Posted on 07/01/2015 6:03:56 AM PDT by marshmallow
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Episcopalians are set to vote Wednesday on allowing religious weddings for same-sex couples, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.
In 2003, the denomination made the trailblazing move of electing the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. Since then, many dioceses have allowed their priests to perform civil same-sex weddings.
Still, the church hadn't changed its own laws on marriage.
The vote on gay marriage is expected around midday in Salt Lake City at the denomination's national assembly.
The proposal would eliminate gender-specific language from church laws on marriage so religious weddings can also be performed for same-sex couples. Clergy could decline to perform the ceremonies. Right now, each bishop decides whether his or her priests may conduct gay marriages.
Among mainline Protestant groups, only the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) allow same-sex weddings in all their congregations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows individual congregations to decide on the ceremonies, and the United Methodist Church bars gay marriage.
On the eve of the U.S. vote, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, released a statement expressing deep concern about the potential impact of changing the definition of marriage in Episcopal church law.
The Episcopal Church is the U.S. body of the Anglican Communion, an 80 million-member global fellowship of churches. Ties among Anglicans have been strained since Episcopalians in 2003 elected Bishop Gene Robinson, who lived openly with his male partner, to lead the Diocese of New Hampshire. Welby has been struggling to keep good relations among the churches.
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Among mainline Protestant groups, only the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) allow same-sex weddings in all their congregations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows individual congregations to decide on the ceremonies, and the United Methodist Church bars gay marriage.
My younger brother is on the session (board of elders in presbyterian-ese) at the PCUSA church we all grew up in. He tells me the denomination left it up to the discretion of the local church, whether they would or would not perform sodomite marriages. He expects that that bunch of cranky old farmers will not.
He also says his time there is probably limited. He sticking around while Dad is alive.
Not wise.
The Episcopalians I know are flaming liberals that favor gay marriage... this is no surprise
-— Among mainline Protestant groups, only the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) allow same-sex weddings in all their congregations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows individual congregations to decide on the ceremonies, and the United Methodist Church bars gay marriage. -—
This is the fruit of Sola Scriptura. Pun intended.
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