’ them cause deadly spiritual consequences. Anathema.
why all the fuss? It hasn’t been happening in California or anywhere, right? Least, that’s what some bishops tell the hicks. Gotta love the distortion of language that makes the Episcopal Church the General Convention Church it is. Brought to you by the letters L, I, and E.
[blockquote]You may have a sameâ€gender civil marriage and blessing in your church provided an Episcopal priest does not officiate at the marriage itself or sign the marriage license and the Book of Common Prayer is not used. For example, you may have a civil ceremony conducted by someone other than an Episcopal clergyperson, followed by a blessing of that union (which could [b]surely[/b] include a Eucharist) by an Episcopal priest.[/blockquote]
READ: Surely we will come up with any way we possibly can to rubber stamp and wax seal these unions. Jesus Christ won’t mind in the least that we are taking his blessed sacrament in celebration of an abomination!
Limbo,
If I read you right, in other words:
“it ain’t a rite if we don’t say it is a rite, even if it looks, sounds and reads like one. After all, it’s what we [i]say[/i] is reality that counts, not reality itself.”