Posted on: January 22, 2010
Another bishop of the Episcopal Church has agreed to pastoral blessings for same-sex couples, citing General Convention’s votes as a foundation for such blessings.
The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick, Bishop of Kentucky, wrote that his statement reflects the “present pastoral practice that has been the policy of our diocese for at least seven years.”
The bishop alluded to resolutions B012 and C056 without citing them specifically.
“Following the General Convention’s resolution, the clergy are obligated to offer pastoral care and support to individual gay and lesbian parishioners and to offer care and support that nurtures their covenant partnerships,” Bishop Gulick wrote.
Unlike other bishops, who have authorized public rites of blessing, Bishop Gulick has permitted private blessings but public services of thanksgiving.
“If the conscience of the ordained minister allows, private liturgies of blessing and support and public services of the Eucharist in thanksgiving for the covenanted, lifelong, monogamous realities of these committed relationships can be held in the churches of our diocese,” the bishop wrote.
The diocese is not ready for public blessings, the bishop wrote, because authorized rites do not yet exist; the Commonwealth of Kentucky has not approved civil marriage for same-sex couples; the Anglican Communion has called for the Episcopal Church to refrain from these public rites; and many Episcopalians do not support them.
The bishop wrote: “Since a guiding principle of Episcopal church life has been the phrase ‘lex orandi lex credendi’ (the law of praying is the law of believing or ‘as we pray so we believe’), it would seem to many of us that until the ‘we’ on this issue becomes very large it is dangerous to place such rites ‘front and center’ in our liturgical life, since our liturgical life is our bottom line of theological belief. In other words, the altars of our church are to be ‘issue free zones.’ ”
The URL for this story is:
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/1/22/ky-permits-private-blessings-for-same-sex-couples
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