There was much rejoicing
So, the announcement just came out that the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts will now solemnize same-sex unions! This makes me very happy to be a part of this church.
>> Advent I
>> November 29, 2009
>>
>> Christian marriage is a sacramental rite that has evolved in the church,
>> along with confirmation, ordination, penance, and the anointing of the
>> sick, and while it is not necessary for all, it must be open to all as a
>> means of grace and sustenance to our Christian hope.
>>
>> I believe this because the truth of it is in our midst, revealed again
>> and again by the many marriages-of women and men, and of persons of the
>> same gender-that are characterized, just as our church expects, by
>> fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, and the holy love which
>> enables spouses to see in one another the image of God.
>>
>> In May of 2004 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court opened civil
>> marriage in our state to same-gender couples. That ruling set up a
>> contradiction between what civil law would allow and what our church’s
>> canons and formulary state, which is that marriage is between a man and a
>> woman. And so, for more than five years now, while faithfully waiting
>> for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to act in response, we
>> in the Diocese of Massachusetts have been living at some cost with an
>> imperfect accommodation: Our clergy have not been allowed to solemnize
>> same-gender marriages, but they have been permitted to bless them after
>> the fact.
>>
>> In July of this year, the 76th General Convention adopted resolution
>> C056, “Liturgies for Blessings.” It allows that “bishops, particularly
>> those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage,
>> civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous
>> pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church.”
>>
>> Your bishops understand this to mean for us here in the Diocese of
>> Massachusetts that the clergy of this diocese may, at their discretion,
>> solemnize marriages for all eligible couples, beginning Advent I.
>> Solemnization, in accordance with Massachusetts law, includes hearing the
>> declaration of consent, pronouncing the marriage and signing the marriage
>> certificate. This provision for generous pastoral response is an
>> allowance and not a requirement; any member of the clergy may decline to
>> solemnize any marriage.
>>
>> While gender-specific language remains unchanged in the canons and The
>> Book of Common Prayer, our provision of generous pastoral response means
>> that same-gender couples can be married in our diocese. We request that
>> our clergy follow as they ordinarily would the other canonical
>> requirements for marriage and remarriage. And, because The Celebration
>> and Blessing of a Marriage in The Book of Common Prayer may not be used
>> for marriages of same-gender couples, we ask that our priests seek out
>> liturgical resources being developed and collected around the church. We
>> also commend to you the October 2008 resource created by our New England
>> dioceses, “Pastoral Resources for Province I Episcopal Clergy Ministering
>> to Same-Gender Couples,” available at www.province1.org.
>>
>> We have not arrived at this place in our common life easily or quickly.
>> We have not done it alone. This decision comes after a long process of
>> listening, prayer and discernment leading up to and continuing after
>> General Convention’s action this past summer. Our Diocesan Convention
>> recently adopted a resolution of its own expressing its collective hope
>> for the very determination that your bishops have made. Even so, we know
>> that not all are of one mind and that some in good faith will disagree
>> with this decision. Our Anglican tradition makes space for this
>> disagreement and calls us to respect and engage one another in our
>> differences. It is through that tension that we find God’s ultimate
>> will.
>>
>> We also know that by calling us to minister in the context of this
>> particular place and time God is again blessing our diocese with a great
>> challenge by which we might enter more fully into that ethic of love
>> which Jesus speaks to us through the New Testament. It is an
>> immeasurable love given for all. We are being asked to live it, all of
>> us, children of God, each with equal claim upon the love, acceptance and
>> pastoral care of this church, so that the newness and fullness of life
>> promised through word and sacrament might be for all people and for the
>> completion of God’s purpose for the world.
>>
>> /s/ M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE
>> Advent I
>> November 29, 2009
>>
>> Christian marriage is a sacramental rite that has evolved in the church,
>> along with confirmation, ordination, penance, and the anointing of the
>> sick, and while it is not necessary for all, it must be open to all as a
>> means of grace and sustenance to our Christian hope.
>>
>> I believe this because the truth of it is in our midst, revealed again
>> and again by the many marriages-of women and men, and of persons of the
>> same gender-that are characterized, just as our church expects, by
>> fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, and the holy love which
>> enables spouses to see in one another the image of God.
>>
>> In May of 2004 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court opened civil
>> marriage in our state to same-gender couples. That ruling set up a
>> contradiction between what civil law would allow and what our church’s
>> canons and formulary state, which is that marriage is between a man and a
>> woman. And so, for more than five years now, while faithfully waiting
>> for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to act in response, we
>> in the Diocese of Massachusetts have been living at some cost with an
>> imperfect accommodation: Our clergy have not been allowed to solemnize
>> same-gender marriages, but they have been permitted to bless them after
>> the fact.
>>
>> In July of this year, the 76th General Convention adopted resolution
>> C056, “Liturgies for Blessings.” It allows that “bishops, particularly
>> those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage,
>> civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous
>> pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church.”
>>
>> Your bishops understand this to mean for us here in the Diocese of
>> Massachusetts that the clergy of this diocese may, at their discretion,
>> solemnize marriages for all eligible couples, beginning Advent I.
>> Solemnization, in accordance with Massachusetts law, includes hearing the
>> declaration of consent, pronouncing the marriage and signing the marriage
>> certificate. This provision for generous pastoral response is an
>> allowance and not a requirement; any member of the clergy may decline to
>> solemnize any marriage.
>>
>> While gender-specific language remains unchanged in the canons and The
>> Book of Common Prayer, our provision of generous pastoral response means
>> that same-gender couples can be married in our diocese. We request that
>> our clergy follow as they ordinarily would the other canonical
>> requirements for marriage and remarriage. And, because The Celebration
>> and Blessing of a Marriage in The Book of Common Prayer may not be used
>> for marriages of same-gender couples, we ask that our priests seek out
>> liturgical resources being developed and collected around the church. We
>> also commend to you the October 2008 resource created by our New England
>> dioceses, “Pastoral Resources for Province I Episcopal Clergy Ministering
>> to Same-Gender Couples,” available at www.province1.org.
>>
>> We have not arrived at this place in our common life easily or quickly.
>> We have not done it alone. This decision comes after a long process of
>> listening, prayer and discernment leading up to and continuing after
>> General Convention’s action this past summer. Our Diocesan Convention
>> recently adopted a resolution of its own expressing its collective hope
>> for the very determination that your bishops have made. Even so, we know
>> that not all are of one mind and that some in good faith will disagree
>> with this decision. Our Anglican tradition makes space for this
>> disagreement and calls us to respect and engage one another in our
>> differences. It is through that tension that we find God’s ultimate
>> will.
>>
>> We also know that by calling us to minister in the context of this
>> particular place and time God is again blessing our diocese with a great
>> challenge by which we might enter more fully into that ethic of love
>> which Jesus speaks to us through the New Testament. It is an
>> immeasurable love given for all. We are being asked to live it, all of
>> us, children of God, each with equal claim upon the love, acceptance and
>> pastoral care of this church, so that the newness and fullness of life
>> promised through word and sacrament might be for all people and for the
>> completion of God’s purpose for the world.
>>
>> /s/ M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE