The Episcopal bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, authorized use of the new marriage rite in December for 89 congregations in D.C. and Maryland.
Posted on 01/09/2013 3:51:25 PM PST by NYer
(AP) -- The Washington National Cathedral had been ready to embrace same-sex marriage for some time, though it took a series of recent events and a new leader for the prominent, 106-year-old church to announce Wednesday that it would begin hosting such nuptials.
The key development came last July when the Episcopal Church approved a ceremony for same-sex unions at its General Convention in Indianapolis, followed by the legalization of gay marriage in Maryland, which joined the District of Columbia. The national church made a special allowance for marriage ceremonies in states where gay marriage is legal.
Longtime same-sex marriage advocate the Very Rev. Gary Hall took over as the cathedral's dean in October. Conversations began even before he arrived to clear the way for the ceremonies at the church that so often serves as a symbolic house of prayer for national celebrations and tragedies.
The Episcopal bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, authorized use of the new marriage rite in December for 89 congregations in D.C. and Maryland. Each priest then decides whether to marry same-sex couples.
The cathedral's congregation and leadership include many gays and lesbians. The church was just waiting for the right moment and the right leader.
"This was something that was brewing in the cathedral. We were really waiting for him," Budde told The Associated Press. "It would have been inconceivable for the Cathedral to call somebody who was not in favor of full equality for gay and lesbian people."
Hall, a former rector at churches in Michigan, Pennsylvania and California and a seminary dean in Chicago, had been a leader in developing liturgical rites for same-sex blessings in the Episcopal Church. Budde said Hall was a catalyst for change in the church's marriage tradition.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
What does God or the Bible have to do with the church anyway?
Next up............FAMOUS CHURCH’S BELLS TO RING FOR MARRIAGE OF ANIMALS AND HUMANS.
It is so hard to watch the times we live in these days.
The episcopal corporation has long since quit being a Christian church so this is not surprising.
I wonder if they are prepared for the consequences?
Perhaps God in His kindness will send one more warning in the form of another DC earthquake, but a bit stronger than the one which put the cracks in the Washington Monument.
Perhaps this next one will start those bell ringing wildly on their own...just before they & the bell tower come crashing down.
“TAKE A HINT THIS TIME!”, booms the voice from the heavens.
Those who support homosexuals are against our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
Didn’t this cathedral suffer a little previous earthquake damage or was that the Washington Monument at its top?
Just rip out the pages of the Bible that don’t jive with the gay approval and dress a liberal in the robes of a hypocrite and presto...
Say goodbye to Holy Matrimony and say hello to evil sodomony.
Is that the beast and the false prophet I see? It should include all of their followers as well. Being deceived should be the worst thing to fear, since we seem to be particularly susceptible to it. Evil always appears good on the surface, unless someone is completely sold to it. Either way, God expects us to see beyond the surface, and good does not always have a good surface appearance either, by the way. But we make our choices, and I know there is some part of us that truly sees beyond these contrivances, and understands our choices.
Washington Monument. Brimstone and fire to strike cathedral on day of first gay marriage ;-)
Sometimes I wonder why I’ve lived so long to see what I’ve seen.
When will the bells ring for same-sex triples? When will they ring for _______?
Think about it... how can a good liberal be intellectually consistent in demanding gay marriages in a state-sponsored Episcopal church? Shouldn't they be demanding that we abolish a "national cathedral" altogether? Doesn't the wall of separation demand that the government not recognize one denomination's church above all others as the nation's church?
Shouldn't we rotate the state funerals across all churches, synagogues, mosques, and non-religious courthouses as each death occurs? Then, the good liberals can demand that these same churches, synagogues, and mosques also perform gay marriages, too!
-PJ
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