Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania would offer same-sex blessings
[Ed. Note: Bishop Baxter made the announcement at the diocesan convention this past Saturday. This article is typical of the thinking expressed by most of the bishops that approve of and will implement the blessing ceremony if it is passed by General Convention in July. Of all the issues facing this convention, the blessing ceremony will probably play second fiddle to issues of budget and restructuring the national Church offices/operations. Cheryl M. Wetzel]
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/episcopal_diocese_would_offer.html
By MARY KLAUS, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania soon might have the option of blessing same-gender couples, the diocesan bishop said Sunday.
The Episcopal Church has decided “to take another step forward toward full inclusion of all its members,” the Right Rev. Nathan D. Baxter, bishop of the diocese, said Sunday after the 142nd annual Diocesan Convention that was held during the weekend in State College.
Baxter said if trial liturgy of a same-sex blessing is approved at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, his diocese will use it, too. The General Convention will be held next month in Indianapolis.
“We’ve had a task force working on this issue for some time considering the proposed blessing of same-gender unions prayerfully and thoughtfully,” he said.
Although the Episcopal Church has ordained openly gay bishops in the United States, it has not taken an official stand on gay marriage. The Episcopal Church believes that homosexuality in and of itself is not a sin.
Baxter said that some Episcopal priests and congregations would welcome the new liturgy while others would be uncomfortable with it. Using the same-gender blessing liturgy would be voluntary, he said.
“We continue to seek to engage all members of the diocese by encouraging an atmosphere of respectful listening,” he said. “We want to create a spiritual environment that minimizes polarization, urges consensus and allows for a genuine spirit of respect.”
The bishop said he has experienced Christians in same-gender commitments sharing their gifts in every aspect of the church’s ministry.
“I have seen their devotion to God and their deep sense of love as holy in their relationship with their life partner,” he said. “Most of all, I have witnessed their confession of faith in God’s revelation in Jesus just as I have seen in our married couples.”
If the liturgy is approved at the General Convention, it will be used on a trial basis until the next General Convention in three years. At that point, it could continue in trial use, be abandoned or become part of the permanent liturgy of the church.
“The liturgy is not a marriage and has no civil standing in Pennsylvania law,” Baxter said.
Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C. Thirty-one states, including Pennsylvania, ban gay marriage.
Baxter said that the trial liturgy, called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant,” is a rite for the blessing of homosexual relationships.
In the rite, presiding clergy ask couples if they “freely and unreservedly” offer themselves to each other and if they intend to live together in faithfulness and holiness as long as both shall live.
Each person then would make a vow to the other, they would exchange rings and be declared by the clergy “bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live.” Baxter said that a same-sex covenant is not a marriage and a blessing is not a marriage ceremony.
He called a covenant a commitment between two people who made promises before God. He described a blessing as a “recognition by a local church community of the love, commitment and Christian faith witnessed in two persons known to that congregation and their priest.”
Episcopal priests cannot perform same-sex marriage ceremonies unless gay marriage is legal in the state. If the General Convention does not approve the trial liturgy, it could not be used.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/episcopal_diocese_would_offer.html
By MARY KLAUS, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Clergy in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania soon might have the option of blessing same-gender couples, the diocesan bishop said Sunday.
The Episcopal Church has decided “to take another step forward toward full inclusion of all its members,” the Right Rev. Nathan D. Baxter, bishop of the diocese, said Sunday after the 142nd annual Diocesan Convention that was held during the weekend in State College.
Baxter said if trial liturgy of a same-sex blessing is approved at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, his diocese will use it, too. The General Convention will be held next month in Indianapolis.
“We’ve had a task force working on this issue for some time considering the proposed blessing of same-gender unions prayerfully and thoughtfully,” he said.
Although the Episcopal Church has ordained openly gay bishops in the United States, it has not taken an official stand on gay marriage. The Episcopal Church believes that homosexuality in and of itself is not a sin.
Baxter said that some Episcopal priests and congregations would welcome the new liturgy while others would be uncomfortable with it. Using the same-gender blessing liturgy would be voluntary, he said.
“We continue to seek to engage all members of the diocese by encouraging an atmosphere of respectful listening,” he said. “We want to create a spiritual environment that minimizes polarization, urges consensus and allows for a genuine spirit of respect.”
The bishop said he has experienced Christians in same-gender commitments sharing their gifts in every aspect of the church’s ministry.
“I have seen their devotion to God and their deep sense of love as holy in their relationship with their life partner,” he said. “Most of all, I have witnessed their confession of faith in God’s revelation in Jesus just as I have seen in our married couples.”
If the liturgy is approved at the General Convention, it will be used on a trial basis until the next General Convention in three years. At that point, it could continue in trial use, be abandoned or become part of the permanent liturgy of the church.
“The liturgy is not a marriage and has no civil standing in Pennsylvania law,” Baxter said.
Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C. Thirty-one states, including Pennsylvania, ban gay marriage.
Baxter said that the trial liturgy, called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant,” is a rite for the blessing of homosexual relationships.
In the rite, presiding clergy ask couples if they “freely and unreservedly” offer themselves to each other and if they intend to live together in faithfulness and holiness as long as both shall live.
Each person then would make a vow to the other, they would exchange rings and be declared by the clergy “bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live.” Baxter said that a same-sex covenant is not a marriage and a blessing is not a marriage ceremony.
He called a covenant a commitment between two people who made promises before God. He described a blessing as a “recognition by a local church community of the love, commitment and Christian faith witnessed in two persons known to that congregation and their priest.”
Episcopal priests cannot perform same-sex marriage ceremonies unless gay marriage is legal in the state. If the General Convention does not approve the trial liturgy, it could not be used.
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