Episcopal Church Expands Gay Marriage to All Dioceses Where Bishops Object

Jul 16, 2018 by

by Samuel Smith, Christian Post:

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed a resolution last Friday that expanded the right for gay couples to marry in all dioceses even where local bishops theologically object to same-sex marriage.

At its triennial convention in Austin, Texas, the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops and House of Deputies voted to approve resolution B012, allowing gay and lesbian couples to be married by clergy in eight dioceses that had previously not allowed marriage rites for same-sex couples.

As the General Convention had previously voted in 2015 to allow clergy to marry same-sex couples, it also gave bishops who opposed gay marriage the right to forbid priests in their diocese from performing same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Although the new resolution still gives clergy the right to decline gay marriage ceremonies, bishops who oppose of same-sex marriage rites will have to call on another bishop who does not oppose to provide pastoral support for the couple and the clergy member that will be involved in the ceremony.

The move directly impacts dioceses in Albany, New York; Central Florida; Dallas; Florida; North Dakota; Springfield, Illinois; Tennessee and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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