US Episcopal Church to Bless Gay Unions

[debatethis]

:Y:
usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/10/12666645-episcopal-church-becomes-biggest-us-church-to-bless-gay-unions?lite

Episcopal Church becomes biggest US church to bless gay unions
By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

The U.S. Episcopal Church became the biggest church in the United States to approve a provisional rite for blessing gay unions after its House of Deputies gave its final approval Tuesday.

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The resolution passed with 78 percent approval in the lay order and 76 percent in the clergy order. The House of Deputies is made up of both clergy and lay people.

In the lay order, 86 deputations voted in favor, 19 against; five were divided. In the clergy order, 85 deputations voted in favor, 22 opposed the resolution and four were divided.

The proposed blessing liturgy was initially approved by the Church's House of Bishops Monday during the 77th General Convention in Indianapolis, with 111 votes in favor to 41 opposed and three abstentions.

Deputies of opposite views spoke in alternate succession Tuesday afternoon, with those against the proposal urging more time to consider a decision of such magnitude.

The Rev. Sharon Lewis, alternate deputy of the Diocese of Southwest Florida, said the liturgy is more than a “pastoral provision.”

"Let us move together in the heart of Christ, not turn this great big old church that I love so much on a dime,” Lewis said.

Speaking in favor of the blessings, Deputy Jenna Guy from Iowa said the resolution is important to the younger generation of Episcopalians, adding that passing the resolution would bring more people into the Church.

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"It’s always with great pride that I tell [people] of the inclusive nature of this Church,” Guy said.

A deputy from Alaska added, "There is never anything wrong with celebrating love.”

The new Episcopal same-sex liturgy is called "The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant."

In the proposed rite, each person would make a vow to the other, exchange rings and be declared "bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live." The liturgy is expected to go into effect for provisional use starting the first week of Advent -- beginning on Dec. 2, 2012 -- and will undergo a review process before the next General Convention in 2015. Congregations and clergy wishing to use the liturgy would need the permission of their bishops.

In states that currently allow same-sex civil marriage, such as Maryland and New York, Episcopalians may already bless same-sex marriages, but there is no formal church-wide liturgy. Commitment ceremonies for gay couples are allowed elsewhere in the church at the discretion of the local bishop.

Episcopal bishops approve resolution to bless gay unions

The Episcopal Church is an independent U.S.-based church affiliated with the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church has about 2 million members, most in the United States.

It is not the only major U.S. denomination considering same-sex marriage issues.

The United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination with about 1 million members voted in 2005 to support full civil and religious marriage equality for same-sex couples.

The U.S. Presbyterian Church on Friday narrowly rejected a proposal for a constitutional change that would redefine marriage as a union between "two people" rather than between a woman and a man. The church, with around 2 million members, currently allows ministers to bless gay unions but prohibits them from solemnizing gay civil marriages.

[mrsjuleshs]

This is truly awesome.

[Deleted]

Wooooo!!!

Are there any episcopalians on this board that can tell us wether or not this alienate any of their members? I'm not familiar with that denomination. I just anticipate some people going "noooooooo, not my church!"

[soontobeka]

Jul 11, 2012 10:33:11 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

Wooooo!!!

Are there any episcopalians on this board that can tell us wether or not this alienate any of their members? I'm not familiar with that denomination. I just anticipate some people going "noooooooo, not my church!"

My diocese actually split over this issue along with the issue of woman becoming priests. It caused a HUGE rift. My family (5th generation Episcopalian) left the church for a period of time. Now the side of the diocese that hates the gayz refers to themselves as Anglican and those churches that support the gayz still use the term Episcopal.

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2012 10:40:04 GMT -5 soontobeka said:

Jul 11, 2012 10:33:11 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

Wooooo!!!

Are there any episcopalians on this board that can tell us wether or not this alienate any of their members? I'm not familiar with that denomination. I just anticipate some people going "noooooooo, not my church!"

My diocese actually split over this issue along with the issue of woman becoming priests. It caused a HUGE rift. My family (5th generation Episcopalian) left the church for a period of time. Now the side of the diocese that hates the gayz refers to themselves as Anglican and those churches that support the gayz still use the term Episcopal.

Yeah, I grew up in a church that left ECUSA and considers itself Anglican now.

I am actively involved in an ECUSA church, and most people I know in my diocese support this. My parish has not only had openly gay members, but has also had openly gay vestry members. I know the clergy at my parish are fully on board. I can't imagine anyone in my parish leaving ECUSA over this, but we were already a bit hippie dippie.

[debatethis]

Jul 11, 2012 10:33:11 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

Wooooo!!!

Are there any episcopalians on this board that can tell us wether or not this alienate any of their members? I'm not familiar with that denomination. I just anticipate some people going "noooooooo, not my church!"

My church is actually on the roster of gay-friendly churches here: www.gaychurch.org/ so I assume it's not going to change much except for booking ceremony space and premarital counseling is going to get more challenging, lol.

[Deleted]

Fascinating. The Anglican church always seems to me to be the catch-all church (we have family who left the Catholic church for the Anglican for a few reasons, one being they wanted to divorce).

I love that angryharpy called her church hippiedippie

The church I was married in (United) is hippy too. The minister who married us said, and I quote: "Mary wasn't a virgin, she got knocked up and needed a good excuse" in reference to Mary being the virgin mother of Jesus. This was at our premarital counselling class. Surprisingly, no one revolted. Most actually loved the minister for saying that.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

And this is why my religion is like a boss, people.
ETA: To answer the previous question about whether or not this has alienated members - in my diocese, those who had a problem with it already left. Our church had already voted to do them regardless of what the decision was at convention. This is already kind of a non-issue for most of us, because this is the direction the church has been headed, with the election of Bishop Robinson several years ago.

[secretlyevil]

Wow - this is awesome news!

[Deleted]

My dad left the Episcopal church after Gene Robinson was made bishop. (My dad went to the episcopal divinity school although never became a priest)

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

Jul 11, 2012 12:02:53 GMT -5 @septimus said:

My dad left the Episcopal church after Gene Robinson was made bishop. (My dad went to the episcopal divinity school although never became a priest)

That's sad. He's a really great guy.

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2012 12:04:27 GMT -5 lyssbobiss, Command, B613 said:

Jul 11, 2012 12:02:53 GMT -5 @septimus said:

My dad left the Episcopal church after Gene Robinson was made bishop. (My dad went to the episcopal divinity school although never became a priest)

That's sad. He's a really great guy.

I know

[Deleted]

Seems to me that once again, society is improving religion. Should be the other way around, all things considered, but it never seems to be.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I love my church for this. My home parish lost many members when Gene Robinson was made bishop, and it lost even more members when Katharine Jefferts Schori became presiding bishop. The Episcopal Church is generally much more liberal than other denominations, but in the South it's a mixed bag. My parish now is much more progressive--one of our rectors is openly gay. It's a beautiful community to be a part of.

[jennipea382]

Love this! I'm so glad I chose to be baptized and confirmed in an Episcopalian church when I was in high school. I no longer attend church, but if I had to identify with a denomination, it's definitely this one. My church, at least for youth group, was always very accepting. My Jewish boyfriend at the time came to some of the youth group services as well as an openly gay friend. They accepted them with open arms. I think they were more concerned about having a faith, whatever it might be. This is such great news :-)