Bishop Marries Lesbian Clergy

Finally, it’s happened. The Church of the USA, despite threats from the rest of the Anglican Communion to “hold back” on it’s progressive moves has decided to go ahead and Marry to Lesbian Clergy, on New Years Day in St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston. It’s a bit of a gutsy move, with the Anglican Communion still realing from the appointment of Mary Glasspool as a Bishop.

The Bishop of Massachusetts, the Rt. Rev’d Tom Shaw married Very Rev’d Katherine Ragsdale and Canon Mally Lloyd in service that was attended by over 400 people. Bishop Shaw was quoted as saying: “God always rejoices when two people who love each other make a lifelong commitment in marriage to go deeper into the heart of God through each other. It’s a profound pleasure for me to celebrate with God and my friends the marriage of Katherine and Mally.”

Unsurprisingly, there has already been responses from the Conservative/Evangelical voices in America:

“Much like the consecration of openly partnered homosexual Bishops Gene Robinson and Mary Glasspool, the Episcopal Church’s embrace of same-sex unions continues to drive a wedge between liberal Anglicans in the U.S. and traditionalists in the Global South.

“Ultimately, this is a dispute about scriptural authority, with liberals following what they attest to be widening human experience about sexuality, while traditionalists appeal to historic teachings of the Church and a plain reading of Scripture.

“The majority of the Episcopal Church is increasingly practicing a separate faith from what most Anglicans practice worldwide.”

(Source : Christian News-wire)

The Episcopal Church has blessed single sex marriages since Bishop Micheal Ingham of Vancouver gave permission to some clergy in his Diocese of Vancouver in 2003. There was even an order of service produce. After this move, many other diocese in the Episcopal Church followed suit. The difference about this particular move is that the name has changed. This act was touted as a “wedding”, rather than a “blessing”. It may seem like a fairly trivial move to some, especially as the people involved are already in a civil partnership. However, the use of the term “Marry” and “Wedding” are generally only used for the form of Christian Service which bonds two people together in bonds of Holy Matrimony before God. It is a specifically Christian service, and as some Christians disagree with the acceptance of single-sex couples, they find this move particularly offensive. This may confuse some people as the media often refer to Civil-Sex Partnerships as “weddings”, and they may be surprised to find that there is actually a subtle difference when it comes to the ceremony in the Church.

What this means for the future of the Anglican Communion remains to be seen; It definitely puts the See of Canterbury in a very bad position, which is a shame as Rt. Rev’d Rowan Williams has been putting a lot of work into trying to keep the communion together. This move makes it look even more likely that the Anglican Communion will go through some form of Split, especially with the pressure from the Conservative South and African regions already refusing to attend meetings. With the Anglican Covenant reaching it’s final stages, it shall remain to be seen whether or not the Covenant is still applicable, and weather or not the Episcopal Church of the USA will sign up to it, knowing that they will already be in for sanctions under it.

~BX
Source : http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=106381