Episcopal Bishop Prince Singh was at the pro-rally and said his Church is wrestling with the same sex marriage issue. In his Church role, he cannot marry a same sex couple. But he’s hoping a dialogue will lead to change. “It is something that is part of their inherent gift as God has made them. And this is an engagement of science and religion that people have been grappling with for a long time, but we are becoming a little more honest about it.”
On the other side Tuesday morning, members of Citizens for a Decent Community staged the latest in a series of gay marriage protests in the area in front of City Hall.
Baptist Minister Vince Giardino led the group in prayer. “We pray for Sen. Alesi, Lord, that he would change his mind. That his conscience would be leading toward the Scriptures.”
“In his Church role, he cannot marry a same sex couple.”
(Let’s tell that to the Bishop of Massachusetts.)
“Bishop Matthew Clark of the Rochester Catholic Diocese issued a statement Tuesday. ‘We believe that marriage is a sacrament celebrated between a baptized man and a baptized woman…'”
(The TEC canons and BCP also state that marriage is between man and woman. TEC has no written doctrine to the contrary.)
+Singh may be out of practice when itt comes to marriages. From 2002 to 2009 Marriages in his diocese have declined by 50.5 percent! In 2009, for 51 churches there were only 53 marriages. Not surprisingly, Infant Baptisms declined by 47.8 percent. Statmann
Prince Singh became bishop of the Diocese of Rochester (New York, not to be confused with +Michael Nazir-Ali’s former seat) in 2009, coming from the Diocese of Newark, NJ, to replace Bishop Jack McKelvey and continue “reappraiser” leadership in the diocese.
The Dio of Newark only lost 36.3 percent in Marriages from 2002 to 2009. Perhaps, +Singh will reduce the loss rate ffor Rochester. But then, it is difficult to expect anything good coming from Newark. Best to end this comment. Statmann
Actually statmann, two (both very conservative priests) close friends of mine are from Newark,in fact, I think Spong ordained both of them. As I said, they are both strongly conservative which is probably why they’re from, not in, Newark.
I am mildly surprised by Bishop Clark’s statement. His reputation among the Catholic bishops of the United States is not one of a pillar of orthodoxy.
It is an interesting time to live near Albany. Some protesters had bagpipes playing in front of the State House the other day.
The Republicans in the State Senate — which had been holding out — have mostly caved in. There are only two more votes to go to give a majority to those in favor of the bill, and Gov. Cuomo has been pushing very hard to get it passed — which it already did in the Assembly.
Any wisdom out there from states that have already done this on how to turn away a gay couple asking for a wedding without getting arrested?
I’m serious. Any advice? This is a done deal here. Everyone is insisting that this is “The Will of The People.”
Nobody seems interested in the Will of God.