December 1, 2009

Dear Friends of The Christian Challenge:

As the story below indicates, Massachusetts Episcopal Bishop Tom Shaw, relying on a key General Convention resolution, chose Advent Sunday this year as the date on which clergy of the diocese could start officiating at same-sex marriage ceremonies. A second item in this post suggests that the Diocese of Washington D.C. will shortly follow suit.

In reacting to all this, one veteran observer pointedly reminisced:
"Remember when the revisionists claimed this is whole debate [about] homosexuality [was] only about same-sex unions and not marriage, which they vowed to restrict to male-female partners?..."
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http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/11/30/mass-bishops-approve-blessings-for-same-sex-marriage

Mass. Bishops Approve Blessings for Same-Sex Marriage
Posted on: November 30, 2009

Clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts may now celebrate same-sex marriage ceremonies without restriction, including the practice of signing marriage certificates.

The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, announced the new policy, effective on the first Sunday of Advent, in a letter dated Nov. 29. Bishop Shaw cited the language of General Convention Resolution C056, which says that bishops, “particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response” to church members.

Bishop Shaw included his two suffragan bishops, the Rt. Revs. Roy F. “Bud” Cederholm and Gayle E. Harris, in the letter’s language.

“Your bishops understand this to mean for us here in the Diocese of Massachusetts that the clergy of this diocese may, at their discretion, solemnize marriages for all eligible couples, beginning Advent I,” Bishop Shaw wrote. “Solemnization, in accordance with Massachusetts law, includes hearing the declaration of consent, pronouncing the marriage and signing the marriage certificate. This provision for generous pastoral response is an allowance and not a requirement; any member of the clergy may decline to solemnize any marriage.”

Bishop Shaw wrote that clergy may not use The Book of Common Prayer’s marriage services to celebrate weddings for same-sex couples. Instead, the three bishops “ask that our priests seek out liturgical resources being developed and collected around the church.” The bishops also recommended “Pastoral Resources for Province I Episcopal Clergy Ministering to Same-Gender Couples,” a 23-page document [PDF] distributed by the Episcopal Church’s Province of New England.

Following the announcement, Bishop Shaw told the Boston Globe, “It’s time for us to offer to gay and lesbian people the same sacrament of fidelity that we offer to the heterosexual world.’’

Three years ago, the diocese’s annual convention considered a resolution saying that marriage is the state’s work and that clergy should not function as agents of the state. Instead, clergy would pronounce the church’s blessings only on couples already married by state officials, such as justices of the peace. The convention tabled that resolution.

Delegates at this year’s convention approved a resolution asking their bishops to approve clergy’s participation in marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. That resolution also cited General Convention’s Resolution C056.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2009/nov/30/episcopal-leaders-to-jump-on-gay-marriage-bandwago/

Episcopal leaders to jump on gay marriage bandwagon?
By Julia Duin on Nov. 30, 2009 into Belief Blog

I'd like to point you to a story that ran today in the Boston Globe about the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts giving permission for his priests to officiate at same-sex weddings. Because the same thing is going to happen here once the D.C. Council makes it official. Tomorrow is their first vote, the second and final vote is slated for Dec. 15, and then there's a 30-day waiting period -- giving Congress time to issue a disapproval resolution -- before the law takes effect. Soooo, the first day gays may get 'married' could be Jan. 15, which is Martin Luther King's actual birthday. That's going to go over great with black conservatives.

Anyway, since the Episcopal Church gave the go-ahead this past summer not only for same-sex unions but for church liturgies to solemnize the occasion, it was only a matter of time before bishops started telling their priests to go ahead and perform these ceremonies. The latest prelate is the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, bishop of Massachusetts. The Episcopal dioceses of Iowa and Vermont also allow their clergy to officiate.

I asked Jim Naughton, spokesman for Washington Bishop John B. Chane, as to whether Bishop Chane will follow in Bishop Shaw's footsteps. Jim didn't commit as to when and if, but Bishop Chane's been vocal of late as to his disagreement with the local Catholic archdiocese on this issue, so I'm expecting him to make an announcement any day now.

By the way, the Washington diocese unofficially has allowed same-sex ceremonies for years, and yours truly covered such an event in June 2004 overseen by Bishop Chane himself. That was the premiere event for the diocese's new (at the time) same-sex wedding liturgy, which I suspect is getting dusted off as we speak.

-- Julia Duin, religion editor