Gay couples sign up to wait for blessing by U.S. Episcopal Church
24 July 2000 (Newsroom) — Following a rejection of same-sex union rites by the Episcopal Church’s recent convention in Denver, Colorado, a gay advocacy group within the church is collecting an online list of gay and lesbian couples “waiting” for the denomination to bless formally their relationships.
More than 60 same-sex couples, including some clergy, have placed their names on the Web site of the 26-year-old group Integrity. The group wants to “demonstrate the large number of same-sex couples in the Episcopal Church” who have been unable to have a ceremony because of church prohibitions. Many local parishes have conducted the ceremonies without impunity, however.
The church’s Denver convention proved to be a mixed blessing for both traditionalists and gay rights advocates. Though it didn’t mention same-sex unions, for the first time a church resolution officially acknowledged “life-long committed relationships outside of marriage” and promised to support them. A resolution to prepare a national rite for the blessing of those relationships failed, however.
Responding to the outcome of the convention, a gay couple who posted their names on the Integrity list wrote: ” ‘Pastoral care’ for couples without sacramental celebration is a meaningless endeavor for the church. Social service agencies can provide pastoral care.”
The resolution acknowledging life-long committed relationships outside marriage passed by a wide margin in both the House of Deputies, comprised of lay members and clergy, and the House of Bishops. The carefully worded statement affirms “the church’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage,” but also asserts “the imperative to promote conversation between persons of differing experiences and perspectives.” The resolution stipulates values that must govern those relationships, including fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, and honest communication, and denounces promiscuity, exploitation, and abusiveness. But it also acknowledges that some members “in good conscience” will act in contradiction to the traditional teaching of the church on sexuality.
“With the passing of this resolution by both houses, the question is no longer whether our relationships exist or are of God,” Integrity said in a statement. “The question is how they should be celebrated.” The group noted that a majority of deputies voted for development of the same-sex union rite, though not the two-thirds required for passage.
One of the two deputies who served on a special committee to speak during debate on the resolution said, however, that the church may never be willing officially to approve same-sex blessings, the Episcopal News Service reported. “If we go forward with this we go beyond where I and many others are willing to go,” said the Rev. Barnum McCarty. Noting that many parishes will continue to perform the ceremonies regardless of the vote, McCarty said developing an official rite for the whole church “would be an unnecessary, if not an untimely, action to those who are not ready for this.”
The American Anglican Council (AAC), a conservative renewal group, said it left Denver with a “profoundly bittersweet view” of the convention. “While we are greatly heartened that the House of Bishops and Deputies prudently decided not to split the Episcopal Church over issues of human sexuality, it is sadly evident to us that two strikingly different churches exist under the same roof,” the Dallas-based group said.
The ACC believes that within the denomination “one church embraces the culture as its guide and stands at the fringe of Anglicanism” seeking to “legislate sexual license at the expense of marriage and traditional morality” while the “other church, comprised of orthodox and mainstream Anglicans like the AAC, believes in the transforming power of God and the hope of salvation that comes from the gospel.”
During the convention the AAC launched a campaign called “God’s Love Changed Me,” which includes the testimony of an Episcopalian who says that through God’s power he was able to overcome homosexuality.
Following the vote on committed relationships, the bishops passed a “mind of the house” resolution calling for presiding bishop Frank Griswold to appoint a special theology committee for further study on issues of human sexuality. The church’s next General Convention is in 2003.
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