EPISCOPAL Churches in California will begin offering gay weddings next month. On May 22, one of Los Angeles’ largest Episcopal parishes - All Saints Church, Pasadena, announced that in light of the California Supreme Court’s decision to strike down laws barring gay marriage, it “will treat all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage equally.”While Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno last week welcomed the May 15 court decision, he has yet to ban rites of gay marriage, and is reported to be forming a task force to study the issue.
While a referendum that would seek to ban gay marriage is expected to be placed before California voters in November, the court ruling takes effect on June 16, permitting the civil licensing and registration of same-sex marriages.
The clergy of All Saints have been performing rites for the blessing of same-sex unions for several years. Following the court ruling, the parish vestry voted to add gay marriage to its liturgical menu.
Parish rector, the Rev Ed Bacon said the decision to go ahead with gay marriage was consistent with the church’s “identity as a peace and justice church.”
“It also aligns us with the Scriptures’ mandate to make God’s love tangible by ‘doing justice and loving mercy’ (Micah 6:8) and with the canons of our Episcopal Church that forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” he said, and demonstrated the congregation’s “stirring courage to move beyond lip service about embodying God’s inclusive love to actually committing our faith community to the practice of marriage equality.”
On May 23 Bishop Bruno told The Living Church magazine he was forming a task force with California’s other Episcopal bishops “to figure out how to have uniformity” on this issue. Their task would be to find “policies and procedures” that were faithful to California law and to the “canons and constitution” of the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church’s canons and Prayer Book do not currently permit same-sex blessings or same-sex marriage. During a press conference at last September’s House of Bishops’ meeting in New Orleans, Bishop Bruno told a reporter from the New York Times the Episcopal Church has “never authorized same-sex unions.”
When pressed by the reporter to account for the same-sex blessings performed by the clergy of his diocese, Bishop Bruno said such things do “not happen with my permission.
“Same-sex blessings occur in the Diocese of Los Angeles all the time,” the Rev Susan Russell of All Saints Pasadena told The Living Church magazine following Bishop Bruno’s statement.
“We don’t ask for permission because Bishop Bruno has told us that he cannot give it until General Convention approves an official liturgy. He has told us that we are free to exercise appropriate pastoral care” for parishioners.
In 2004 Bishop Bruno performed a same-sex blessing for one of his clergy, but has ceased to personally officiate at such rites. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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