Same Gender Blessings Backed By Episcopal Diocese of California
SAN FRANCISCO - - - Elected representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of California today commended to their bishop rites for the blessing of same gender couples by an overwhelming margin. The action opens the way for Diocesan Bishop Marc Andrus to allow these services to be used on a trial basis by Episcopal churches across the Bay Area. You can download a copy of this report as a PDF file here and then share it with your friends by e-mail or in printed form,
Clergy and lay delegates also approved by a broad majority a resolution countering recent opinions voiced by the Episcopal House of Bishops in New Orleans. Drafted by the Rev. John Kirkley, the resolution both affirmed "the unanimous decision of the (Diocesan) Standing Committee to refuse to discriminate against partnered gay and lesbian bishops-elect" and deplored "the lack of access to adequate pastoral and ritual care for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in large parts of the Episcopal Church and the refusal of the majority of our bishops to make provision for it.
“Today we took two important steps toward full inclusion of LGBT people and their families into the Episcopal Church,” Oasis California President Thomas C. Jackson said. Oasis is the LGBT ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California. “With broad support from our straight allies, we placed LGBT couples on an equal footing with heterosexual couples when they ask the church to bless their relationship. Our elected representatives also made clear our collective commitment to including LGBT people as full members of the Episcopal Church.”
The convention's action followed a moving opening Eucharist Friday night. Inhis homily, the Most Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape Town and Primate of the Province of Southern Africa, criticized calls for an "Anglican Covenant" that seemed designed to exclude rather than include people. Earlier, Archbishop Ndungane said actions by the House of Bishops in New Orleans fully satisfied earlier requests by the Anglican Communion.
Approved by a lopsided voice vote in the Diocesans annual convention at Grace Cathedral, the action asks Bishop Andrus to approve rites for blessing same gender couples on a trial basis. “Trial use of a new liturgy is a standard step in development of new liturgical rites by the Episcopal Church,” Jackson added. “This is another step toward LGBT equality on the road to the church’s national 2009 General Convention in Anaheim, CA."
"I will continue to represent the Diocese in the ongoing Church and Communion-wide conversations on the full inclusion of LGBT people, and in the global flourishing promoted by the MGDs," Bishop Marc told the Convention.
"In this connection, let me say that I welcome the resolution on marriage and blessing being offered at this Convention," our Bishop continued.
"I think the resolution properly augments my pastoral goal of caring alike for all of the people of the diocese, not reinforcing damaging distinctions," Bishop Marc continued.
"I also think, at the same time, that the resolution writers have honored the spirit of the Windsor Report and subsequent requests from the Primates of the Communion not to develop 'public rites,'" he said.
Developed by the Diocesan Commission on Marriage & Blessing, the convention endorsed three alternative rites for blessing same gender couples, along with Biblical texts for use with these rites. One rite is based on the marriage liturgy from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and another on one in the New Zealand Prayer Book while a third reflects “A Rite for the Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Covenants” from Canada's Diocese of New Westminster. “We especially appreciate the work of this Commission and its co-chairs the Rev. Joseph Lane and the Rev. Lynette Morlan,” Jackson added.
The San Francisco vote marks the third time in recent weeks an Anglican diocese has moved to establish rites for blessing same gender couples. Earlier this fall, synods of the Anglican Church serving Ottawa and Montreal in Canada also called on their bishops to approved rites for blessing same gender couples.
For background info on the convention or the Report of Commission on Marriage and Blessings (PDF, 3.77MB)
Bishop Marc Announces His Policy for the
Blessing of Same Sex Unions
After meeting with the Oasis Board, Bishop Marc Andrus has written the clergy of our diocese to affirm his "commitment to the full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the life of the Church." In the letter, Bishop Marc sets out a revised policy for the blessing of same gender couples in Bay Area Episcopal Churches. On this site you can read the first page and second page of our bishop's letter. Background on the blessing of same gender couples is also found here.
"The blessings of same sex couples in our churches are celebrations of Christian love and vocation, and deserve the same expressions of joy and excitement that others enjoy. So, for example, it is entirely appropriate that invitations be sent and newspaper announcements be made" Bishop Marc writes. This is a significant shift from earlier policy.
"The decision to bless a holy union is, in the first instance, a discernment made by the couple in consultation with their priest," he wrote.
The bishop expects same gender couples will engage in "the same careful counseling and preparation required of other couples" according to the letter. Since our diocese does not have rites for blessing same gender couples, each couple must work with their priest to develop the liturgy. Bishop Andrus asks that clergy consult with him about the liturgy and inform him of planned blessings.
Perhaps most important, the new bishop of the Diocese of California emphasized that this policy is "near the beginning - not the conclusion - of our conversations about our roles as faithful pastors in these important matters." A diocesan commission has the assignment of reporting rites for the blessing of same gender couples to our 2007 convention.
Here's the 2006 letter issued by Bishop Marc Andrus along with older information.
