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U.S. Episcopal Church Set to Approve Blessing Gay Marriages

Posted by on Jul 10, 2012 in Separation of Church & Prostate | 4 comments

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – The U.S. Episcopal Church is poised to become the first major religious denomination in the United States to approve a rite for blessing gay marriages after its bishops overwhelmingly approved such a liturgy on Monday.

The proposed blessing was agreed by the church’s Chamber of Bishops at a meeting in Indianapolis and is expected to receive final approval from its House of Deputies later this week, Ruth Meyers, a chair of the Episcopalians’ Subcommittee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music, told Reuters.

The decision would go into effect in December and make the Episcopal Church, an independent U.S.-based institution affiliated with global Anglicanism, the biggest U.S. church to allow a liturgy for same-sex marriages.

More than 2 Million Americans belong to the Episcopal Church. The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant, the name being given to this same-sex marital blessing, sucks the wind right out of the argument that Christians cannot ignore the imagined evils of homosexuality.

The significance of this liturgy can’t be stated enough. This is a group of millions of Christians who are making it an official tenant of their organized religion to bless gay marriages, instead of condemning gays to hell and working around the clock to demonize LGBT people.

Which church will be the next to follow in the Episcopal Church’s brave footsteps (in the sand)?

(via Yahoo/Reuters)