JH [Josie Huang]: “Just to be clear, the Episcopal Church defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”<\/p>\n
BL [Bishop Stephen Lane]: “That’s correct.”<\/p>\n
JH: “Can you address the contradiction of blessing same-sex marriages when that definition stands? Do you think the church is going to change its definition of what marriage is at some point?”<\/p>\n
BL: “I think the church is having a broad conversation about marriage and about the church’s role in relation to marriage. Marriage is one of the few parts of our life where the clergy act as agents of the state and stand in on behalf of the state and sign the marriage licenses. But the church’s interest is in the quality of the relationship and the quality of the commitment between the partners and in asking for God’s blessing. So one of the questions that’s being raised by this whole matter is, is it the church’s role to marry, or is it in fact the church’s role to bless a marriage? I’m not willing predict and I’m not sure whether the church will change its definition, but we may change our understanding of how the church relates to marriage.”<\/p>\n